While there are a lot of great sites out there, one jumped out at me as being very useful as they have great photos of the different finishes possible on a range of metals. En.Zo Metal is based in Brooklyn, New York which, sadly, probably rules out any chance of collaboration but I am very grateful for their site, thank you.

This article published on the Houzz site really highlights the benefits of steel and all forms of design. I hope you enjoy it as much as did.

The wood for this new piece came from a salvage yard on Vancouver Island. It is heavy fir,  possibly from an old cannery or mill on the island.  The wood is 3 ¹/₂”  thick, and has been  grooved to take a 1″ thick floating tongue.   The base of the table will be an aluminum open sided box.  This provides  the strength required to hold the top and creates a modern aesthetic.

I am currently in the process of making the top. One of the keys to working with reclaimed wood is being able to adapt the design to allow for any minor flaws in the wood that only reveal themselves as the project unfolds. This is why it is important to keep the design simple and only commit to other components once the salvaged wood parts are complete. Once the top is done, I will finalize the size of the base.

In my current project I have the material for the top of the coffee table already picked out and I know the size I want to make it.   What I haven’t committed to  is the size and form the base should take. The really great thing about Sketchup is that I can make multiple copies of the top and then experiment with lots of design options.

Not only have I now decided on a base for this project (center one in the front, more on that in the next post) but I also have several other ideas that can be refined at a later date for other projects.

The corners are spline mitered and the shelves are held in place with sliding dovetails which creates a very sturdy yet elegant unit.  It is strong enough to hold all the CDs that will fit.

The unit is hung on the wall by way of a ‘French Cleat‘, which is incredibly strong and very easy to install. The nice thing about this system is that it is completely hidden and the unit can be easily removed as need be.

I used my favorite  OSMO Hard Wax Oil on the unit.  It gives a very hard wearing finish but does not change the colour of the wood very much.

As some of you may have probably read, one of my first Blog posts was about a set of Small Japanese Boxes that I was making back in October last year. Well I became irritated with how they were progressing and had to move on to another larger project and, as is often the way, they were shelved behind piles of wood and dust! Well, after my last bench was finished I was cleaning up my shop when I came across them in the corner and decided that the issues weren’t really very hard to fix and that I should finish them off.

The story behind them, as you may recall, was to make them as gifts for the two ECE’s who helped my children so much during their time at Lansdowne Preschool. The building that had housed the school for 50 years was torn down last year to make way for new town housing. I managed to get a Douglas Fir beam from the building and have used that to make the boxes, the handle is 1890′s Ebony from an old English piano that dismantled a while ago. The design was adapted from Gary Rogowski’s “Small Elegant Box” design featured in Fine Woodworking’s November 1999 issue.

For more pictures please see my Small Pieces gallery.