Jim & Karen Vogelsang—Our Hand-Crafted Dining Room Table

Jim started making the "live-edge" table 3 years ago. He connected with a retired Army Master SGT who harvested wood on his acreage outsde of Cadiz, KY.

When we arrived large cherry trees had already been cut into 10ft. slabs which were stacked in the MSGT's woods.

After the trip back home Jim took the cherry wood to a solar kiln south of Festus, MO. The slabs laid drying in this kiln for 4 months. During that period of time Jim visited the shop of a woodworker here in St. Louis to get ideas about a table base design. While there he purchased the young furniture craftman's DVD containing detailed trestle base plans.

With some modifications, Jim first constucted the trestle.

Next, inspired by the great Japanese contemporary furniture maker George Nakashima (whose home/workshop we visited in New Hope, PA), Jim began working on the table top that retains untrimed, natural peripheral edges referred to as "live-edge" so popularized by Nakashima.

No stain has been applied to the wood only a varnish to let the beautiful cherry grain shine through and naturally darken.