Kauri Coffee Table - on Castors

The colour is so warm and the nail just makes it I recon

Many years back I was living in the Waikato... finishing my Psych degree. I answered an advert in the local rag selling a stack of old wood. A carpenter had recently passed away and had left the basement full of; his widows wife explained, "bloody stacks of the stuff and I don't know what to do with it!"

Amongst many finds I picked up a stack of Kauri. At 145 x 50mm it was the perfect sized timber to make something solid and lasting. I immediately imagined a table - coffee table of course.

The timber was rough sawn and needed a great deal of time on the belt sander. After it was put together I threw on tons of beeswax and linseed oil with steel wood. Steel wool makes the surface so soft.

The castors was an obvious choice. I like Castors.

Project 1 - Gas BottleTrolly

Found this at a demolition materials company in Gisborne. It is a Gas Bottle Trolly for moving large gas bottles.

I love the wheels and know that with a little imagination and persperation I can make something quite cool for the discerning eye.

I am thinking rimu or matai and a few extra wheels at the handle. having said that I have an old gate in the garage... mmm...

What do you think?

Simple Coffee Table - With Split Lid

With Split Lid

Yes it has a split in the lid. That is what I like about it.
Once again I don't know what timber it is.

I like the simplicity of this table - there is not much to it and yet it sits squarely? on the floor. Very few things that I make are 'square', you know, with right angles that measure to 90 degrees. That is the joy of using recycled timber. I could run it all through the thicknesser and the table saw and yet it will loose that roughness that does justice to the wood. Or maybe I am a bit lazy.

The table has had a light belt sand on the lid and in a few 'furry' places. The screws are stainless steel - just in case you were interested - and they were surplus from a kitchen installation many years ago - you know... reuse and recycle and all that!

And believe it or not it is quite stable and strong... the test being; can I put my feet up on it? Yes you can.

Pallet Coffee Table

On Casters no less.

Obviously this is a pallet that has been upscaled to a coffee table. This is not a new idea by any means... just throw pallet coffee table into google and there they are... thousands of them. Regardless, I love the idea and once again it is turning the proverbial 'firewood' into something useful.

This one is pine and has had a light sand on the top. I added fillets of timber to fill the gaps on the lid and a block to each corner to lift the table up for the casters.

Obviously it could be painted, stenciled or what-have-you. It has been sold :-)

Pallet Chair

 I don't know what type of wood this is. I would imagine that a serious carpenter would call it fire wood, however I like it because it is hard and heavy and there is a deep red in its grain.

I like chairs. The shape and the reason for them... sit and contemplate, eat, chat... whatever. I have always wanted to make a chair that works.

Pallets are a great source of timber which means I can experiment and there is no real cost other than transport of the pallets. I always make sure that I get pallets when I travel to town (Gisborne or Wairoa) making sure I never come home empty handed.

This chair caused many a pondering moment because I do not have a massive shop full of tools, I have to consider how to make it strong and sturdy without nails, bolts and screws everywhere. Dowel is used usually and all maner of jigs and contraptions to make things fit like a glove. In my case - glue, screws and hope.

In the end it looks good - is a bit 'upright' - and yet comfortable to sit on at the table.

3 legged stool

I found the log at Blacks Beach, Mahia Peninsula, Hawkes Bay. Carried it for what felt like ages back to my truck. It is a heavy piece of timber.

The legs came from a second hand store in Gisborne.

I love the crazy look that it has. The combination of nature and retro, and the three legs. Three legs are so much easier than 4 in this instance because the stool will always balance - if you know what I mean.

It is a stool if you have long legs or it is a small table - as shown here.

The log sat in my garage for 4 months until it dried out and because it is drift wood, it was already soft and well worn - the beauty of drift wood.

I slathered it with boiled linseed oil to protect it and also to give it a warm honey glow.

Not too shabby!