Friday, May 7, 2010

The Dining Room Table


Dining Room Table
This table took two months to completion.
The ¾”slat pieces in this table were from reclaimed wood. A neighbor long ago had built mock ceiling beams. The recent resident tore them out during remodeling and put them curbside for pickup. The 6” x 14’ pine boards were painted brown. Lumber of this length would be very expensive to buy. And consideration was also made in how long a tree that size would have taken to grow. After talking with Aaron my neighbor and asking permission, I dawned my best Hamburgular thievery walk- short and quick pointed steps. I snatched those boards up and brought them back to my lair (house).
Once finish sanded the top was oil stained to the resulting color effect of lemon/natural, a color that brightened up the dining room considerably. The bottom, top and sides of the tabletop surface were coated with Envirotex Lite Epoxy, for a durable glass like top finish. The epoxy proved to be a challenge by coating the garage during the cold Wisconsin winter. I installed a heating lamp and coated when I could keep the surface temperature above 50F and kept the resin and hardener inside before mixing. After the final flood coat I brought the top inside after a day or two to complete the slow cure after initial hardening.
After a few course changes it turned out beautifully and was ready for our Christmas dinner with cards played on it afterwards.
The laminated board structure of the top is reinforced with four 7/16” threaded rods snugging it up cross sectionally.
The leg structure is proprietarily stained. The resulting green embossed pattern to the grain is meant to symbolize new growth that blossoms into the contrasting stable interwoven structural top that weighs over 130 pounds. The brown washers with black bolt heads securing the legs create and symbolize the “petrification” of a witch’s eye 

COPYRIGHT 2009 THOMAS PAUL MURPHY

Outdoor Work Bench

Outdoor Work Bench

This solid structure is made from discarded chalet/clubhouse outdoor bench seat. The slabs were made modular to limit any warp age present with larger slab architecture. It is held together with with threaded rods.

The top designed to resemble red cobblestone bricks or neatly placed strips of bacon, interpretation dependant on influence of mood.

The leg structure constructed of new treated lumber design with lateral leg wedge support to prevent sway or limit joint separation on sideways movement.

The mass of slab reaching near limit to axial manipulation and positioning before back strain occurs.

The legs stained green takes on a journey of a life of a plant from when the first green buds emerge from the soil to maturation. The respect for maturation further evidenced in this wood lasting for over thirty years outside and then reworked to represent a youngness of construction. The gloss coating oil from bacon in frying pan; “perfume on a pig”, no instead the glorification of this aged wood to represent the transformative strength of solid brick, embellished with age.

In summary a tribute to wisdom and new wisdom attained with age.

Copyright 2009 Thomas Paul Murphy