Dining Tables with Sallie Plumley Studios

Working with artist friends and colleagues is one of our favorite ways to connected to our community, foster new ideas, and expand the variety of work we offer. Sallie Plumley Studio is a woodworker and furniture maker Kyle collaborates with frequently, building metal tables bases to support her wooden tops. Here are two recent examples.

First up is a dining set consisting of a table and benches. For this set Kyle created forged steel bases to go with Sallie’s walnut tops.

Video tour of the oval forged steel table base.

Next up is simpler design with fabricated asymmetrical bases. This set also has walnut tops. Photos by Sallie Plumley Studio.

If you’re interested in seeing more of our collaborations with artist friends, you can find them filed under the Local Love category on our blog.

Dining Table Collaboration

We’ve said it before, combining our skills to create original collaborations is one of our favorite parts of the work we do. This custom dining table with benches was a special project we designed and built.

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The bases are, of course, forged steel. The tops are walnut, made by our friend, local woodworker Lee DiJospeh. A line of mosaic inlay in blue, green, and gold extends in a continuous curved arc across the tops of both benches and the table itself.

Kyle first created a maquette, or preliminary model, of the table leg to see how his ideas worked in the real world. He and his team then built the bases to all three pieces. The table base is designed with folded steel legs. A trestle of two mirrored arcs is tenoned into the legs. The bench bases are a simpler curved steel shape that compliments the curves in the table base.

Once Lee finished making the walnut top, he carved a line across the tops of all three pieces for the mosaic inlay. Johannah then created a line of mosaic that flows from dark to light blue, light green to dark, and back again, continuously across all three tops. The inlay waterfalls over the edges for a satisfyingly finished feel.

This custom dining set is available! If you’re interested in this unique and original handmade dining room table set, reach out for more information.

Custom Bookshelves in Two Flavors

The last year has been a big one for Phoenix Handcraft. After years of dreaming and saving and looking, we finally found a home on property with enough space for our studios. We moved into the house late last summer and spent the winter and early spring building out our studios. We’ll have more on that later, but for now, let’s catch up on some of our projects!

First up are two sets of custom forged steel bookshelves in two distinct styles. The top set features fairly traditional steel brackets with walnut shelves made by our friend and frequent collaborator, Christina Boy.

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The second set of custom bookshelves is created in a more minimal, modern style from textured steel with glass shelves.

Stay tuned as we add more projects in the next few weeks and months! We’re looking forward to spending the summer getting caught up.