Longleaf Wood Shop

This is a nerdy woodworking post. This week we have been working with some unique wood to build a round dining table, a mantle, and a bench top for an upcoming wedding.

The dining table is made of Ambrosia Maple, which is one of our most chosen lumber types. Some people call it “Wormy Maple”, but the small holes and character is caused by the Ambrosia Beetles, who make their home in the wood. We only use furniture grade, kiln dried lumber, which makes certain there is nothing creeping around in the wood!

The mantle is made from Cypress that we put under tin for several months. We sort of cook it, to get the rot that is so beautiful. We have made many mantles with this faux Pecky Cypress. We bevel each piece and even the ends so that the mantles appear to be a large beam, even though the lumber is only about an inch thick.

The bench top is Hickory that we milled. We let the logs sit on the ground for a few months, which gives it the character not found in commercial Hickory lumber.

So there you go! If you read through this, we hope you learned something new! We love what we do!

If you haven’t followed us long, you may not know that several of our builds are from reclaimed or locally milled lumber provided by our customers.

We just delivered a French Farmhouse table, made from a Hickory that had fallen from a storm. The Thompsons had it milled and dried locally. The Antique Brown finish made the table give the feeling that it had been in the beautiful home for decades.

Southern Venture Partners recently finished the renovation of the Murphrey building, in Barnesville, Georgia, and we built the five exterior doors from reclaimed Heart Pine that they sourced and provided.

We currently have three tables on the books from lumber provided by our customers.

If you’re looking for something very sentimental, with a story behind it, let’s talk about what we can do.

www.longleafwoodshop.com

3116 Wetumpka Highway, Montgomery 36110

Please call or email for an appointment

I saw this article about the lack of new woodworkers and it made me think of how many things I have to be grateful for.

I can’t imagine not making furniture. Five months ago, when I had my accident, I was told I wouldn’t have any grip strength in my left hand, but here I am tonight turning two sets of our French Farmhouse legs. One of the sets is Hickory, spinning at around 1100 rpm’s, and the blank weighs about 30 pounds. And honestly I haven’t really slowed down much at all. God is good!

I’m also grateful for the men who have patiently watched over me and taught me the craft of woodworking. It’s been 99% them, and 1% other instruction. I hope I have the temperament to pass down to others. God is good!

I’m also so grateful to young employees who have been patient with me as I have walked them through building all kinds of different furniture. We have been so blessed with the guys who have been along side us, building away. I hope they can use the knowledge and experience. Did I mention God is good?!

It’s not for everybody. It’s a lot like playing a guitar. I’ve wanted to all my life, but just not bad enough to put in the time. Now I’m going to have to play left handed 😳. But, again, God is so good!

I put a few pictures in with pieces we have delivered or had picked up this week or late last week. Descriptions are in the captions.

If you ever wonder if He’s not good, take time to do what my momma said…count your blessings.

We are also very grateful to fantastic people who trust us. It is not taken lightly.

God bless!

I turned around for a second at the table saw and this was my view😵‍💫. There’s eight projects in the building stage in this side of the shop: a Walnut sideboard, a double pedestal Maple table base, a large Walnut coffee table top, a square dining table base with chunky modern farmhouse legs, a panel for a 10’ Maple table, a panel for a 10’ White Oak table, one screen door (from a set of three), and a Magnolia slab for a sofa table!

My first thought was that we are sooo appreciative of our customers who trust us with their visions!

And if you don’t see yours, don’t worry we will get to it!

Go to our website at www.longleafwoodshop.com and see all that we can do and hit the “contact” button to reach out!

We do ALL kinds of tables, not just dining tables! And we get so much inspiration for new designs from our creative customers! The Grissettes had a vision in mind for a sofa table with a live edge and a backsplash, on a simple, black base. They wanted it to sit behind their couch, to use as a table to eat and watch TV.

We found a beautiful spalted Hickory slab, took the faulty “pith” wood out, and put it back together to highlight the wood’s character.

Most of our tables are traditional in style but we have hundreds of beautiful slabs to choose from for your unique piece of furniture!

Go to our website at www.longleafwoodshop.com and hit “contact us” with your questions and ideas!

On Monday and Tuesday we delivered three of our most popular table design to Dadeville, Opelika, and Ramer. Each one is different in size, lumber type, and finish. Our customers love this design because it allows freedom of movement as the legs never get in the way of chairs or people. And the curved look adds elegance to the table.

See the comments for stories on each table.

Your dining table should elevate the space and the home! Let’s work together to do that!

www.longleafwoodshop.com

We just got a shipment of Toddler - 6Y shirts for the cool kids! Tripp is showing off his, and telling us about all the fish he caught! We have a limited supply of these! You can call or email us to save one or more.

334-306-2391
www.longleafwoodshop.com

In the words of the world’s best boss, Michael Scott - “Nifty”!!

These are some pretty cool custom legs Christian Frost cranked out after one month at the shop!

And no one told him to check the bench top with a light for swirl marks-he just does it!

He’s here until August, when he starts his Senior year at Auburn so give him something more challenging! For his fall semester he has to make a piece of furniture that he designs! Can’t wait to see what that will be!

We love what we do!

www.longleafwoodshop.com

One of our favorite people to get a call from is Interior Designer Crystal Jester Walker. She brings so much knowledge and experience to her projects, and puts everything she has into making her customers homes truly beautiful.

This coffee table is a duplicate from a furniture store in Atlanta that we have made several copycat pieces from. There are some differences; our final price is always less, we have about a six week lead time instead of about 22 weeks, and we can make the size and color exactly what you want. (Also, this is a solid Walnut 1 3/4” top).

As seen in the second photo, the CEO had to help me out on the tricky, curved stringer! I couldn’t do it without her! We still have to apply stain and topcoats but the Walnut is beautiful and we hand picked the pieces for the top.

Let us know what you think!

www.longleafwoodshop.com

We love working with local designers like Tara Ponti Sinco at Laura Dockery Design on dining tables and special pieces. This White Oak dining table with 22 degrees corners fits perfectly in this dining room overlooking beautiful Lake Martin.

The customer was so complimentary of the design, and the way it fit with the banquette on one end.

Tara and Laura chose the color from several samples. It is a Lenmar special brown, mixed up by Katie at New Look Benjamin Moore on Atlanta Highway.

To really enjoy your table, you need to decide the design, color and dimensions. That’s what “custom” is all about and that’s what we love to do!

Visit us at www.longleafwoodshop.com and hit “contact us” with any questions about your special piece of furniture!