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Bespoke Creations in Wood
If you know what you want but are unable to find it, contact us to discuss what you want created in the style, materials and size you desire.
Swamp Matai Dining Table
The owners of a sandhill lifestyle property near Levin discovered that deep under the hollows of their rolling sandhills lay matai and totara logs that had been buried for thousands of years. Using large hydraulic diggers they extracted the logs and had them milled into large planks. Once the planks were dry enough to work, they began looking for someone to turn them into a dining table.
Each plank was unique and had to be carefully fitted together to form a distinctive table top. The central plank, which has a gentle natural curve, was chosen as the main visual feature.
The table was clamped in place and the 10 mm gaps between the planks were filled with a special silicone gap filler — again to allow the 1.5 m × 1.5 m top to move naturally with changes in humidity.
The legs are short slabs, each with two live edges, giving the appearance that the table is held up by a “tree” in each corner.
Swamp Totara Bedroom Suite
From the same sandy swamp, ancient Totara logs were dug up, milled, and stacked to dry for several years. In due course another member of the family wanted the totara planks turned into a bedroom suite consisting of two large dressers, two bedside cabinets, and a large slab headboard.
The finished suite now sits proudly in the family home, with the large totara slab headboard as its centrepiece.
Although Totara was often used for fence posts, and the Totara from the Seventy Mile Bush (of which Dannevirke was the centre) was widely used for railway sleepers on the line from Wellington to Napier, the timber still needed careful treatment.
Even though Totara is naturally resistant to rot, thousands of years underground had caused some deterioration and softening.
All splits, knots, voids and softened areas were soaked with epoxy to ensure the timber will stand the test of time. One of these slabs became the headboard.
The dressers and cabinets are built using traditional frame-and-panel construction. This method allows the timber to expand and contract safely as humidity changes throughout the year.
The bedside cabinets each have one drawer and an open shelf. Adjustable feet were fitted so the units can be levelled on the villa’s sloping floors.
All drawers are dovetailed — the strongest and most durable joint for this purpose.
Cute little bedside cabinet with classic handle.
The headboard made from a single Totara slab with an interesting shape.
A close-up of the right side of the headboard.
The finished Totara slab dresser in pride of place.
Up-cycled Oak Island Bench
This bench of American White Oak started life as a workbench in the Auckland Museum. It was 10 feet / 3 metres long by 4 foot / 1.2 metres deep. It was pure utilitarian, never on show. During an expansion and remodelling of the museum some years ago, the bench changed hands and found its way into some rough storage for several years.
The first task was to reduce the bench's length to fit the kitchen, which while large, could not fit the full length of the bench. This required shortening the length of the rails and angular bracing before reassembling the frame.
The owner wanted to re-use as much of the oak as possible. As the oak top had a long active life as a workbench, thus it was not suitable to be reused as a top. In consultation, it was decided to cut the top into strips to make railings and slats left ← and above ↑. The guests' side of the bench has 3 wide drawers for cutlery and utensils, plus a full length slatted shelf for pots and storage crates.
Though American White Oak is very light in colour, the owner wanted the base of the bench to be very dark, ie Jacobean, with a contrasting very light top - Rock Maple.
The large Butler sink was too heavy to hang off the frame of the bench, so a separate stand was made, with slatted shelving below.
The top is made of Rock Maple, a timber often used in commercial kitchens for its ease of cleaning, ie wipe down after use with a strong solution of household bleach and allow to dry overnight. Such care will remove even berry syrup stains. Note: One of Ron's first jobs was as a busboy in a pancake restaurant.
Seen from the guests' side of the island bench, you can see the two wide soft-close drawers on either end of the bench, with a super-wide drawer in the middle.
The working-side of the bench with an under-bench refrigerator and a dishwasher yet to be fitted on either side of the butler sink.
The repurposed island bench in use.
Macrocarpa Slab Coffee Table
Macrocarpa Slab Coffee Table with flared legs and pinned cross bar.
St Margaret's Church in Hillsborough wanted a life-size Cross installed in time for Good Friday, it was a pleasure to serve them.
