The story of my stool sample

Continuing with the Salt restaurant stuff- I was asked to make a prototype of the stool to see just how much abuse it will be able to take. I used some oak from trees that had to be taken down from Riverview Park here in Pittsburgh.

These logs were procured and milled by Urban Tree Forge. I rent shop space from them and therefore have access to a bunch of urban lumber.

Here is the bookmatched set of boards that will make the stool
Here are the parts glued up:
If this was a one off I might do the dovetails by hand. Because I'll eventually be making 36 of these at once, I'll use the dovetail jig to speed things up.

A good fit.



I added a dowel near the bottom and a two inch wide piece of wood across the bottom of the seat from side to side to prevent racking.

Here it is all glued, sanded and coated with a post-cat lacquer. For a minimal additional cost, I could add my patented "Gum-guard" chewing gum resistant undercoating. It's a pretty sweet deal.

Salt of the Earth Restaurant project

Wunderchef Kevin Sousa is opening a restaurant: Salt of the Earth. I'm happy to be able to contribute to the function and look of the place. I've been working with him and architects Doug and Liza Cruze on designs for three large communal tables and seating.

The tables are going to be monoliths of white oak and steel. One of the main objectives was to allow flexibility in how the seating can be grouped. The area under the tables are going to be completely open thanks to a steel substructure strengthening the thirteen and a half foot span. The edges of the tables will be joined with dovetails.