The table (part one).

Hey, who wants to make something cool? You do? I mean, you do. Of course you do. Look at you, all ready to get started with your brand new safety goggles and your pack of 220-grit sandpaper. I can see you’re go go-getter, and I respect that, but hang on, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Today's post is about a table, not just any old ordinary table. Oh no, this is about a special table, a very special table that had been given up on and found a chance at a second life. It is a tale as old as time, fraught with soaring accomplishments and devastating setbacks. It is a tale of one man's ability to overcome adversity and meet the challenges that lie ahead.

If you're ready for it, I will share it with you now, but first, a little backstory. You are probably wondering how this all started, so let's back up just a little and start from the beginning.

Masterminds with the Rock

You know my buddy Rock? Yeah, my old college buddy (not the wrestler turned actor). The one I master mind with on my weekly calls. I've probably mentioned that Rock is a pretty handy guy. He fixes cars, knows his way around the shop, and has more power tools than anybody I know. He is a wealth of knowledge, a walking encyclopedia. Me, on the other hand, not so much. I'm the guy usually screwing things up and calling the Rock looking for advice on how to salvage the mess I've just made.

What I lack in skills, however, I make up for in determination, and I have a lot of determination. That being said, whenever I have an idea that involves building something big, it inevitably comes up in one of our weekly mastermind meetings. The conversation usually starts something like this…

Hey Rock, I’ve got this AWESOME idea, probably the best idea I've had in two months. Wait until you hear about my idea you're going high five yourself just for knowing me because this is going to go so super-viral I'll probably have to hire a team of publisists just to manage my DM's. It's awesome, it's amazing, it's stupendous... also, I have no idea how to make it work.

Rock and I hop on the phone, discuss it, dissect it, and discuss it some more. We shoot holes in it, improve it, and talk about alternative approaches and solutions until we hit on something that feels tangible. When it all feels right, it goes from plan to action. The table was one of those ideas. It popped into my head a while ago and rolled around in there, causing trouble until I was finally forced to let it out. You’re probably thinking it’s such a simple idea, it's almost stupid, why the big discussion? Well, it’s all part of the process. In fact, the process is my favorite part.

The Process

The process always begins with a concept. Sure, it's nice to have a finished piece, but it's the journey that makes life worth living, so let's take a deeper dive. The process is the part where we translate dreams into reality. This is the part where what’s been rolling around in my head, the table, gets actualized. It was time to actualize the table.

This project has been a process of evolution. I’ll spare you the gory details and just say this: my work takes time... lots of time. I don’t just blast these out in a day or two, so as I put in the hours, the art becomes a part of me. To screw it up on something stupid like bubbles in the topcoat or winding up with a table that has wobbly legs would be devastating. That’s why I prefer to take my time to get it right.

So talking it through and spending time on the details helps me make sure things don't go sideways. Of course, mistakes will happen along the way, but being open and learning from them is a part of the bigger journey. It's that whole 10,000 hours thing. I'll let you in on a little secret. The 10,000 hours to mastery is a myth. You never just arrive at mastery, it's an ongoing thing, and I'll bet if you asked anyone you consider a master at their craft, they will tell you the same thing.

"I know less than what I still have to learn."

The Poseidon piece

The Poseidon doodle that started it all.

I’ve done a fair amount of studies on this character, enough so that I think I can safely call it a series. I’ve completed several different variations on the theme, but this time I wanted to try something a little different. I make a lot of wall art, and that's cool, I love wall art, but I had an idea to make something a little more functional.

What would happen if I turned a piece of wall art on its side and put some legs under it? How cool would it look if my office had a piece of functional art? I kicked around a few ideas and decided the office could really use a coffee table. Something I could park in front of my couch and work on when sitting behind the desk starts getting old.

The table

Making a table, the right table, is a bigger challenge than you might think. I thought about building one from scratch, but believe it or not, the biggest problem creating a table isn’t what you might think. It is legs. Sure, you could just strap a set of metal legs to a chunk of plywood, but to me, that lacks character. It misses the point. I wanted something nicer, something that supported the art in a meaningful way.

What would that look like? How would they be attached? Do I build them or buy them? Are they wood, metal, or something else? What style do I go with, colonial, postmodern, minimalist, or something unexpected? It’s easy to get overwhelmed. Prebuilt wooden legs, as it turns out, are ridiculously expensive. So, do I build something new or buy something used and strip it for parts? In the end, it turned out the solution was far simpler.

The Solution

I guess I should start with the obvious: I don’t have a formal workshop with a lathe, so making nice table legs would be an enormous challenge. My solution was a trip to the thrift store. I love a good trip to the thrift store. It’s so full of possibilities. Could I grab an old table with lots of character and go from there? I wasn't too concerned about the quality. It could be stained or missing a finish or whatever. As long as it had good bones, I was all set.

Let's go to the thrift store

Hey, I’ve got an idea. Instead of telling you about why, I just invite you along for the journey. Who wants to go to the thrift store? You do? I mean, of course you do. You've made it this far in the article, so let's go. Ok, grab your coat and hat, and let’s head over.

Oh, wait, look at the time. It’s getting kind of late, and if your boss sees you reading this on company time, that’s going to get ugly. Tell you what.... This post is getting a little long anyway, so how about we meet up in the next post and talk more about our trip to the thrift store then? Sound good?

The Table before its second life.

Ok then, that's all for now. See you next time.