466a Davy Jones Mirror

This is a newly built mirror frame, painted to look old, and a new mirror, stripped and chemically aged to look antique.  The idea here was to create something that looked nautical, as if it had hung in the great stateroom of a luxury liner, which sank - and of course now Davy possesses it.  

The frame is of solid poplar and was turned on a lathe - it's a "faceplate turning" in which the whole thing rotates and the profile is cut with shaped chisels.  

Many layers of distressed casein paint give this finish its complexity.  The antique mirror is in fact brand new.  To antique a mirror properly, one must strip the paint off the back and age it with chemicals that eat away the silver.

Close view of paint and mirror.  This piece measures 33 3/4 inches in diameter and belongs to a local Portland man whose favorite color is grey.  It can be ordered in custom sizes.  

552 Outdoor Table

This trestle table is distressed and finished to look antique.  It is built of solid oak and is very sturdy, and has been finished with a penetrating living finish that will perform outdoors.  Here it is in San Jose California.  

Detail of the end stretcher.  The table comes apart here and could be shipped in pieces to save space.  

Detailing of the aprons and tops of the legs.  This table can easily be built with leaves.  

Detail of top, showing round pegs at each "joint".  There are no actual joints in this table; since it was expected to be exposed to some rain, we built the top with separate boards and coated all six sides of each board with a water resisting, tough and resilient finish.  

This shows fake "cracks" in the wood.  The oak we used here was new and kiln-dried and had no such cracks.  Each one was added by me in order to make the top look like an antique.  

Detail of top.  This is supposed to look 100 years old at least, with spots, cracks, texture, and rough joints and lots of color complexity.  

Very close view of top texture showing round pegs. 

Showing the basic shape and simple trestle design.  We spent quite a bit of time mocking up the end stretcher and making sure that it was comfortable to sit at.  We originally made this table for a tall family.  Many of our customers are tall, and find that genuine antiques are built too low and with too wide of an apron for them.  This table "sits" very well at the end and it is very comfortable to prop the feet on that end stretcher.  Generous end and side overhangs on this piece make it possible to use arm chairs all around.  

Here is an inspiration picture of a genuine 18th Century rustic farmhouse table that the client chose for guidance on the color and finish effects.  It's for sale at www.liveauctioneers.com.

550 Classic farm tables have an antique finish and can be built with leaves

Turned legs and a pullout breadboard leaf system

Close view of turned leg and antiqued finish

This is a 30 x 60 inch table that expands to seat 10.

Leaves are stored inside this end.

A simpler design, straight tapered legs

We almost always use newly sawn kiln dried wood for our furniture.  Cracks are fake, wormholes are fake, discoloration is fake.  Pegs are fake too!  For somebody who likes to eat whole foods and wears no makeup, it's rather hysterical that all I do at work is fake finishes.

#610 -- A variation on that theme:  with cabriole legs and "company board leaves".

Simply constructed leaves are attached to leaf arms and fit within slots cut in each end.

Plugs cover these leaf arm holes when the leaf is absent.

#596 -- Another color and style variation:  slightly thinner, straighter legs.  This has pullout style leaves:  Leaf arms are attached to breadboard ends on the table itself.  Breadboard ends pull out to accept a flat leaf. 

#483:  Another variation:  straight tapered legs, pullout breadboard ends, and self storing leaves.

This one has a bench and a cutting board.

Solid oak cutting board

Leaves stack up on that cutting board as shown in following photos:

At the other end, leaves are stored as shown in the following photos: 

542 Curvy French Table

Here is an absolutely beautiful hand carved solid alder dining table that seats 8 generously and squeezes 10.  Dimensions are 40 x 110 on this one; however, we do gladly make custom sizes.  

It wears a living finish (of course) and has a rich, complex, antique walnut finish somewhat on the darker side of normal.  

This one is color #33 which is a nice neutral.  All of these colors are exceedingly complex, which means that they'll harmonize with exactly everything. 

Closer view of the top, showing little round pegs at the joints. 

Showing the end.  

Showing the curvature of the leg.  The thin ankle makes the whole thing look like a very nicely shaped tall woman up on little pointy heels.  A nice feature here is that the apron is rather thicker than one would expect, and this is visible when viewing the table at this angle shown here.  

Showing a close view of the carving, texture, end grain, fake cracks and "worm" damage.  

View of the leg and apron showing how the leg and apron transition together so smoothly and gracefully, with square pegs at the joints.