Just thought I would put the story out there behind this table. Probably belongs as more of a blog post but this works too. I just finished this table after roughly a 4 year delay. Learned a lot in every aspect of doing this table. Keeping true to the arts and crafts style was a very fun process looking back on it but of course there were the points in time where my patience was tested. Still have to rub out the top and revisit the finish on the chairs a bit but I will call it done for now and let the current little one and future baby (2 weeks until due date) "test" the finish out a bit before doing so. I will try to make this story short but just thought I would provide a bit of background as I believe the story is sometimes more important than the product itself.
My father in-law, Dennis, passed away in April 2006 in his mid 50’s. He was a brilliant man and I had the utmost respect for him. He was an engineer, musician, and woodworker. He was a perfectionist and always strived for the best. Actually he was the reason I got into woodworking but unfortunately I didn't actually do any woodworking until after he passed. It was late 2006 / early 2007 and my wife and I couldn’t find a TV stand that we were happy with and could afford. My mother in-law, Ruth, had the shop still setup in the basement of her home. I asked if I could use the equipment to build a TV stand. She graciously allowed me to use the equipment. Ruth has a heart of gold and I know it was somewhat of a tough decision for her. It was rather difficult to use the equipment but I think she appreciated hearing the equipment running as it brought back some memories. After a month or so of working on the stand I was finally done. It was so gratifying to have produced something that I was proud of and could be handed down that I was hooked. Woodworking was and will forever be at my core. That is where the slippery slope began of buying equipment and building a shop of my own in my basement. My wife has been a saint through this all. I don't know how she puts up with me sometimes. :-)
As for the waterfall bubinga slab, it was purchased from the Rockler store in Maplewood, MN. I just hand my wallet over to Mindy (store manager) every time I walk in there. You know you go to a store a lot when one of the employees sends your 3 year old a birthday card. Alan is great and they share a birthday. We really didn’t have the money to buy this chunk of wood and was so new to woodworking that I never thought I would be able to do it justice but it was decided that it would be a great tribute to Dennis. I have to thank our good friend Ellen for talking us into buying it because I almost didn’t. It is a funny thing when your wife and best friend are trying to convince you to spend money. That doesn't happen too much anymore. We ended up of course buying the slab and this is the final product. I didn't build the chairs but finished them to match the table. It would have taken another 4+ years to get the chairs done and I wanted to get our family gathering around the table. It will hopefully be used by our family, our kids’ families, and so on and will always be a memorial to Dennis.
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