You | Your Tree | Forever
You may have an old tree that has been a part of your life for a long time, a treasured friend and part of many memories.
I’ve had many formative encounters with trees, and I know when our beloved trees fall during storms or must be removed for the safety of our people and our property, they can still be a part of our lives.
Fallen trees can be cut into thick “slabs” that form the basis of exciting woodworking. The tables and benches made from these materials are a special niche of products that celebrate the living history of a tree, a history that does not have to end once the tree is down.
This modernist approach to woodworking was pioneered by George Nakashima, the celebrated architect and artist with a woodworking shop still going strong in Bucks County, PA. I first encountered George’s woodworking genius at the Met in NYC, long before I was hip deep into chainsaws and mini-sawmills.
Must-own book to learn about the work of THE master.
Most of my slabs come from notable trees left behind or discarded in urban log piles. A large White pine was removed from the largest cemetery in Auburn, and I asked to mill it up in exchange for a park bench I’d make and donate to the Auburn Permaculture Park.
One of two nice White pine logs at the City of Auburn landfill. The City created an overflow area for large wood – logs and stumps – and I noticed them.
After the wood had dried for a season I milled and cut the slabs into a fun bench, here shown upside down to show off the form.
This is the installed bench at the Auburn Permaculture Park!
Many times a tree is not just cut down because it is a hazard, sometimes they come down after being killed by disease or insects. Here are two examples, the first show Austrian black pines at the Memorial Willard Chapel that were killed by a potent fungus, Diplodea. This fungus is killing our two needled pines, the imported Austrian black pine and our native Red pine. After the Chapel called me to assess their trees, they found a guy to cut ’em down, but I asked for the logs.
The Willard Memorial Chapel in Auburn, NY hosts many wonderful trees, many planted by Presbyterian Seminarians in years past. Sadly, they lost their Austrian black pines.
After moving the logs to our barn at DogWood, I’ve milled them for several projects.
Pete and Erin’s picnic table, made from two slabs with live edges and solid base.
Two sturdy benches, with corners to match live edges.
Black pine grain detail.
After a great friend passed away, several of his boys and I combined our love and passion to craft him a Leopold Bench in his honor:
I milled up some Black pine for this beautiful bench Pat and Charlie made for our buddy, Ron. It is located behind the UU Church on North Seward Ave. in Auburn.
The last big project I’ve made with the Willard Chapel wood is this frame for the map that will be placed at the Auburn Permaculture Park.
The invasive Emerald ash borer is killing our ash trees. These pics show the work involved in making slabs and timbers from a large White ash that was falling to the EAB.
We needed a 25′ 10×10 for our timber frame barn, and this ash was falling prey to the EAB. I slabbed several 2″ thick slabs from it too – all has gone into our barn.
Ash gets a bad rap from some people, but I love it. I think it is fun to work with and I really like the grain.
I am not the only woodworker inspired by big trees and beautiful, large slabs of wood: far from it! Well known among woodworkers is Nick Offerman, a canoe builder and theater/TV actor.
Nick’s article from Fine Woodworking. I’ve used his design to build my slab finishing set-up.
Following Nick Offerman, I built a slab surfacing set-up for my tiny basement shop:
This is my slab finishing set-up in the basement. Now that the barn is enclosed I’ve moved that work outside.
Slab finishing set-up in the barn: I take care with a laser to carefully set up the slab for a super flat surface.
Please let me know if I can help you with your tree preservation project!