SYD – Fine Furniture/Design

Tag: Spalted

  • Uchi Houston Host/Hostess Stand

    Uchi Houston Host/Hostess Stand

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    I was approached by the company managing the highly acclaimed Uchi restaurants in Texas area for a revamp of the host and hostess stand there. The original one was made out of walnut plywood and it had been showing some wear and tear for awhile now. My clients wanted to use locally sourced spalted pecan to match the other furniture in the restaurant. 

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    I went to my favorite local sawmill Berdoll Sawmill in Cypress Creek, TX to get the spalted pecan. Spalted wood is beautiful, but it can be too busy if used without restraint. The front, sides, and the legs are spalted pecan, but everything else is made from hickory plywood to give it a nice contrast without the contrast being too stark. I allowed a expansion gap in the center of the front so the solid wood pecan could move freely without cracking. 

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    This new host stand was an opportunity to correct/add details that improved the functionality of the host stand. The first improvement was creating one of the legs hollow so the power cord can be discreetly fed through the cabinet and up to the top surface. Another improvement was creating a recessed area for the monitor to sit in. The clients wanted the customer’s first interaction with the friendly hosts and hostess to be unobstructed by distractions. The sides and the front is raised up front the top surface for this purpose- to hide any clutter that accumulates during a busy dinner service. 

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    In the cabinet, there are 3 doors, 1 drawer, and 1 cubby area. On the side, there is a little menu holder made out of spalted pecan. I chose a toned down board of spalted pecan for the menu holder so there’s a bit of a contrast. 

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    This was a fun project that meant a great deal to me. When I first moved to Austin and I was looking for a job, I worked as a prep chef there briefly until I could get my bearings in town and go work for a guitar maker. I recall my brief time there with warmth. The chefs and everyone there were extremely friendly and the buzz I felt during dinner service was intoxicating. I always wonder what would have happened if I stayed there instead of pursuing my woodworking career. 

     

  • FWC-18′ conference table

    FWC-18′ conference table

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    The good people of Far West Capital are so awesome that their business and staff just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I had made a 12′ conference table for them a few years ago, and they’ve already outgrown that one, so they commissioned me to make a 18′ conference table this time. They loved the traditional meets modern aesthetic of the last one, so we decided to design something that looks totally different from the last one, yet feels similar.

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    This was by far the biggest project I’ve had the opportunity to work on and logistics became the first and foremost in the design aspect. How can I make these parts in my shop and how can I break the pieces up so I can move it safely and easily? I decided that the top will be made from 3 parts and I wanted to make the top as light as possible since that has the biggest area. To support the top, there are thick and wide aprons that come apart and fit together with notches made in the wood. This gives stability to an otherwise flexible top. The aprons rest on pedestals that are angles and tapered in almost every direction. The taper came from trying to gain as much foot space as possible without sacrificing stability. One side of the pedestal is held in with clips so you can remove it to store and hide conference table equipment. At the feet there is a 1/4″ blackened plate steel that adds weight and distributes the footprint out so the top wont tip over.

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    The whole table is made from peruvian walnut veneered panels with solid wood edging. The removable center piece is made of spalted beech. Spalted is a figure in wood caused by fungal attack. The wood is left for fungus to attack, but then harvested before the wood rots completely and becomes unusable. It’s characteristics are black vein like lines with wood tones around it being different. I think the spalted beech was a nice compliment to the peruvian walnut and adds a little bit of country to the otherwise sophisticated elements.

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    To break up the large dark surface and to give a nod to traditional furniture we chose to inlay cross banding around the border. Cross banding is inlayed wood that is aligned so the grain is oriented side to side across the length. The outer cross banding is made from Bolivian rosewood and the inner cross banding that borders the spalted beech is Macassar Ebony. I feel the different tones in the woods give a nice transition to the different woods.

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    Sixteen people can sit all around the table easily and maybe a few more if people are willing to get close and cozy with each other. I think this design is a success because the real design elements are in the small details.

     

  • Horn Jewelry Box

    Horn Jewelry Box

    hornbox5This client approached me about a jewelry box for his soon to be wife as a wedding gift. I’ve always loved the idea that I can create something meaningful for a couple on this special day. This object will be in some way linked as something that will remind them of this once in a lifetime moment. So, of course, I jumped on the project.

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    We talked about what designs he and his wife was into, and it became apparent that he wanted something simple, yet elegant. They also loved mid century designs as well as art deco so I wanted to tie elements of those in while creating something unique. The design we stumbled upon is layers of pecan and maple that is slightly different in size so it creates a staggered effect. The bevel on the edges bring this staggered effect to life while still maintaining the subtleness.For the top, I chose spalted maple since the tones were similar with the rest of the box and let’s face it, spalted lumber is just plain beautiful to look at.

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    There are four small drawers with removable dividers and a lift up lid that also houses removable dividers. The dividers fit into a beveled groove (birds mouth groove) so the thin divider sides are kept as strong as possible. To be able to lift the lid up, I notched out a little triangle- just enough for a finger to grab hold of the lid. I brought the triangle detail down to the rest of the pecan layers to keep everything balanced.

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    The drawers needed a handle and I didn’t want to disturb the nice triangle feature, so I decided to cutout a finger hole on the side that allows for the drawers to be opened easily. I think it’s interesting to be able see the maple drawer sides through the cutout and see the movement of the cutout as the drawer is being opened.

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