I was able to do a short email interview with Eric, who happens to be a great writer and thinker as well as a carpenter:
When did you first get into carpentry?
I started doing carpentry about 12 years ago in the small seaside town of Essex, Massachusetts. I was in my mid-20's and, oddly enough, working at a bakery at the time.
How did your skills develop?
I had absolutely no experience when I applied for a job fixing antique chairs at Walker Creek Furniture in Essex. My boss told me he was glad I was inexperienced because I would do things his way and not the 'right' way. After gluing spindles, stretchers and back-splats together for several months, I graduated to fixing dressers and whatever else people would drop off at the store to get fixed. Over time I began to gather the basic skills of woodworking and also a general knowledge of wood and how it's used to make useful objects. My boss noticed that I had a flair for creativity and began to ask me to create 'one-off' pieces of whimsical furniture for the showroom, some of which were very well-received. A few years later I was running the wood-shop where I had started out fixing chairs in the corner with only a handful of tools that I knew how to use.
Tell us about your idea for this table in particular, any technical details, and any special considerations.
I've always liked the atmosphere of 9th St Bakery - the big industrial expanses of floor-space, the unpretentious straightforward feel of a bakery interested in turning out delicious food and beverages, the location right in the cusp of downtown Durham. I wanted to make a thoroughly sturdy table, both in form and function, to match the industrial scale of the place. But I also wanted to make something warm and familiar in the way that bread is warm and familiar, and also inviting and down-to-earth. The design is simple, classic, dependable and, hopefully, not without a degree of rugged elegance.
Tell us about the wood that you used for it what it's made of, and where you found it?
The wood for the table top is 'heart pine' and I got it at the Reuse Warehouse in Durham. They got it from a 100+ year old tobacco barn a few counties over and milled it up into manageable thicknesses. Heart pine is very resinous and thus holds up very well over time, as well as finishing to a lovely flame-orange glow when oiled. The wood for the base is also mostly heart pine, the legs having come from a dumpster that I raided a few years ago. The channel running up the sides were where the floorboards interlocked.
Tell us about your connection to the Ninth Street Bakery and the connection between the Farm and the Bakery
I've enjoyed coming to the Bakery in connection to Lil Farm's partnership with 9th St. in its production of Queen George's Ginger products. Many late nights of filling jars with candied ginger and syrup, the radio blasting and my energy levels sustained by a steady supply of delicious baked goods, coffee, and the insistent cadence of the assembly line. Visiting in the day time is a much different experience. I've had some very lovely and calm moments sipping coffee on the patio watching Durham busily hum all around me. It's awesome to see produce from Lil Farm end up in a fantastic soup or some other offering. But the Farm can't take credit for the Mandelbrot - that's my favorite thing they make...except for maybe the Babka. Or challah. Hard to decide.
Eric inspecting his work
The table in action (in the foreground)
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