The Next Project

[Touchwood]

This is a long story, so I'll try and keep it simple. A customer of mine and her husband built a beautiful home in the Wakefield area about 12 years ago. The centerpiece of the landscaping is a circular drive in front with a large white oak in the center. After a long illness, her husband passed away three years ago...and the tree died the same year. For reasons you would know, she wanted something, or things made from it's wood. Dave O took down the tree and Scsmith42 took three 2" thick slabs off the log and quarter-sawed/kiln dried the rest.
A lot of the QS White Oak turned this Harvest table I built for her two years ago.

and two of the three slabs turned into six natural edge benches

That left one last slab. She decided on using it for a headboard and footboard...keeping the natural edge, knots, cracks whatever as long as it was "natural". I decided to get Scott to re-saw the piece into a book-matched pair of boards about an inch thick.

So here's the general idea. I'll use the top portions in the headboard..make a frame with 8/4 Quarter-sawn Sapele and inset the oak panels. The height is limited by the bed placement under a window, so the panels will run horizontally

Rough design here...The foot-board will be a miniature of this using the other end of the boards

I'll keep you posted...this will take a while:icon_thum

Don

 

[Bill Clemmons]

Don, I love your design. When you said a head and foot board using the bookmatched slabs, I was having trouble visualizing how you were going to do that. But your design is an excellent way to use both pieces. :icon_thum

Bill

 

[Mike Davis]

Wonderful design, beautiful wood and a fantastic remembrance piece.

 

[ehpoole]

Don,

I really admire your work. It takes real skill to incorporate live edges into your work in a way that looks every bit as natural, but you pull it off beautifully. :icon_thum

Thanks for sharing with us!

 

[Canuck]

Beautiful work Don!

The headboard/foot board design is going to be a very unique piece.

Looking forward to seeing the end result.

Wayne

 

[Jeff]

That's going to be really nice and a fitting remembrance for your friend: "From the land, with love".

We look forward to a WIP description with pics. Just curious though: Why Sapele?

 

[charlie jones]

Very nice Don. I like simple and elegant designs.

 

[Touchwood]

That's going to be really nice and a fitting remembrance for your friend: "From the land, with love".

We look forward to a WIP description with pics. Just curious though: Why Sapele?

If there had been more QS White Oak I would probably have used that...all that wood had been milled at 4/4 so I had to laminate boards to get the thickness I wanted for the table top and bench legs. Those two designs used up most of it. I really like the ribbon effect in QS Sapele that I used in the "Krenov" cabinet, and if I can find some with curves in the ribbon approximating the curves I want on the uprights I think it would work...plus the contrasting colors should show off the oak "grain/knot/burl structure nicely." We'll see.......

I'll post progress periodically:icon_thum

Don