This one’s unique as it’s made from reclaimed Wandoo. It is a fabulous Western Australian timber and typically hard to source on the east coast so stumbling onto this batch was a rarity. Wandoo is a first-class structural timber that tends to be used in heavy construction such as sleepers, warehouse flooring and bridges, not to mention furniture.
Wandoo is one of the toughest and most durable timbers of any Eucalypt. Its bark use to be harvested for tannin, and its nectar for honey production. It’s that hard the colonists used it for shafts, cogs, spokes and fellows, an I’m sure I read somewhere, as nails for ship building!
The client wanted a solid timber red toned dining table with black metal legs to tie into a modern style home and exposed brick wall in the dining area. After weighting up the options between the likes of Red Gum and Sydney Bluegum, Wandoo was the winner – thankfully I had just enough for the table size required.
Originally the timber came with a varnish finish on it that needed removing, and boy, did it look UGLY! A few tins of paint stripper later (yuck) after giving up on using the belt sander, the top was ready for the next steps of filling voids, sanding and finishing before attaching the legs. The legs are custom made black steel hoop legs from 10 mm flat bar which have completed the simple but modern design of this bespoke dining table. To complete the project, I finished in Rubio Monocoat to provide that natural feeling but hard-wearing surface.
Then it came to moving it, and for a smallish 2400 mm long table this custom table was heavy! With the weight of the table, my regular local movers got on board with a four-man team to ensure it got where it was going and into the house in one piece, sideways through the doorway.
A beautiful piece that provides a reminder that reclaimed timbers no matter how ugly to start can look amazing once re-worked and re-finished.