Built to order for Peter and Judith from Nantucket, MA, this charming American chestnut side table meas­ured 70 1/2" long x 36" high x 16" deep. The table was completely hand crafted of boards sawn from 2 old beams (see images below) salvaged out of an old barn in Kentucky. The 3 cut dovetail drawers were built out of the same piece of wood as the surrounding front skirt board.

We originally were to build this sofa table out of rustic boards with age checks and large sound knots usually associated with reclaimed pieces. When we opened up 2 of the 4 beams we purchased, we were amazed how clear the old growth lumber was. Since American chestnut vanished from the north­east forests from a blight back in the early 1930s, it has been a very long time since a furniture maker has been able to go to a mill to pick out select planks. Peter was delighted that we could offer him something quite rare, a table built out of "select American chest­nut".

A close-up of the 3/8" square walnut mortise pegs found in the legs and face boards.

To match the mortise pegs, we hand turned the drawer knobs out of a piece of 175 year old reclaimed Amer­ican walnut left over from when we custom built a Reclaimed American Wal­nut Wine Cabinet.

A shot of the inside of one of the 3 dovetailed drawers. Peter joked when he saw the drawers, "these are probably the only drawers in all of New England that are built with solid select chestnut bottoms!"

At the Mill

A shot of Justin atop a large pile of Kentucky barn beams looking for the rare chestnut ones.

We found one chestnut beam among this pile of oak beams. It is extremely hard to tell the difference from sight alone. Once you handle and cut into a beam, you can feel the wood is lighter than oak, and has beautiful brown tones in the graining.

Here, the last chestnut beams we found are being cut into 1 1/4" thick chestnut planks. We prefer to pay a bit more to have the boards cut thicker than normal, so we have plenty of extra material to straighten them perfectly flat.

A close up of the big bandsaw mill slicing the last cut of the old barn beam.

At the Shop

One of the beams sits on a work bench in our wood shop. If you look closely, it has been sliced into 6 planks. Using boards from the same beam opens up many possibilities for a furniture maker. Boards that come from the same tree have matching colors and grain patterns, which if carefully placed in a wood project can certainly be pleasing to the discerning eye!

The biggest obstacle in working with old beams is having to cut around mortise holes. As most beams were structural, there are always plenty of brace holes. The adjacent pieces will also have the pin holes in them, which if saved can be glued in for an interesting effect.

Justin reveals some clean chestnut graining that has been clocked for over a century.

Here is a shot of the 2 beams that produced the clear old growth lumber we built this table out of.

Building the Table

A shot of the table's top glued up in the clamps.

Here we're cutting the distinctive Shaker taper into the legs.

We make custom jigs to place against the table saw's fence that place the leg at the desired angle. The little stick to the right is called a sweep stick, which is used to quickly remove the cut piece away from the saw blade. If left near the blade it can bounce around, and every so often hit the blade which can send it off like a missile. Needles to say, this is a dangerous procedure.

A shot of the table base together. The base still needed to have the drawer runners attached, and to be completely sanded.

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If you do not find exactly what you are looking for, please send us an inquiry. Custom Furniture means that we hand craft each and every piece to your specific choice of style, design, wood type, finish, and dimensions.