Met with one of our OEM's in Boston this week, new office, new conference table made from reclaimed lumber, and a cabinet/credenza.

Table was interesting, nothing spectacular, I've seen some high dollar ones, this one was probably expensive, but not justifiably so.

First thing that strikes me is edge around the end is butt joined/captured between the outer edges. Will be interesting to see the table again on my next visits.



Then the poor finish work hit me, lots of imperfections in the top coat.





Then the sanding swirls:



The cabinet caught my eye as they actually did something I like, they used wood from the same boards to go across the drawers and doors, continuing the grain, a nice touch IMO. Then I opened the doors and drawers and discovered they basically laminated a 1/4" face on an existing cabinet, looked bad when the drawer opened.

Hmmm...and I'll bet the company probably paid big bucks too for all that "gorgeous work"! LOL

I'm sure they did, one of the Execs went on and on about how the wood was reclaimed from a barn in Waltham. Some of it did look like it was, but most of it looked like distressed dimensional lumber to me.

That grain does look good across door and drawer. The finish was that bad everywhere or just in spots?

I agree with everything except ... I don't mind the laminated cabinet fronts. It's not like the top of the drawer fronts are always exposed ... and it IS office furniture.

The finish on the table is terrible. Not only the hairs and debris in the finish, but the finish itself. Much too dark for my taste. Not enough of the character of the wood grain showing through.

Pretty much.

They could have done a better job of it, look at the pic from the top, very sloppy. I learned a long time ago, when you have something like that, to make it look like you intended to do it that way. I might have put a small bevel on the drawer front, and the lamination to create a small groove to accent the joint. Instead then just slapped them on, left glue all over, and a poor looking joint. Details make a difference, even if you don't see them much.

I agree on the finish, but I think they were going for the "reclaimed look" that seems to be so popular, which tends to be dark like that.

I've noticed that a lot of the people who buy stuff built from "reclaimed" lumber don't want it to look good. They want it to look "reclaimed", because that label is what they're really buying.

Sadly there is now a style of furniture where it is obvious the material has been reclaimed, which is much different than simply cleaning up old boards and using them to build a piece with proper well fitting joinery. This new style says, "Look at me, I am a good person doing the right thing by buying this".

That's why a lot of small business furniture for sale is labeled as reclaimed....even though it could be dimensional lumber from box boys. Reclaimed doesn't even need to have well fitting joinery. Gaps, unevenness and visible screws all add to the look. I assume It's actually easier to make money on it due to lower build/ processing time.