a small claro wlanut dining table and some other stuff

 we got a call today that the claro walnut slab table we finished recently was successfully delivered to brooklyn yesterday .. yee haahh.  it's always good to hear from happy clients.  when they placed the order for the dining table above, they also purchased the coffee table i had for sale back in november, so they got a double dose thursday.  i hope to get pictures of the pieces on site soon.

 the design was similar to others we have made with our standard steel trapezoid base.  the new one had the dark bronze patina on the steel, rather than the polished steel on the larger table above.

 sam is cruising through the metal work in his new shop

the dining table started with one of a pair of slabs we purchased recently

and after we smoothed it out and fitted it to the base

we put a little finish on it ,, nice curl!!

a fine slab, all around

at the same time, we finished this reclaimed chestnut coffee table, which will be 

delivered to a local residence on presidents day weekend

nice chestnut too !  from our usual source in west virginia

those same clients also received the walnut table they ordered for their home in connecticut

it looks like a regal spot for it ..

and also in the works is a coffee table with a new base design using the other claro walnut slab.

since it was the adjacent slab in the log, this table will have the
same figure as the table at the top of the post

we did a little mockup with some mdf and the base .. more on this one later ..

i'm going to be posting something here about taking quick 'record' photos .. this one was taken in the shop, during the day, with all the florescent lights on, and without dealing with the reflections.  it's an excellent example of a rushed photo that, with a little effort, could have been a lot better.

a claro walnut slab table

add another one to the list ... we sent this one to shelter island last week.  and jim, who made the delivery, says that this table has 'the best view of any we've made'.  that's quite a tall statement, but he was there, and i wasn't, so i'll have to take his word for it.  anyway, we started with the slab above, and ended with the table below.

 

with a bit of back and forth in between.

do we cut of the 'swell'?  no .. it's got some really cool grain going on there.

do we fill the cracks?  yes, no, maybe, no ... we used this one as an inspiration.  we made it in 2011 and didn't fill the cracks.  never had a complaint.   i'm glad we left them.  in the end, they were really cool and kind of sculptural..  but how do we stabilize them?  how about some butterflies on the bottom of the table, like below.  that worked ..

below with the legs still in the 'bright polished' phase ..

and now with the bronze patina ...

 the polished cracks ... no crumbs will stick in there .

 and with the reinforcing 1" tubing structure to bolster the thin  slab and give it some rigidity ... that worked great . this, below, from the client

"Hi Dan, We loooooove the table. I will call you  tomorrow. Just got back from beach and am wiped out. Thanks and best regards, Joanne"

all for now ...

hot off the press

 

GOT LUCKY !! it's sold, and leaving for north carolina friday ...

and looking for a home ... it's slightly tapered, 38" at the near end, 35" wide at the far end, +/- 94" long.  natural finish, welded steel base.  1.31" thick top. no live edges, but nice, peaceful grain.  special price ... call or email for details.  click the photos to enlarge them ... 

close up below

another claro walnut slab coffee table

we finished another in our series of claro walnut coffee tables this week.  it was a perfect slab for a coffee table and the rainbow leg from sam's metal shop go perfectly with the color of the wood.  click the photos to enlarge them

 

the raw slab

 

1.5 x 3" welded steel tubing

 

above is the bottom of the slab,  below are a few other coffee tables from the past ... 

 from the dorset artists show last summer

 the last coffee table slab i have on hand at the moment, though i have three new ones arriving sometime in the next two weeks

 2009?

 

2009 .. blog post here

 

 this one had a good story

 from  the art and industries show last summer

a big one to aspen

and now, a couple more claro walnut tables

table to miami

table to brooklyn

ok, the top one arrived in florida on tuesday, just in time for turkey day.  the curly one above has been hanging around the shop since may, waiting for the client's home remodel to be finished.  that one will leave for brooklyn on tuesday.  it was first pictured in this post  back on may 28th and now soon it will be on its way.  click the photos to enlarge them.

the top table started with this monster slab, about 11' long and 3+ inches thick.  we learned a few tricks on this one.  it was a heavy one ....

one trick we learned was to build a really substantial and well made cart with serious casters.  once we slid it off the workbench and stood it up on the cart. it was a piece of cake to get it out the shop door, on a ramp into the back of the truck, and into steve's shop for the matte finish that the client requested.

the client selected our 'trapedzoid' base, and sam cut the parts and welded them up in our metal shop.

later, after polishing, the base was blackened with our normal blackening patina and sealed with a low lustre lacquer.

 

there were a couple cracks we had to butterfly and one or two random small defects that we just left 'as is'.

there was one sort of large (+/- 3/8ths") bolt in the slab that we drilled a bit and pounded a bit until it was below the surface enough to fill it so it looked like some of the other knots in the area.  pretty good in the end.

 

the welded steel base was a combination of 1.5 x 3" tubing and 2/5 x 1/4" angle iron.  rigid and strong and handsome with the thick slab ... 

i got a wonderful email from the client wednesday and i think i'll use his comment as our new business motto .... 'better than i expected' ... can you ask for more than that?