We do most of our work from end-to-end. We dismantle some buildings, build great custom tables (among everything else), finish them in our shop, and then ship ’em whole to the customer. The other day, we had a customer order a 36 by 77 inch white oak table top that was 1 inch thick. They didn’t want the legs, just the top. We got chatting a bit and it turns out that they ordered their base from modern turned leg manufacturer.

This made a lot of sense to us. Our customers, Debbie and Ron, specifically wanted painted turned legs. It seems silly to paint over great old wood. In addition, it’s a pretty challenging to turn old legs and maintain an interesting old look. Some of the absolutely stunning beauty of our reclaimed wood is, as they say, “only skin deep.” As you cut into the wood to turn it, you loose the patina, original woodworker marks, and other character that really make it interesting. So why not, purchase a table base from elsewhere and then purchase the top from Antique Woodworks.

Antique Woodworks crafted the white oak tabletop from old 2-by-8 floor joists from an old 1880s granary. This particular granary has provided a lot of splendid wood for many of our furniture projects lately. Anyway, we removed what square nails we could, then straightlined and planed the boards to just the right size — dinging our share of blades in the the process. But such is the game with the old wood. With just the right amount of sanding, the beautiful color, nice tight grains, and character all come to life beautifully. Finally, we finished the top with a coat of Rubio Monocoat.

Debbie and Ron worked carefully to create distressed, antiqued finish for their tablelegs.com table base. Then, ordered a completed white oak table top from us. They picked up the top and then assembled the whole thing together. It was a nice do-it-yourself project with great results. They did a really nice job. With a set of pictures from the Debbie, we also got the feedback we so love to hear, “It turned out just like we thought it wood. We love it. Thanks so much for being patient with us through the process of making decisions.”

Visit the Farm Tables section or the Wood Countertops section of this site for more info.