Mark Emirzian QA Side Table in Tiger Maple

[drcollie]

Here's a sweet little custom table I did for one of my local customers that arrived today. This is made of tiger maple solids, priced at $ 1,450. Handmade in Massachusetts.

I took some detail photos so show how a correctly done piece is supposed to look. First and foremost, the art of a piece is in the legs (most folks look at the top). If the legs are wrong, the design is a failure. They should have a light look, with a defined curve to the pad foot. This is the most difficult part to make on the piece, and in a handmade piece these are carved/shaved, not done on a high speed duplicator. You should be able to see imperfections in the leg from it being hand-cut (see detail photo). This is what gives the piece its collectible value, and immediately sets it apart from other mass-produced furniture.

You can also see the drawer is not only dovetailed, but hand-cut on the pins. American dovetails should be thicker than the fine-pin English cousins, and this tells the collector this is an American piece. The drawer bottom should be hand-scraped pine or poplar - NEVER plywood and there should be no glue blocks, staples or metal on the bottom.

This has a 2-board bookmatched top to it and is finished in an aniline stain with orange shellac to make the finish and the stripes in the tiger maple 'pop'. The skirt is carved into the legs in a continuous arc unlike cheaper variants that try to merge a cut skirt to a leg.

Look at the table flipped upside down. This is what you want to see in a high-quality piece. Thick skirt detail added to the base, and solid wood drawer runners.

This is a well-executed. museum-quality piece as befits the price tag, and the very definition of a Benchmade piece.