Next up for The Cafe: old, reclaimed Heart Pine

October 09, 2014

Rachel and I decided to make the new chairs and tabletops for Twisted Tree Cafe from reclaimed Heart Pine. I've used it in the past and besides being a good environmental choice, the stuff is absolutely breathtaking. The dining set pictured on my homepage is made from it. That photo is a good preview of what we're doing in the cafe: we're using the same wood species, and the chair I designed is a simplified variation of the one in the pictured.

On our day off this week we jumped in the truck and headed to a mill that specializes in reclaimed lumber from old buildings. They've got an amazing amount of space just crammed with stacks and stacks of old beams. I love workspaces of all kinds, and I can't help romanticizing them, so here's a little black and white photography:

Dining set part 3

February 09, 2013

The finished product:

And finally, here is the chair that this one was developed from:

Dining set part 2

February 06, 2013

The original concept for this dining set was from NYC architect Gary Deam of Deam Design. He designed the apartment this project is for, incorporating a long built in banquette to anchor the dining area. I was asked to design and build the individual pieces. Trestle tables work best with banquettes, so that was my starting point. The chair design is a refinement of a chair that I have built a couple of times in the past. And the banquette was designed to have clean lines and comfortable geometry. Since the space was going to feel refined and comfortable, I wanted to introduce something bold and a little rugged as counterpoint. So I used reclaimed Heart Pine, with all its cracks, holes, and character. On certain surfaces I planned to keep the antique patina of the old beams.

Here are boards for the tabletop being laid out:

The trestle assemblies (legs) for the table, with the top in the background:

A chair, beginning to take shape:

And finally, the banquette takes form. (Notice the cutout in the seat: I made the seat with two lids that hinge up so the bench can be used for storage as well.)

Next time: Final pictures!