Big Tables
Building large custom tables is some of my favorite work. These are all solid lumber, traditionally joined tables that are built to seat 6 to 8 friends and family members for generations, and each one is unique. Surfaces are planed by hand, and can be refined to varying degrees, from fairly deep scallops, to glass-like smoothness, based on the preference of the client. I enjoy the different surface textures that are possible with hand planes and other sharp edge tools.
A simple square tapered leg farmhouse table. This was one of three similar tables designed by, and built for one client. This lumber is jatoba, also known as Brazilian cherry.
Jatoba top is 1.5” thick, with a beveled under edge.
A trestle table in its El Dorado Hills home. This table was built from salvaged 100 year old Douglas fir floor joists, which I acquired a from another client’s home, after it burned in a fire and was rebuilt. Nail holes from the old subfloor are visible on the edge of the breadboard end.
Cherry tapered leg farmhouse table with some very dramatic grain on the top.
Trestle Table from salvaged Douglas fir joists.
Another large farmhouse table, in cherry.
Cherry farmhouse table with breadboard ends.
Quarter-sawn oak trestle table top. The shallow scallops left from hand planing, create a subtle rippled texture that is pleasant to the touch, and reminiscent of antique European farmhouse tables.
Large mortise and tenon joinery.
Breadboard end detail on a cherry table, with slight distressing (light scratches and dings, giving an antique appearance) and rounded edges.
Quarter-sawn oak trestle table, through-tenon with wedge joinery. You can also see the chamfered top edge of the trestle, that ends at a “lambs tongue” detail.
Another large, tapered leg farmhouse table, built from salvaged Douglas fir floor joists. This one has many holes, bored by plumbers and electricians who worked on the original house in the early 1900s. I filled them with wood dowels but left them visible. Careful use of hand planes allows me to smooth the top so that it is pleasant to touch, while maintaining the rough, original character of the old lumber.
Large tapered oak trennels (pegs) secure the top to the base, and are removable with a firm tap by a mallet or a small, smooth-faced hammer.