Gateleg Table
This is a folding dining table built from steel and heart pine. It utilizes a gateleg design, where a hinged support swings out from the center section to support the leaf when it's raised. It was made to match a small side table and some shelves for a client.
The wood was a really remarkable and unusual find. It was used to build a schoolhouse before the Civil War. The property owner was developing and needed the building gone, so he was planning on burning it down. He listed it on craigslist before doing so on the off chance he could get some money from someone interested in the wood.
Fortunately someone went and took a look. Heart pine is a very high quality wood that became very hard to find sometime around 1900 because all the old growth pines had by that time been cut down.
The base is made of welded 1x3" and 1x1" square steel tubing and 1" angle iron. The weld beads were left in place for a more industrial look. It is finished with gun blue and mineral oil. Weld-on hinges were used to attach the gate pieces, and a brass-plated steel continuous hinge connects the top pieces.
The industrial supply place labels some pieces in a load they're shipping to make it clear where it's going- in this case Durham. I like to leave those labels on (somewhere inconspicuous) because I think it fits with the reclaimed vibe. The pine was in Prospect Hill, Durham NC for at least 160 years, so it seems appropriate to identify it like that as it moves on to NY.