I was checking my email before bed one evening and a post came through from The guild of Oregon Woodworkers about someone selling their collection of wood as they were moving to the east coast. I saw these pieces and had a hard time going back to sleep! It was too late to call and we have over 800 members who may have also received the same post. I set my alarm and called first thing in the morning. Someone had already told Dan that they would purchase everything he had, his life collection, but he said he liked my enthusiasm so he let me come take a look before anyone else. I am still in touch with him as I am so grateful! I am in love with these salvage pieces and the possibilities.
His shop was amazing and he had already planed the wood but I wanted to square off the edges because I knew right away what I had in mind.
I made a mold from melamine that I plan to reuse. For security I lined the bottom with smooth polyethylene so the resin would not stick.
Here we are face down with the mold complete. I am weighting it down and clamping it as well. I used silicone calk in the corners of the mold and taped the outside as well.
I decided to go very light on the color. This is a transparent green.
Look at how gorgeous this wood is! I am using the slightest bit of color but the thicker it gets the more it shows up.
The very day I took it out of the mold, I took it to Creative woodworking to be planed. This is from the top. It is still rough from the blades.
It is funny how many times I felt like it was close to finished looking back..
I thought I would contrast the blue with yellow resin for the knot hole.
Well this is part of the journey so I will say that when you have wood and resin together and meeting in this way, finishing is something to contemplate. Many folks flood coat the whole piece with more resin as I did here. If you look carefully, you can see what looks like a finger pressing. This is not good. Sometimes the resin pushes away if there is an impurity or a multitude of reasons.. At this point I was full of regret! It looks a bit like a fish tank and I am not sure how I feel about that. I wanted at this point to not have it be so shiny and also I felt like it was disrespectful to the wood to put the resin on it so I ended up spending six zen like hours sanding it off. The part I did keep was the very edge of the resin with the shine.
There are still tiny micro bubbles even though I torched between each layer as I poured. I don’t mind. It was almost as in control of how it turned out as I was!
I ended up making the legs by transforming the handrails form a Portland school, Kellogg, that was being torn down and rebuilt. Both to keep the table top clear and to stabilize the legs, an under-shelf was added. It was made of poplar and also ended up getting a resin finish on the top. Here is the bottom with a dark patina to help blend the resin residue. I intentionally let it adhere to the bottom to add strength and prevent the sides from being vulnerable to coming loose.
Here it finally is at the Guild Gathering with a matte finish I feel so much better about. It ended up with a coat of bee’s wax combined with hard wax for a natural finish. I was taken aback with the enthusiasm from the gathering goers! Everyone seemed to be surrounding the table, photographing the table, touching the table, loving the table!
I am happy with all of the color with the natural wood and how it comes together! The shelf is chartreuse, the blue/green resin, the yellow in the knot, the wood itself and how the spalting ties in with the patina on the old handrails.
I was not prepared for the sudden web site traffic and as it turns out, my contact page was not set up to actually get me the messages. I am so sorry if you tried to send me a message! (It is fixed now)
Jennifer and her husband Paul did send me a message on Saturday with interest. I was able to catch up with them on Sunday and they are now the new owners of this beauty.
I took it home to give it a good buffing with the wax before saying goodbye.
