Quick background- my wife’s step father has been making custom furniture for many years. He basically travels and locates large examples of American hardwoods to work with and turns out some amazing creations. Back around 2002 he gifted us one of his early creations that needed some work. It was made from the center cut of a standing dead American Red Elm (now basically extinct thanks to Dutch Elm Disease). I refinished the table and gave it 5 coats of Tung oil.
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My wife’s mother passed in December 2011. Prior to that, her son created a table from the same pile of Elm slabs that she enjoyed for several years. After she passed away, her husband had a severe stroke and fell under the care of a caregiver of his choosing. This woman was nothing less than a harpy that kept his possession in a leaky old barn until last year when he himself passed away. The caregiver contacted us to arrange disposing if his now nearly damaged belongings, including the sister-table to the one we have. It was in atrocious condition when it arrived.

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I set to work with sanders, beginning with 80 grit sandpaper which was necessary to break down the oxidized wood and level the extremely hard Elm. Compounding issues were tiny spots of rot and a shadow in the upper right corner from something left on top of it.



Once I got the worst of the damage scoured away, I was able to move up to 100 grit, 150, 240, and eventually 320.



2 coats of Tung oil later and it’s ready to move into the house.



It’s not a finished project yet; one leg is loose from careless handling and storage, and it needs a few more coats of Tung, but it is vastly improved. Both tables have amazing figuring and pictures don’t do them justice.

Those are beautiful!

Great looking, especially the first table's butterflies. Awesome that the stepdad made the effort to individualize the butterflies with different perspectives/angles.

BEAUTIFUL...I worked 35yrs as a custom cabinetmaker--- mother nature can be a awsome designer... some people would have run to the trash pile with that second table--so glad that you were able to see the beauty that was hiding under the years of neglect.. now you have some cherished family heirlooms...... drill sgt.



le

Beautiful tables and nice work restoring the second.
If/when you get a chance, please post a pic or two of the legs.
I'm a leg man...

Nice, very nice.

^^^
Both leg set need some love

Table 1


Table 2

quote:

Originally posted by BGULL:
Great looking, especially the first table's butterflies. Awesome that the stepdad made the effort to individualize the butterflies with different perspectives/angles.

The step father favored the stylings of George Nakashima and strengthened these butterflies with matching underlying steel pieces to insure the wood would stay put.

It's nice to see someone of your caliber take on a project like that. You do indeed have the same passion for beautiful wood and are paying it forward to his legacy. Great work on your part.

Beautiful!!

Dan

That wood is stupendously beautiful, and more so because it’s so rare to see.
Thank you from those of us who only long to see such fabulous pieces of wood, one of God’s great gifts to man.

I love wood. OK, I'm sorry for that. Its often why I purchase a gun. Only because its wearing a very worthy stock. Yes, I really like Brownings and own several. This is a gun forum, so guns being inserted into a discussion is usually relevant.

The nicest table I've ever seen is at the Daniel Carter Beard house, maybe a mile upstream from where I live. It also uses the butterflys to stem cracking. Its reported the walnut used in that table can be traced to the 1500s Europe. They had some climate change that killed off most of the big walnuts. Our ancestors weren't politically active enough to make them stop driving their giant SUVs back then.

Thanks for the leg pic's. I've never looked at the walnut talble's legs, I was always too interested in its top. Now I'll go for a visit and see if they'll let me do that. Maybe its not polite to look under its skirt, who knows. Maybe my wife won't let me, either. She knows how much I lust after that table.

They acquired it at auction, from the local Natural History museum. I was too stupid to realize those places sell off their "unwanted" (to them) pieces to help finance operations or acquisitions. I would have bankrupted us buying it. Next time I'm taking my camera along.

Does the FIL make these things to sell?

quote:

Does the FIL make these things to sell?

The arthritis has hit him pretty hard the last several years, so I’m not sure if he’s as active as he once was; I can ask if you’d like.

Very nice! Have you thought of inlay for the voids in the wood? There are many pics on Pinterest showing finished tables.

quote:

Originally posted by Ozarkwoods:
Very nice! Have you thought of inlay for the voids in the wood? There are many pics on Pinterest showing finished tables.

We’re going to keep them au naturel as possible to keep as primitive as possible. We thought of doing possibly clear epoxy fills but it would be a tremendous amount of finish work that you only get one shot at without possibly screwing it up.