Walnut dining table with stainless steel base
An advantage of having a comprehensive and dedicated network of local suppliers is our ability to offer our clients the ability to select individual pieces of lumber to make up their table. The popularity of walnut is primarily the result of the beauty of the grain and richness of the color palette. When combined with the excellent stability and superior finish of the specie, these qualities have made it one of the most favored woods for building furniture in the last twenty years. Before that cherry was quite popular, and walnut seems to have steadily surpassed it in popularity.
A wisp of contrast from the Sapwood.
By contrast to the darker heartwood, the sapwood of walnut is light and almost creamy caramel in appearance. All natural wood begins life as sapwood. It is this portion of the trunk that the tree relies upon to transfer essential minerals and moisture from the roots to the leaves. As the tree ages, the wood in the center of the trunk changes to heartwood and, in the case of walnut, takes on a darker hue. Happily, this offers clients the ability to choose the finish they like. For this table, the client wanted to keep a subtle suggestion of the sapwood to provide an interesting contrast. When requests like this are made, we can take into account aesthetic preferences within reason and do our best to accommodate them with material that’s available
We milled the individual boards to show just hints and wisps of sapwood. Typically our walnut tables don’t include sapwood, though a subtle wisp here or there is always possible. So when you see a more than a few wisps of sapwood in one of our tops, it’s usually because we’ve done our best to accommodate the requests of a particular client. No two table tops are alike, as such, we can’t make hard promises about the exact appearance of the color or variation of grain in a top. But we are in the business of making happy customers, and building beautiful tables, so we always make sure to discuss your prefernces up front so we can strive to meet them, or let you know off the bat what is unrealistic. This is really up to the client, and we are always happy to include a little contrast, particularly when the size of the table (8’ by 4’) provides the opportunity to introduce some subtle color variation.
2k Spray finish for superior protection.
The client chose to protect the table with a 2k urethane spray finish to ensure that the table’s surface would resist staining from food and liquid spills. This spray application provides superior protection from water rings and is exceptionally durable. It’s more akin to a commercial furniture finish that the more natural oil finishes, but since we use a matte finish, it presents quite natural.
Delivery to the Cape and the Islands
We work with Cape Cod shipping companies and Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket designers on a regular basis. We crate and deliver to the Cape, and then a reputable shipper takes it the rest of the way.
The base of stainless steel for beautiful simplicity.
To complement the tabletop's clean and modern aesthetic, the client chose a ‘T’ base design in stainless steel. To achieve the true mirror-like beauty of stainless steel, great care must be taken both in the welding of the different sections and the polishing. This base is actual stainless, which is more expensive that regular black steel. As such, it requires a lot more polishing. We are also capable of using black steel, and powder coating it a variety of silver and chrome colors, but they will present more like a bright paint, and will not provide a mirror reflection the way stainless will.
We used 1’ by 3’ steel for the horizontal foot and top of the base, and the vertical posts were made from 3’ by 3’ material. All the welds were meticulously done to achieve a perfect seam, and the steel was polished to achieve a flawless finish. It is a long and painstaking process, but the beautiful mirror effect that stainless steel delivers makes it all worthwhile.
So, if you have a particular design in mind, reach out to us, and we would love to hear about your dream project. Our strength is being able to translate your concept into a beautiful reality.
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