... the pictures to get a larger, more detailed photo!
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Black Walnut Planks are Here!
Pictured are 14 Black Walnut slabs taken from 4 trees. Each set is cut from the same tree which makes the color tone and grain patterns nearly identical! Which in turn makes for phenomal table tops, etc...
This picture is of 2 pieces that are "bookmatched". They are also 21" wide a piece!! With the two joined to mirror the others grain pattern you have, what we call, a bookmatched top. It goes without saying how show-stopping of a top it makes.
The "quilting" at the bottom of the slab is called the crotch of the tree. Its not neccessarily the base, this looks like where the main trunk was splitting apart to make 2 large branches. This makes for a heavy grouping of figure, which is usually reserved for making thin sheets of veneer for high-end furniture, gun stocks and musical instruments. Like this...
There are enough for 4 tables. One has been spoken for, just waiting to see which set they want. First come, first served around here at the Antique Attic. The tables run $1600 (4 slab top) - $2600 (for the 2 slab bookmatched set top).
LINK to similar looking pieces that aren't made of solid wood that go for more...
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Heart Pine
Heart Pine, also known as "fat lighter," "lighter wood," "rich lighter," "pine knot," "lighter knot," "fat wood" or "lighter'd" (sic), is derived from the heartwood of pine trees. The center of any tree is considered the heart of the tree whereas the outer rings are called sapwood.
This heart wood is very resilient to insects and rot. Which made it a go-to source for builders here in the southeast part of our great nation for the last 100 years or so. Longleaf pine is readily available and was a cheap building material at the time. So more than likely, all those old barns you see when you are driving in the country are made with longleaf "heart" pine.
Fast forward to now and you have a good amount of these barns not serving any purpose or becoming structural dangers on farms and in turn are being torn down. Most people burn the leftover wood being as it is a pain to haul it off. PLEASE DONT DO THIS! We at the Antique Attic LOVE LOVE LOVE this wood. It makes the best tables and has a beautiful color and even smells good! Here are some examples of pieces made of heart pine.
A traditional "Heart Pine" Farm Table...
A coffee table made after something in Restoration Hardware...
This was a small sofa table made out of heart pine.
Paloma Table
Another example of plagiarizing the big box stores designs for a fraction of the cost and exponentially better materials and quality was this table...
... The Paloma Table from Crate & Barrel, runs $1500.
Our version was $800 and made to fit her breakfast nook...
Walnut Table Benches
Most of my projects have stemmed from customers saying they are looking for something similar to what they saw in Restoration Hardware or Crate and Barrel type magazines. This pair of benches falls into that category. The customer was looking for something similar to the "Toscana Bench" from Pottery Barn. The bench looks like this...
After the customers decided on size and color we started making them a pair of these...
This is after the first coat of Danish Oil
Final coat...
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Black Walnut Breakfast Table
Another Farm Table styled table with distressed black painted bottom.
Figured Walnut top made of only 3- 15" boards!
More Custom Tables
SOLD SOLD SOLD
This table was made out of one crosscut section of a old, old, old Redwood tree. You can count around 200 growth rings in the top, before it turns into burl.
This picture below shows a better view of the slab. The top left corner of the slab shows the center or heart of the tree.
So this slab is just a small section of what more than likely looked like this...
Mathison Interiors
For our Montgomery (and the surrounding area) customers, we have been blessed to know and worked with the exceptional people at Mathison Interiors for quite some time now. Lynn and her daughter Clay have a real tight ship there. We just sent a good stock of inventory to her new shop located at 7449 Eastchase Pkwy in Montgomery, AL. Be sure to stop by and give their new digs a look see. You won't be dissappointed.
Claro Walnut Coffee Table
SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD
One of my coffee tables is for sale in "The Nature Gallery" on Foster street in Dothan. It is made of Black Walnut, which is my favorite wood to work. The slab pictured is made of Claro Walnut, usually reserved for high-end gun stocks and musical instuments. It has the prettiest "quilted grain" I have seen on anything that has come through my workshop.
This shows a "butterfly" used to keep the slab from splitting.
Even though wood has long been cut and dried at the time of construction, it still can expand and contract due to changes in humidity. When it is extremely humid like it is now your solid-wood furniture will swell, sometimes causing drawers to feel tighter or seams in joined-wood to close slightly. In the colder months, just the opposite.
This is a picture of it on a wrought-iron base.
The top is for sale with or without the base, depending on personal taste...
Live-Edge Cypress Table
SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD
Some of you know I have been making farm tables, mantles and coffee tables for the last couple years. In that time I have found a type of table that I just love making. They are called Live-edge or Nakashima style tables. George Katsutoshi Nakashima (May 24, 1905 – June 15, 1990) was a Japanese-American woodworker, architect, and furniture maker who was one of the leading innovators of 20th century furniture design and a father of the American craft movement. George was, like many Japanese-Americans, placed into a interment camp in the 40's. During his time there, he was mentored by an older woodworker who showed him how to use wood in a more natural, organic form. The live-edge table was born. Here are some examples of Nakashima's work.
Here is my last one made for some ATL friends of mine...
It is made of sinker Cypress from the Chipola River. It was made of 2 pieces of cypress slabs, one pictured here.
When joined together, stained and finished, the top looks like this...
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