Tom Rutherford, Russell Table (TABLES, CHAIRS, DESKS 2021 )

First up, this passion project is based on all of my loves, the superb timber my father left me, my love of sailing, my love of design and functionality and the desire to make something truly unique. Using Rewarewa and Rimu, both native New Zealand timbers left to me by my father as the primary feature. I had to join them to make the slat lengths long enough, construct a jigsaw joint, and hold it in place with a mortise joint with the opposite timber. Each slat was steamed, bent, glued and clamped to hold it in place. Once I had the shape, I made a border to frame the featured centre and created a 45-degree return. The top edge of the table drops away by 5mm to soften the feel on your arms when sitting at the table. To keep the shape flat, I used a 50mm square section across the underside of the table because of curved slats, which I welded flat bar to fit the carbon fibre legs. I shaped the bottom like a boat with bending ply, fared the shape with fillers and strengthened it with a fibreglass skin. I laminated bending ply around a jig to make the legs, sanded them to uniform shapes representing modern sailing foils similarly used in America's cup recent foiling yachts. Vacuum laminated each foil with carbon cloth, sanded, and polished to a deep shine. The table was painted in a heated painting chamber with water-based car paint, pin-striped and legs fitted. There was an exciting conclusion to this table and my love of sailing. As it has carbon fibre legs and although they are strong, they flex, and when sitting at the table, it sways and feels like you are sitting on a boat whilst having lunch, something quite special and unexpected!

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