Home Office Desk for a Lifetime

Reclaimed Home Office Desk 

Sometimes it's a phone call, sometimes I'm just driving down the road and come upon a stack of beams put out on Friday from a construction crew, sometimes I have to go hunting but inevitably I come across timber that has served it's purpose and is slated for the landfill. Most of the time I look at the wood and can see right away another use for it. 

Laying out the wood for a project is a huge element in the success of the piece. Noticing the grain direction, colors, knots, splits or figure all have to do with the overall design of the piece. I rearrange until my body feels that right feeling. It's a sense. All is right. That's when I proceed to the first step. 

 

Just because the wood is reclaimed doesn't mean it comes looking like the finished product. It all started for me when I was invited to come get some wood from an old metal mill. Friends of friends were turning this old building into a physical therapy center and they had floors and walls to move. I was given wood from an old work bench top. It was pretty useless from the eyes of a woodworker. But I saved what I could and in the end built an incredible desk with it. The original workbench gave me a glimpse of what kind of abuse the wood had been subjected to. This led to another client who had wood from the workshop of the Smithsonian Institute. They wanted to keep the original wood intact as much as possible while still making a dining room table with it. I was able to see and study first hand the scaring, cutting drilling scoring and denting of a much used workbench surface. 

After I mill all the lumber, create the joinery and make the table top, I create the beautiful worn down used surface. It's the kind of table or desk you can sit at and just use without any concern about maring the surface. I think there is something interesting about a surface like this. It shows a history of making. It holds a creative energy. I even capture that when I'm making it since I have been making art since I was old enough to do so. 

Here's a quote from the client of this desk:

"“I guess the best words are unbelievable. Thank you for making a very incredible desk. Thank you Thank you. You are very talented. Please make my hall piece.  I have many pieces I want you to make.”  Stu

Me, job well done. Next?