Woodworking

This bench is built from solid walnut, from a 150 year old + tree cut done to make space for housing.  Nothing is square and all dimensions evolved as the build progressed. 

The final surfaces are treated with outdoor wood oil. The location is outdoors under cover in partial sun, so this is also a weathering experiment.

A quick test piece exploring the idea of semi-submerged sea creatures. A cherry wood form is agumented with firestained copper fins and enamel eyes.

I made our kitchen countertop from a Douglas Fir thick cut slab. Experimented with multi-stage burning of the surface and rubbing back, a  traditional Japanese technique Shou-Sugi-Ban.

This was originally used to preserve external cedar timbers, as charcoal is resistant to fungi and insects.

This method results in a strong relief between the seasonal hard and soft grain lines, which is emphasized by the dark brown/black charring. Wax finished.

This is an early trial of a resin and wood combination. The wood is a walnut slab cut along the grain and the base is an early 20th/late 19th French cast iron table frame.

This footstool is made from an old plank of wild cherry wood. I built the structure for practice and augmented it with enamel insets. 

The wood was drying in a barn for 50+ years so it is ultra dry, dense and quite hard. 

The challenges with such material include finding it, odd sizes, woodworm and nails. As a result every piece of work made from very old wood is a one-off.

In use at home.