The Best Woodworking Tool is a Good Backhoe…

[Ed Garrett]

My retired neighbor occasionally drops by my shop to give me a hard time. But two years ago he showed up and handed me several planks of spectacular cherry. It turns out his son owns a backhoe business and he gets some extra cash flow from selling hardwood trees he brings down. What my neighbor brought me were the rejected pieces. I’m finding that the worst wood is actually the best wood. The pictured side tables are what became of the cherry…

[John Schreiber]

Very cool Ed. What's the inlay made of?

[Brad Townsend]

Wow! Those are beautiful.

[Garth Keel]

very interesting designs, and the price was right!

[Bruce Page]

Very nice Ed.
What type of cross bracing/joints did you use on the tables to bring the three pieces together?

[Ed Garrett]

Thanks for your comments. Here's a couple of answers:

John:

The inlay is just a 4-inch ceramic tile. A bit of a cheat, but I just wanted to add a color accent.

Bruce:

On the first piece the legs are cantilevered. The only “bracing” is a quarter inch piece of steel screwed into the top of the leg and then screwed the other direction into the bottom of the tabletop. On the second piece the legs are braced by a thick 45 degree strut sticking right through the leg. I cut the hole with a router bit. All the jointing is done with biscuits and glue. Both are strong enough to sit on.

[Jim Becker]

Awesome stuff, Ed!!!

And it's sad, but true, that there is a lot of really good, premium figured material that goes in the burn piles from stumps and other parts of the tree that don't look like a long, thick, straight log. You did the world a favor by turning such beautiful wood into something that will last for many, many years to come!

[Mike Cutler]

Well. Ya' did warn us that your woodworking wasn't traditional, and you were right. That's a beautiful piece Ed, I like it a lot.
What's the intended final destination for that particular piece? Is it a keeper, or is it for someone else?

Once again. Very nice.

[Ed Garrett]

Thanks Jim and Mike.

They are keepers sitting in my living room. Everything I do is for me, family, or friends. People sometimes tell me, "You could sell that for a lot," but that wouldn't work out. At my pace I wouldn't make a dollar per hour selling my stuff. It's purely for fun.

[jason lambert]

Very nice, a little ingenuity and creativeness goes a long way.

[David Klug]

That's just terrific Ed. My problem is I don't have enough imagination to come up with something as beautiful as that.

DK

[Gary Keedwell]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v196/evsac/Video/ThumbsUp.gifEd, you do nice work.


Gary K.

[Mike Henderson]

Very nice and very creative. Congratulations on your work.

Mike

[Joe Unni]

Very cool Ed.

-joe

[Norman Gallaher]

Looks rally nice.

[robert micley]

the furniture is really creative. my son has a tree cutting buisness.lots of nice wood is burnt or buried. it is a lot of work going from a log to wood. portable saw mill- bandsaw- jointer and planer -not to mention letting the wood age. i have a horse farm and have the space to do it. for a lot of us hobbyists people say you can sell that furniture.like you said-we could not because it would come out to a few dollars an hour.

[Adam Burgess]

Very inspirational, Ed!

every time I've seen a board with a large end crack I'd say to myself "well that wood is completely useless." until now.

[Ron Hedrick]

Bit of a cheat my foot. That's a great idea. Mind if I steal, I mean borrow it. What a beautiful bench.

[Tyler Howell]

Me Likes!!!
Well done.