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Fayette Cocktail Table

comments (0) July 28th, 2011 in Reader's Gallery

SchefflerWorkedWood, member

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FAYETTE COCKTAIL TABLE

Eastern Red Cedar Slab Top with Steel Hairpin Legs Commission, Completed 6/2010

DIMENSIONS: 51"L x 12.5"W x 13.5"H

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This piece was made for a family's 1920s ranch house that had recently been redone, but that was still tight on space. Making this piece even more special for the owners was the fact that the wood for the top was cut from a felled tree on their ranch. Also, this was my first attempt at making a live-edge slab table.

The plank was air dried for 18 months, then kilned, debarked, planned, shaped, and sanded. I'm not really big on the rustic/country look associated with most cedar furniture, so I "ebonized" the wood with an iron & vinegar solution, then finished the piece by hand-rubbing several coats of a oil varnish - up to 800 grit - followed by a couple coats of fine paste wax - which brought out the wood's color, grain and luster, while still allowing it to "breathe". For the base I used a set of custom-made 12" raw steel hairpin legs.

When I originally cut this piece of wood back in November of 2008, I deliberately cut it from the trunk on a diagonal in order to have the ends naturally taper, giving me a surfboard-shaped slab. I envisioned a table that would have the American craftsman style and sensibility of a George Nakashima 'Conoid Coffee Table', combined with the modern design aesthetic of an Eames 'Elliptical Table'. I think I may have succeeded - if only slightly, and in my own mind.

Thank you for your interest and for taking a closer look at my work. I'm constantly looking to improve as a woodworker, and would certainly welcome any comments or feedback you might have for me - on this piece or any one of my other gallery submissions here on FWW.

** I should also credit/thank Clark Kellogg of Kellogg Furniture Design in Houston, TX (@clarkatron on FW) for helping me with the initial surfacing of the slab. Being my first slab piece, I had "milled" the board using a chainsaw and it was incredibly rough and almost impossible to level - my planer and belt sander were no match. Clark generously lent his time & equipment in order to knock the board down - getting it started to where I could properly work/surface/finish the piece in my shop.

Design or Plan used: My own design - Donald Scheffler II