Staples Cabinet Makers Story Board

Farm Table

The white pine floor boards used to make this unique farm table were worn, full of holes and missing knots.  Most furniture makers would have considered them unusable; however, to me these boards tell a story from days gone by.

The four lines that are crossed, making the number 5, was the method used to mark and align floors and walls in early buildings.  The butterfly shaped patch, also known as a “Dutchman”, was used to fill a hole in the wood.

The copper patches cover two large knot holes that dropped out of the board many years ago.  Tin cans and lead flashing were used by our Forefathers to patch holes.  Ragged pieces were nailed over the hole.  I used some old copper we had to cover these holes.  The difference is that the copper is inlaid into the top, keeping the top even.  At the same time, I also clad the drawer face with copper.

At the opposite end, a rat gnawed through the floor board.  If you look closely, you can see the teeth marks!  There are parallel lines in the boards seen now as a shadow effect.  These boards were cut with a gash saw – a huge water driven band saw.  The circular table saw as we know it today was invented in 1820 by a Shaker woman.  Therefore, it is safe to say that these boards were cut during the late 1700’s.  The boards were also nailed with handmade rosehead “T” nails.  The patent for the first nail making machine is held by Ezekiel Reed of Bridgewater, Massachusetts in 1791.  You can see other patches throughout this table that I cut to fill void areas.

The measurements are 6’ 9 ½” long x 39 ¾” wide x 30” high. 

Live Edge Brown Ash Table

Several years ago, I purchased a dead standing brown ash butt log (lowest section of the tree).  The top of this table is made from two slices of the butt log that I book matched together, leaving the live edge on the sides.

The bowties, also known as Dutchmen, are made of “imbuia” wood, also known as Brazilian walnut.  This unique wood grows mostly in the moist Araucaria forests of Parana and Santa Catharina in southern Brazil, at altitudes of 2,500 to 4,000 feet.

The cross stretcher is a horn beam / iron wood support timber salvaged from a circa 1725 house in Attleboro, Massachusetts.  The legs came from an old machine lathe from the turn of the 20^th century.

The measurements are 78” at the longest point x 37” at the widest point x 31 ½” high.

Armoire with Antique Chestnut Doors

In colonial days Chestnut was one of the most plentiful trees in the eastern forests and they grew to enormous proportions.  It is strong, beautiful and easy to machine.  Unfortunately Chestnut is now extinct due to the blight brought into this country by a freighter from Japan in 1904, which killed every Chestnut tree within a few years.  Much of colonial America was built with Chestnut which was used for framing homesteads to furniture making.  I purchase Chestnut to incorporate into my furniture art whenever it becomes available.

In the days of post and beam houses, interior and exterior walls were constructed with wide, wood planking rather than conventional 2 x 4’s.  The doors of this armoire came from chestnut wall boards from a house circa 1720.  The sloping angle that gives these doors a cathedral look shows us that they were the walls under a staircase.  I felt these chestnut doors deserved antique heart shape handles taken from my vast inventory of old hardware.  The rest of this armoire was constructed of pine that is finished in my unique, textured, worn mustard over brown paint.

The outside measurements are 45” wide x 22” deep x 79” high.

Bathroom Vanity

One of our customers came into our shop requesting something rustic, about 5’ long that could be made into a bathroom vanity.  After talking with her for a while to learn exactly what her idea of “rustic” meant, I asked her to follow me to the far end of my shop.  Underneath a pile of reclaimed pine flooring,  was an old workbench that was made many years ago from 4 x 4’s.  It was about 5’ long and she said it was “perfect”.  She allowed me to put together other antique fragments to come up with this one of a kind vanity for her rustic bathroom.

The thick white pine top came from a stall of a horse barn.  I left the ring in the board that was used to tie the horse in the stall.  The back splash was originally a tin crown molding from the ceiling of a room in a house from the turn of the 20^th century.  The two pieces of wood on either side of the tin back splash are wind braces used at an angle in the corner of a barn circa mid 1800’s.  The antique drawer came from our large inventory of salvaged drawers.  I found some weathered boards that match the drawer to build the cabinet door to conceal the plumbing. Old strap hinges were fastened to the door and then bent to wrap around the side of the vanity.  The antique copper bowl will be used as the wash basin and the extra metal ring is a great place to hang a hand towel.

The measurements are 5’ long x 22” deep x 33” high excluding the tin back splash and wind braces.