Top Tips for Working With Reclaimed Wood

nat rosasco • November 29, 2016

As our name, Reclaimed Table, clearly states, many of the tables and products we create are built with reclaimed wood. Using reclaimed materials is a highly effective way to preserve our planet’s resources and is heavily engrained into our design philosophy (learn more about that philosophy here ). Furthermore, when a table is made out of reclaimed wood, it has a story behind it. A table made from the barn where barbed wire was invented or one created with wood from a farm where prized racehorses were trained have a history that can’t be replicated and now has the ability to live on through a new use.

Reclaimed Red Oak

However, working with reclaimed wood is not as simple as it may seem. Reclaimed wood is often filled with nails and screws from previous applications, which need to be removed. Also, reclaimed wood, or any wood in general, is subject to the environment in which it is placed. In high humidity, wood absorbs the moisture in the air, causing it to expand. In low humidity, it does the opposite and contracts. This makes it extremely susceptible to cupping, bowing, and splitting.

Fortunately, there are methods one can use to mitigate this challenge of working with reclaimed wood, ones that our expert craftsmen put into play with every piece they create. First of all, we always use high quality wood, hand-selecting each board for every project. In order to manage the moisture content of the wood, we allow the the wood to either air dry or kiln dry, the latter being the faster and generally more effective method.

Steel reinforcement, glued and screwed into the table’s underside

We also design all of our tables with supports to mediate instability from moisture inconsistencies. These supports include a stable infrastructure created from formaldehyde-free Baltic birch plywood and steel bars that are glued and screwed to the underside of the table top.

When these methods are put in place, you can be sure that the reclaimed tables are aesthetically unique, filled with history, and built to last. Interested in working with us to receive some reclaimed tables for your next project? Contact us here today!

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Inventory Sale

By nat rosasco • January 22, 2019

Reclaimed Table's huge selection of one-off, custom table tops are being sold at deep discounts at our Villa Park showroom. Find the durable tables you need for your next project, at prices you won't come across again!

Client Feature: Oak Tables & Benches for Navy Pier's Centennial Vision

By nat rosasco • July 17, 2018

Chicago’s iconic Navy Pier has always been a popular attraction since it opened just over 100 years ago in 1916. It currently welcomes 9 million guests per year. As explained on the Navy Pier website, the Pier was designed by architect Charles Sumner Frost and was originally based on architect’s Daniel Burnham’s “the People’s Pier” in his 1909 Plan of Chicago . It was originally known as “Municipal Pier,” but was renamed in 1927 in honor of the World War 1 Navy personnel who were housed there. As we blogged about a couple of years ago , Navy Pier has been undergoing renovations in honor of its “Centennial Vision” to reimagine and enhance the pier. While updating the pier with new programming and a greener landscape, this vision has also been attracting more local eateries ( like Tiny Tavern ) and shops, creating a space that’s more inviting to local Chicagoans. After providing pieces for the first phase of the remodel last year, we were pleased to continue to be part of this project for the recently completed phase two. Partnering with Gensler, we provided white oak tables and benches near the main entrance and for the brand new, 200,000 square foot Family Pavilion that features over 50 businesses. Fortunately, these pieces were created not only with their visual aesthetic in mind, but also to impressively withstand this sort of high traffic area. We also built the reclaimed red and white oak blade signs flanking all of the restaurants and shops, which creates a unified look within the complex. Much like the Pier, these signs have an interesting, rich history behind them. The red and white oak wood used to make the signs were actually horse fences on a farm in Mercy County, Kentucky that dates back to the late 1800s. Mercer county was one of the first settlements in the state, and the farm itself, Shawnee Springs, was originally over 2,000 acres. In the 1970s the farm was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. We knew the Navy Pier project was the right one for this specific wood-- historic wood for an historic landmark. (See our other applications of reclaimed red and white oak Kentucky horse fence here .) Check out photos of our tables, benches, and signs at the recently updated and unveiled Pier below. And if you’re in the Chicagoland area, you can check them out for yourselves in person, along with a whole host of entertainment on the Pier. Interested in some durable tables and benches for a high-traffic area? Contact us here to get started on your next project.

Aging Booker's Bourbon: Finding the 'Sweet Spot' for Flavor

By nat rosasco • June 18, 2018

When it comes to aging bourbon, Booker’s small batch bourbon has the process literally down to a science. Currently produced by the Jim Beam distillery, it was Jim Beam’s grandson, Booker Noe, who founded this brand in 1992 with bourbon from barrels he personally selected. According to the Booker’s Bourbon website, Booker was actually raised at a Kentucky distillery and brought his family’s six generations of master distillery knowledge to his bourbon batches. How does Booker’s perfectly age their bourbon? As we pretty much all know, bourbon ages in wooden barrels. When the weather becomes hot and humid, like it does during those sticky Kentucky summers, the wood expands and absorbs the bourbon, allowing for a chemical interaction between the bourbon and the wood. In colder weather, the wood contracts and the bourbon escapes the barrel’s walls. This interaction changes the spirit’s taste and color. The longer bourbon is in the barrel, the smoother the taste, (up to a certain point, that is). Barrels are kept in rackhouses where temperatures can easily be regulated. Rackhouses were originally built out of stone with several wooden floors and an exposed dirt basement to control humidity and large temperature swings. The windows were designed to keep the buildings well-ventilated.