Tozzo Di Legno

 

This charming little solid oak table has recently sold, but does have it's own story that I want to tell. I wasn't looking to make a table at the time I found this stump, just rummaging around in my favourite timber yard looking for diamonds in the rough. 

 When I spotted this on the dusty floor of an open wood shed it looked like a discarded offcut. Looking more closely I could see that the entire tree was represented in this single cut - the bark, the sapwood, the heartwood, and even the life and struggles of the tree over the changing seasons of time.

Little Tozzo spent the next few weeks in my warm house drying out to a point at which I could take it to the workshop and get to work on it. After I'd cleaned it to expose more of the grain and colours the top and bottom faces had to be flattened so that one side could stand firmly and the other used as a table top.

Character cracks and splits kept me busy for hours with small chisels, compressed air and tooth files, to make sure all sharp edges were softened. I'd normally use a belt sander to clean up wood in preparation for the finishing, but the colours in the surface of this piece represented the oaks natural response to weathering outside, and I wanted to make sure I didn't lose any of this character by over working the surfaces.

I've seen a lot of tree stump tables but none with as much charm and character as this piece. I hope one day I find another diamond that will result in something magical like this has. 

Tozzo - Fact File

Inspiration: English Forest Trees and Seasons

Type of Wood: Aged English Oak

Tools Used: Planes, Chisels, files, abrasive paper,

Workshop: Ashdown Forest

Hours Spent: 16

Finish: Wax oil to condition and protect

Original Condition: (The day I picked it up)