This past winter was a cold one, even by upstate New York’s standards. It seemed to be below zero every time I looked at the thermometer. When I took an inquiry from Hawaii, I was jealous. When he offered to fly me there to install the piece, I was excited!
The piece was a custom dining table using language that was new to my line. It started with a sketch and a model. The goal was to create a piece that could be packed in a box and flown on a standard commercial flight. Concrete was quickly eliminated as a material option.
This table required a full size mock-up to gage stability and strength. The full size mock-up continued the development and a workable design came together.
Meanwhile, outside the weather was pretty bleak.
The table came together pretty quickly. Here it is before the final disassemble to sand and finish the components. This is the last time the table will stand in my studio before flying to Hawaii. (The glass top is not as large as the actual top, it is just the biggest piece of glass that I had kicking about my studio. The client ordered the glass locally.)
At the end of the day I had 140 pieces to package and reassemble.
I created a custom size box to house all the wood pieces and stuck all of the hardware and metal components into my suitcase.
And in no time at all I was en route to Hawaii! Flying over the midwest I spied these amazing irrigation patterns with a fresh coat of snow.
Landing in Hawaii, I did a quick weather comparison and realized I made a strong decision! Note that the weather alert for Hawaii is a high surf advisory- what a change from all the snow and cold advisories that I had been used to!
It turns out that the TSA has their own custom packing tape! They inspected the box full of wood pieces and tidied the box back up, and left their calling card.
The table took a little over an hour to assemble and I was delighted with the results. The client had ordered the glass top at almost the same moment that I started the table, but I was faster than the glass company and the top would not arrive for a few days!
The rest of the day was spent exploring Oahu with an amazing tour with my client. The following day, I hopped over to Maui to meet up with a friend who just happened to be vacationing there. What a beautiful place! I completely forgot about the weather back home!
By the last day of my trip, I got a text from my client, The glass had arrived and the table was complete!
I am very pleased with the language created for this table and am currently completing three new pieces for my line using similar components, including a round top version of this table! Pics soon!