Tables – Page 2 – PRAIRIE BENCH

Table for One

by Prairie BenchSeptember 14, 2018September 20, 20180

We found an interesting steel rod chair. It’s rusty and the seat was missing, but there are no accidental bends and the ball bearing feet are intact. The welds are still good. Rather than paint the metal, we’ve weather treated it the way we found it. The seat was made from left over spruce slats tongue and grooved, glued and stained a deep burgundy—the inspiration was the evening sky, perfect for a quality cup of coffee and some quiet reflection.

There was more spruce than we knew what to do with, so we also made hallway shelves, a spice rack, a tea cupboard, and a little table for one. Same technique, glued to fit and the leg was cut from six slats and pressed together like a vertical jigsaw puzzle. We did two tables, one with a round top and one square…alas the round top was claimed by a friend. We hope to have a picture of the entire set together some time.

It was a fun side project using slightly warped, left over spruce.

Table: 13″ wide, 27″ tall, 10″ base. Chair: 18″ tall at seat, 34″ back, 13″ wide.

Finished in oil stain and polyurethane.

Cedar Barn Plank Card Table

by Prairie BenchAugust 24, 20180

An old collapsing barn furnished cedar planks for a card table. The project started with the discovery of a set of 4 folding table legs. The planks were cut to size, sanded, glued and clamped. The old nails, staples and defects were left in, sanded flush and coated with layers of finish. A blond spruce slat was added for dividing line between two competitors. We are still debating changing the original color of the legs to something more “rusty”. We’ll post photos of the final decision.

Polyurethane is the finish. No stain is used. The size is approx. 33″x33″ and 27″ tall. The piece weighs less than 20lbs (8 kgs). Click images to expand.

Western Dining Table

by Prairie BenchJune 12, 2014November 29, 20150

This is a western style dining table made from reclaimed untreated spruce planks and finished in our Country rustic and polyurethane for easy care. We used a water-based stain on this piece to ensure food safe use. The poly top coat dries to a durable finish.

The table is 4.5′ x 5′ with four 6″ thick corner posts. The table is 28 7/8″ tall, allowing for a floor protector which makes the table exactly 29″.

The table surface planks are offset slightly to give a real rustic feel and touch. We also used a hand planer to add texture before sanding smooth. The post and beam design allows the table to be taken apart and moved. Also, the posts are inset to allow lots of leg room and easy access. The table surface is two pieces which buckle together in the middle and lock down at the edges. When installed onsite, there are four bolts which hold the beams to the posts. It’s big and heavy and will easily host eight people sitting comfortably around.

#11-6-14-BL designed in spruce and finished in Prairie Bench Country Rustic and polyurethane. 54″x60″x 29″ tall. This custom table is on its way to a new home and we wish the owners lots of happy feasting.

Click the pictures to enlarge.

Hemlock Bistro Bar

by Prairie BenchFebruary 21, 2014February 7, 20201

prairie bench hemlock bistro top 5 — A traditional 36″ counter bar (background right) is dwarfed by the massive Hemlock slab.

It’s big.

The piece:
Local Hemlock slab 3″ thick 60″x 20″ live edge
Local rough cut Fir timbers 4″ thick hand chiseled
Hazelnut dowels on frame
Hemlock dowels to moor slab
42″ tall
Rubber skid pads
Finished in polyurethane for easy polishing and durability

The hemlock slab was our work bench until we flipped it over and saw it had nice grain. So we polished it up with a hand planer and some high grit sand paper, and the result was stunning.

This piece is a fine example of West Coast Hemlock, and very strong. It is a soft wood, an evergreen, so the surface may get nicked and bumped—but that’s part of its story. We even left some of the original mill saw marks, and there is a compression mark from early in the tree’s history. It’s a wain cut so the slab does have a slight twist, compensated by the custom frame. Belly up to the bar, we estimate the load bearing for this unit to be about eight tons, however we only recommend the table for lattes and a few brews.

One side has a nice arc that invites patrons to sit around the server and bartender side has a convenient knot hole for tips. Each post of the fir frame is hand chiseled and joins in a locking pattern on three sides, then pinned with sturdy hazelnut hardwood dowels. Sanded smooth, the blunt dowels and over cut edges give the piece a sturdy wild west look and in the category Country Collection.

For matching chairs, we’ll shop for some nice iron ones to complement the piece.

Size: 42″ tall x 60″ long x 20″ wide
Finished in polyurethane
#270-BL-02-14

prairie bench hemlock bistro build — Frame of the Hemlock Bistro Bar being built on the new work bench, a huge cedar slab. Looking forward making something with that monolith.

Cedar Scrying Bowl Trial

by Prairie BenchSeptember 14, 2013November 29, 20150

As it is Friday the thirteenth, we agreed tonight would be a wonderful time to test out our cedar scrying bowl and see if we could catch a glimpse of the future.

Click here to see how we put it together.

There was a half moon tonight and we got some reflection photos with the bowl filled with water. That wee white light is the moon through our dusty shop camera. And yes you could see stars in the scrying bowl. Also, an interesting phenomenon happens: Once you catch a star’s reflection in the bowl, slowly move away and the image appears to magnify. As our distance from the bowl increased, the reflection grew visibly larger. The basin depth is quite shallow, yet it held almost a liter of water before trickling over the edge. With the surface so polished, the water held together like mercury. Candle light illuminated the meniscus (the surface edge where water meets solid) with a striking red tone.

Did we see the future? If so, the future looked a lot like the now. It was a very interesting trial of an ancient wooden invention. Nostradamus should have published a manual. Now we need to find a home for the scrying bowl, or somewhere to be enjoyed. Maybe in a forest glade?

prairie_bench_scrying_bowl 6 — A solitary moon’s reflection in the scrying bowl

Happy Friday the thirteenth!