Style-iscious

Posted on by gayle

Kelly sent me pictures of the ‘Coastal Oak’ (that is what I am calling that style/design) table in her home with the chairs and rug. I love it and she is pleased. Here is what she said:

The table looks absolutely wonderful. As you will see in my pictures my dogs love to be in front of the camera. It turned out perfect and just like I had hoped. Thank you very much! The “S” household is extremely pleased.

I had not see the legs on these chairs before. They have a cool rustic character that adds to the whole look. I think the rug and the seagrass chairs are a cool contrast to the various colors/features of the salvaged oak timbers. I am not sure where the rug came from but I think the chairs are from Pier 1.

Update from Kelly: BTW…the chairs are from Pier 1 and the rug came from West Elm. I really tried to put some thought to the look and it all came together as I had hoped.

Kelly’s table

Kelly’s table

Sawdust

Posted on by gayle

Time to plane more of the timbers. Reasons: 1) need some a bit thicker for the table supports and crosspiece, 2) need some more 1″ thick for the table top. Fitting the planks in the table top is an art and a science. Because of their age and exposure to the environment each timber has unique features. Often these include warps and twists in the lumber that make them less than straight. So when fitting these planks together lengthwise, it is often a matter of matching the slight curves. Not a horrible task, but I needed more options for the second half of the table top. Thus far it is about half the length it needs to be.

Polyurethane Glue

Notice the glue exuding from the butt joints. This is the glue I mentioned in my last posting. This one is Critical Bond from Moser’s. It is my favorite glue. I have tried a bunch of others, Gorilla Glue, Excel, even an Elmer’s take on it. The two best I have used are Critical Bond and Excel. Caution: If you get it on your skin and it dries there, it has to wear off. Before it is cured, it can be wiped off with mineral spirits.

Regarding sawdust, or in this case shavings, always plane outside. It makes a huge mess. (and this is nothing compared to the first batch of lumber I trimmed down for the table top)

Just Plane Shavings

Roughing It

Posted on by gayle

Kelly S.’s dining table is slowly taking shape. Weather and a regular job have hampered progress, but half of the table top has now been assembled. The planks were joined with grooved dowels and a polyurethane glue. I love this glue because it fills spaces, sands well, and holds like, well glue, or at least like glue should. Here are a couple pictures of the first half of the table top–rough though it is. Trust me it will be just gorgeous when it is sanded and finished.

Rough Table Top

This next one is a close up of the greenish spalting in the end plank. Did not see this in the wood for the Coastal Living table. I think it is from metal leaching from nails or roofing. Notice the nail tracing. There are plenty of cool features like this in salvaged wood.

Closeup of wood

Fine Dining: Part 2

Posted on by gayle

I have been commissioned to build another dining table like the one I built for the Coastal Living Idea House in River Dunes, NC. I am very excited about it and asked Kelly S. (the owner of the finished table) if I could blog about it. So, it begins.

Yesterday, in frigid weather uncharacteristic of the South, I drove to Cullman, AL to pick up salvaged oak timbers from Southern Accents Architectural Antiques (see my previous post). These are the same timbers I used for the CLv table. The timbers came from roof supports on an old barn. The guys at SAAA pulled the nails and sawed the timbers in half (roughly) lengthwise. The wood has some really neat features besides old nail holes. There are bug trails and knots and some have really great oak figuring. My next step is to plane it to the proper thickness for the table top. As rough as this is now, it is neat to see what it will become and how beautiful the finished wood is.

Raw Oak TimbersA closer look

Fine Dining

Posted on by gayle
Dining table built for the '07 Coastal Living Idea House
Photo by Jean Allsopp

Some projects are too good to pass up, even if they are huge and you have a regular job. I finished one recently for a 7ft by 4 ft dining table custom built for the 10th Anniversary Coastal Living Idea House in River Dunes, NC. It was a lot of fun to build but a handle to get finished on time.

I was given two pictures by the designer who said “can you take this part of this picture and use that part of this other picture and make a table?” Well, yes. The wood came from Southern Accents in Cullman, AL and was reclaimed red oak timbers from a barn. Rustic as the day is long!

The challenge came in getting the joints to line up well. The wood was simply beautiful–loved it. [See pictures of it here] I made it in 5 pieces that connected using minimal hardware. Shipping it was a challenge, but upon arrival everyone was happy. It looked good in the house which was photographed in August and will appear in the November issue of Coastal Living. They did add a slight stain to the top to make it better match the wood flooring and lessen some of the redness of the wood. I liked the original penetrating oil finish, but I loved how the table looked in place with the chairs and settees.

This was a great project and I am so pleased to have had the opportunity to showcase how beautiful reclaimed wood can be. I hope to have additional challenges to make something old new again.