The finished table and chairs at the SVAC show in May 2010
If I remember my family history correctly, my grandfather worked for
Bethlehem Steel as a riveter for 52 years, starting when he was 13 in 1915, retiring at 65 in 1967, dead a year later. He worked on all the
great bridges of the 20th century that Bethlehem Steel was involved in, which was most of them it seems ... I've been thinking of him as the boys and I have been creating a series of pieces, not custom, around the theme of metal and wood. We've sold a couple to clients passing through and we hope to sell these in the near future. The goal of this series is tell a story, highlight the (unusual) wood, and to build things efficiently and economically.
This is the beginning stage of the table above that we finished this week. The boards (20") were from a log of walnut I purchased from
IrionLumber to
make a pool table, a project that was, shortly after the boards arrived, canceled.
Two of the matching boards had a square cut out at the sawmill that obviously was to avoid sawing into a spike in the tree. Click the pictures to enlarge them ....
I went back and forth on what to put there, burl, little wood patterned inlays, but in the end, decided a couple textured, blackened steel plates would do the job. I can always change them later if inspiration strikes or if a client wants something personalized there ...
The boards were 10' long and we chopped two cracked crotch sections off the ends. (Not many people have a space for a 10', one piece table) This side table is 28" long x 20" wide x 24" high ...
All the photos in this post were taken in the (currently crowded) finish room and cut from their busy backgrounds with photoshop.
And then, we fnished the
one board coffee table. Blow this up and check out the wood. When we made the
dining table with the other part of this board, it was stained dark, which masked the various colors that are present in the natural wood ... 39.5 wide, 64 long and 17" high ...
On all these items, the phrase "Buy It Now" from Ebay applies. Pass it on ... Thanks ...
Sam's been working with metal now for about 5 years, full time for the last two. He's a great welder and fabricator and his artistic and problem solving sense is evolving everyday. As we get more and more requests for pieces both entirely of metal and as furniture, in combination with wood, often questions of finishes, materials, and capabilities arise ... Rather than answer the same or almost the same questions over and over, this post will serve as a general outline for potential clients who want to know more about what we can and can't do ... Click the photos to enlarge them ....
Natural oiled mill finish .... 'The Williams Store Railings'
Blackened steel, done with a cold patina chemical called 'ready brown' ... works great on brass and copper too .... It can be nicely highlighted with steel wool, then oiled ....
Polished natural steel finish. Essentially a process of grinding off the mill scale and polishing with finer and finer grades of abrasives ... While we have not as yet done any pieces in polished stainless, our satin finish stainless is typically looking a lot like the project above .... Perhaps just a bit brighter .... 'A Custom Contemporary Railing'
For antique or Art Deco style pieces, golf leafed, natural or antiqued, might be a good choice ...
For outdoors, we recommend two coats of primer, two of paint with refreshing when necessary ... any color ... 'A Fine Outdoor Railing'
For indoors, primed and painted, any color also; here with a nice gold paint from Fine Paints of Europe which will be glazed and antiqued later ...
A mix of finishes and materials .. blackened, natural,polished, brass and copper ... We're currently working on designs for a bed with inlays in a variety of metals and finishes ...
Custom Outdoor Chairs and Table Parts
The finished table and chairs at the SVAC show in May 2010
This is the beginning stage of the table above that we finished this week. The boards (20") were from a log of walnut I purchased from IrionLumber to make a pool table, a project that was, shortly after the boards arrived, canceled.
Two of the matching boards had a square cut out at the sawmill that obviously was to avoid sawing into a spike in the tree. Click the pictures to enlarge them ....
I went back and forth on what to put there, burl, little wood patterned inlays, but in the end, decided a couple textured, blackened steel plates would do the job. I can always change them later if inspiration strikes or if a client wants something personalized there ...
The boards were 10' long and we chopped two cracked crotch sections off the ends. (Not many people have a space for a 10', one piece table) This side table is 28" long x 20" wide x 24" high ...
All the photos in this post were taken in the (currently crowded) finish room and cut from their busy backgrounds with photoshop.
