May/June 2009

The largest board in North America arrives at Ancientwood!

Whether it becomes an enormous dinner table, an impressive corporate boardroom table, or an installation in a Natural History Museum: At 40-feet in length, what is most likely the world's largest solid piece of wood will be the focus of architects and designers alike. The board was included in the latest shipment of Ancient Kauri that came in from New Zealand to Ancientwood's warehouse.

“It's a phenomenal piece of wood,” said Robert Teisberg, Ancientwood's President, “and the fact that it is 50,000 years old makes it even more exotic.” The Ancient Kauri board contains distinctive wood grains and has a rich gold and cognac color with remarkable iridescence throughout its entire 40’ length.

A late winter storm moved in with our last shipment of Ancient Kauri, giving a strange look to the early spring scene. Here is the largest single board in North America being moved across into shelter and out of the storm.

After arriving at Ancientwood’s shop on a flatbed semi, the 40-foot board had to be lifted with cranes into an upright position. It was then lowered very carefully into a rolling-rack. Released from the crane straps, the board was ready to be wheeled into the warehouse. This beautiful solid slab is now on display in Ancientwood's warehouse until we find a buyer for it.

This is not the first time Ancientwood has been in the News for a remarkable piece of wood for sale: In May of 2008 Ancientwood supplied the largest board in the US, and made a twenty-foot solid Ancient Kauri table that comfortably seats twenty-six people for a vineyard in Napa Valley.

The newest arrival of Ancient Kauri also included a large assortment of beautiful large slabs with natural edges, wild grain activity and beautiful iridescence. These slabs can be viewed here.

NEW ON THE WEB SITE!

Be sure to check our web site for (4/4) 1” board’s being posted as individual selections in the Catalog! We have not sold enough of these A+ boards since their arrival, so we are posting them on line for you to choose your own boards from the inventory on hand. Watch for more 1” and 2” inventory to be added in the next few weeks as they come out of the kiln. Now you can purchase them directly on-line.

ON SALE NOW!

The entire stock of individual cutoffs available through ancientwood.com are being sold at 50% off retail price!
See the catalog pages:

• Big Blocks
• Boards
• Free form
• Small Blocks
• Small Whitebait Blocks

AND...
We are offering 50% off all of our Jewelry Bundles, Variety Packets, and Scrap Boxes.

The Piece of The Week

Each week or two we will feature a unique featured piece on-line, offered either “in the rough” or as a finished piece. We often have these exceptional pieces that simply don’t get on the web, so are often never seen by our internet customers. Or they don’t look like standouts when in fact they are some of the best!

See this weeks “Piece of the Week” be clicking the photo below:

Woodworking Tips: A Regular Feature of Ancientwood's Newsletter

Structural Crack Filling

Ancientwood has developed a technique for filling large, structural cracks sometimes found in Ancient Kauri slabs. This is a step-by-step approach for creating a flat surface with beautiful patterns and design.

1. The slab must first be flattened. This can be done with a drum sander, planer or a CNC router.
2. After the slab is flat, locate cracks that need filling.
3. Fill any hairline cracks with color-matched latex putty. Wet the adjacent area of the Ancient Kauri with spirits to get an accurate color match for the putty (be careful not to get mineral spirits on the crack you are filling!)
4. Locate any larger cracks that may continue through to the underside of the slab.
5. Remove any bark within the crack (reserve for future use).
6. Dam the bottom of the crack by clamping wax paper and plywood to the bottom of the slab.
7. We use clear epoxy mixed with finely ground Ancient Kauri bark as the filler.
• Grind collected bark with coffee grinder or something similar.
• Sift ground bark with flour sifter to filter out the larger pieces – set aside.
• Mix your epoxy (we use West System 105 epoxy resin and 207 special coating hardener), being careful not to create too many bubbles and making sure to combine both parts thoroughly.
• Once the epoxy is mixed, add enough of the ground and sifted bark while slowly stirring to create a consistency similar to peanut butter. For a large crack you may want this thicker, and only partially fill the crack the first go. You can add more epoxy after the initial filling. We often use the epoxy clear on subsequent fills. This allows an opportunity to “see into” the wood, giving an interesting sense of depth to an otherwise flat surface
8. Use a flat blade tool to push the filler into the cracks until they are slightly over-filled (if not enough is added to fill the crack, a divot will appear after sanding).
9. Sand up to 2000 grit, carefully sanding the epoxy, as it will be much harder than the surrounding wood.

Featured Finished Piece: The Hope Table

This finished slab became an Ancient Kauri table created by Ancientwood, Ltd. for delivery to Hamburg, Germany. The top features remarkable iridescence and extremely curly grain activity. It contained several bark inclusions most of which became part of the design, but some were emptied and filled with clear epoxy and Lake Superior stones. The slab was sanded to a fine polish, then coated with many layers of clear polyurethane varnish. The next step was to polish the varnish to a high sheen.

The base of the table was fashioned from hand-hewn barn beams attached with hand-forged steel brackets. The overall finished piece is a timeless combination of crisp lines and rustic charm.

What to Look For in Future Issues

More technical articles describing:

• Natural edge reworking
• Epoxy infill
• Varnishing techniques
• Epoxy coating for commercial duty
• Highlighted finished pieces
• Upcoming sales and discounts
• New Arrivals