cool cocktail table

ok, we recently pulled off a surprise birthday present for a friend for his wife.

they live in boston and had a really big gingko tree in their yard when they
bought the house.  over time, it took sick and they called in the local 'gingko experts' who gave them strategies to keep it alive, but eventually, they lost the battle, and had to take it down.
apparently, it was one of the oldest and largest gingkos in boston ..

the tree guys cut a few 'cookies' for the owners and they

 were stacked in the garage for a few years to 'dry' ..

a month or so in the finish room where they actually 'dried'
produced a nice, interesting crack from the center out ..

we added some walnut butterflies and a walnut base
and we were good to go ..

interesting wood .. love the bark!
 'dinosaur skin' according to one viewer

and a nice note from the client below ...

maple slab stuff

this project started out as just a table and i first mentioned it in a post back in january

when it was finished and delivered to a 3rd floor penthouse in the south,

i thought it would be good to have all the picturess in one post .. here goes ..

great figure in these maple slabs, and the client requested steel butterflies!

nice touch!

while the varnish was wet ...

simple steel tube base by sam ...

as you can see in the drawing below,  the butterflies we a little more

involved than usual with threaded rods going all the way through the slab

half inch thick, 3/8ths threaded stainless rods

that was the table .. how we got to build the desk was the first slab 

arrived with a pretty good chunk lost on the way .. no one knows

where it went ... but my supplier got a damage credit and i got a 

break on the price, and the client needed a desk ... win, win, win ...

we still got 90 inches out of it and room for two more steel butterflies

great figure in this one too ...

we went back and forth on the layout for the wire management

and the grommet and the drawer ...

all good in the end

i was making a bench for another client, and mentioned it and we added one of those too ...

in place

in transit .. crane to the the third floor

live edge walnut bookcases

we sent some bookcase to the great midwest earlier this month. live edge walnut tops,
fine irion walnut case pieces and edge and center bead fir backs ...

it was a fun project with a long time client ... the bookcases are gonna have a nice view!

we first considered backless cases with metal bracing

but ended up with the nice fir backs

i have had this pair of boards for a long time and this was the

PERFECT project for them .. didn't waste an inch ...

it took a minute to figure out the construction joinery, but since the client was looking

for 'quick and easy' (hah!) we were able to simplify things with cleats and dominos,

some plugged screw holes in the top, and a little strategic glue on assembly

lots of pieces

center shelves are adjustable from 12 to 15

art, art, art, art

lots of art in manchester tomorrow !!  you can do all four events and make an afternoon of it

i'll be at startspace chatting about my paintings and sculpture from 4 to 6 ...

you can start at three pears gallery in downtown dorset, from 1 to 4
great stuff there!

always lots to see at
helmholz fine art in manchester from 3 to 5! 
i have two claro walnut pieces there ..

i'll be stopping in quickly there around 3:30,
and then hanging across the street at startspace from 4 to 6

                                      after that, i'll hit tilting at windmills, just up the street for a few minutes
                                                   to wrap it all up and make a full day of it ..

other start space artists below

i just dropped this 'unfinished' slab at the gallery there today ... 

it is on a temporary base, and is looking for someone with an idea ...

it's about 30" wide by 8'8" long 

coffee table? desk? console? countertop? library work table?

what do you need?