Why was this built this way?

[TheFatBaron]

Take a look at this link: http://www.urbanhardwoods.com/furniture/product.aspx?product=198&subCat=19&location=0

I saw this and thought, you know, I have a couple big chunks of cherry drying out in my basement. I could make something similar. My wife approves of the idea. The thing that's bugging me though is.... why the gaps between the pieces? My first thought is "style," but that seems like a great way to end up with stuff (dust, french fries, spilled liquids, small children, household pets) in a really hard to clean place. But it strikes me there might be an actual functional reason for this... but I can't think of one. Any ideas?

[mds2]

I would say purely for the style. I like it

[Chris H]

I would vote for style as well. I would assume to divert attention from the less than ideal condition of the timber.

I can't tell form the images, but it could also be to hide the joints. It looks like they shot dowel through, but I don't know if that is from the original purpose of the lumber or the reconditioning.

[pghmyn]

In my opinion, the style is what it is. But for that much money, seems like it fits right into the hipster area of San Francisco.

[TheFatBaron]

Chris - That's what I assumed as well. Perhaps there were some larger cracks/damaged areas that were removed (or assuming it was 4 separate pieces, the grain didn't quite line up) and it was a case where the gap made it look intentional, but if it was joined and glued flush it'd look like an error / strange cover-up attempt.

[Mister Pants]

I guess it's easier than jointing 8x8 construction lumber that you took a blowtorch to.

[KustomKreation]

It's pretty Scandinavian looking...so i guess style...

[Dlhunter]

Does that say $1250 for that?

[pghmyn]

Does that say $1250 for that?

Exactly what I said.

[Eric.]

I just can't imagine ANYONE paying $1250 for that mess. We'd all be rich if they would. Is it even possible that people pay that kind of money for a piece that would take about 45 minutes to make?

[TRBaker]

Obviously this must be considered "Art" instead of woodworking. That's how they justify the price.

[jimmykx250]

The joints are for the look. Different look i kinda like it. Needs to be a little more refined for me though.

[jHop]

Looks like it was a salvaged trunk of some log, cut into quarters and ebonized. I'd pay $150 for something like that (depends on the dowels used to join the quadrants). I'd think that the extra $1100 was to reward the maker for not using this particular segment of large construction timbers in the furnace for the past few years. My only questions are 1) where they found this, and 2) which order the builder put the posts up in?

[Byrdie]

I'd go with style as well although there may have been some machining considerations that caused them to make four pieces that size and then later joined together. Just a thought.

[Egraff]

Yes, ++++ a bunch on "those will fill with dust, spills, and all around nastiness".

- EG

[duckkisser]

pffff $1250 is nothing i bought 6 one for eather side of the couch, one for the bedroom two to put on on the padio to set some flowers and one to put in my grave with me because my girlfriend just killed me for spending all our money

im thinking the gaps are there so people can carry them if its a solid log it would weight a ton. plus it might be style the whole strait line on natural abject thing, i wonder if they have sold one

[AliEaston]

Hi folks. I'd say for two reasons.

One definitely for style: Rustic oustside faces with a crisp geometric cross on the top. It makes it look less rustic and more "designed".

Secondly for technical reasons: I'd expect an intact log to split as it dries. Sawing through the centre removes some of the tension that would cause that. Each individual quadrant is much less likely to split.

Cheers,

Ali.

[robjeffking]

I have some of these pces I lay them on the ground stack wood on them He simply joined the four pces to make a table and the four splits was a better alternative than simply just edge joining

[rmason]

If you look at the end grain, it is made from a single log. By quartering it they eliminated the major cracks that would develop if they had not. Sure there are some cracks in the piece but they are minor compared to what would have occured if they had left it whole.

[JMill]

The description says "four piece" I'm not so sure they have done anything to join them together. I'll bet it is four separate pieces. That the buyer (herein referred to as "the sucker") has to arrange every time it gets bumped to make it look like one piece. Perhaps this was done because of weight.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

[Bombarde16]

A fool and his money...

[Nben]

Dang! I think I might be in the wrong business. Time to go to the salvage yard and cut up some large hunks of wood. Shoot I will even do a value add of putting some paint on it if you like :-)

[CessnaPilotBarry]

I kind of like it... There are a few details to it, like the grain direction on the top, that I find interesting.

Remember folks, the price is retail, there are usually multiple layers between the published price and the maker.

[wdwerker]

Barry's grain comment made me take a second look. Seems to be one piece of timber so the grooves may not go very deep and just be a design element.

That is yuppie catalog retail. Wife finds out he bought a new flat screen TV and buys it for revenge.

[Eric.]

Even at 200% markup after it leaves the shop, one could still be a millionaire in a couple of years, batching these out en masse...if there were actually buyers. I'm not one to scoff at prices on beautiful pieces of furniture that are masterfully designed and crafted (who among us is?), but a log cut into four pieces and colored black...you can keep me in the amazed category that anyone would pay near that price for that particular piece...for revenge or otherwise. Consumers aren't necessarily smart, but no one throws their money in the garbage.