TG Woodworks

Travis at TG Woodworks (or “comprising TG Woodworks”, since it’s just him as far as I know) is building an entry table for us, and since he probably isn’t reading this, I’m going to gush just a little bit.  We showed him some pictures of what we were looking for (straight out of the Stickley catalog, basically) and he was right on board.  I think he really enjoys building for someone that knows a little about what they’re after and why – we chatted about through-tenons, fuming, the magic ratio, all kinds of furniture-nerd stuff.  The difference is that he has all the skill, experience, and tools to actually do something with the knowledge.

And the something he’s doing for us is stunning – quartersawn white oak, traditional joinery, and zero metal.  Seriously – not a single screw, nail, bolt, nut or washer.  He doesn’t even like to use dowels if he can avoid it.  The corbels (the curved supports under the edges of the top) are put on with 9″ long blind tenons.  Travis said Stickley used to attach his corbels with dowels, but he wants to do just a hair better.

If you click the picture of the table when it’s dry-fit together, you can see one of the long tenons on the front left corbel.  It’s not pushed in all the way because the tolerances are so tight he was worried it wouldn’t come back out.  There’s no reason it shouldn’t last multiple centuries, so we’ll pass it down to Josie, who’ll pass it down to her children, who we hope will deliver it through many more generations.

Travis was kind enough to send some in-progress pictures from his workshop, and Missy and I took a few of our own when we drove there to talk about stain (and to ogle it, but officially to talk about stain).

Here’s the pile of lumber that will magically (or possibly not, I haven’t really seen Travis work in person) become our table.  He said he’s been holding the lumber for a few years, just waiting for the right project to come along.  I’m glad we’re worthy, because it’s perfect.  Just stellar ray-flakes in the grain – the kind of thing you can only get from a tree that grew slowly over 150 years.  The tree grew on a farm near Poy Sippi, Wisconsin (about 30 miles from here – when we say we want to use local materials and craftsmanship, we really mean it) and blew over in June 2001.

You can really see the rays when the top is glued up and planed.  Travis planed it by hand because he was worried the machine planer would strip off the rays.

Here’s the table with the pieces all cut, mortises drilled, and tenons shaped.  Travis said he still has 4-5 days of sanding (!!!), then he’ll put it together with glue, stain, and finish it.  It was rock-solid when he dry-fit it together for us, so once the glue sets and the wood picks up some moisture from our house, it’ll feel like the table was carved from a single trunk.

If I told you what we paid for it, you’d (pardon my French) dirty your drawers.  Do yourself a favor -  if there’s a piece of furniture you were thinking about buying from Pottery Barn, World Market, or Crate + Barrel, give him a chance to give you an estimate first.

He’s going to deliver it late this week or early next, so keep an eye out for an update.  I need to give the refinished floor another coat of stain and a couple coats of poly-urethane before it gets here.  Can’t have such a beautiful table sitting on a half-finished floor!