On the Chopping Block

(Photos by Mikel Wijayasuriya of Finjay Studio)

Recently, Justin and I sat down to discuss the traditional butcher block table. There was a butcher in the Brooklyn neighborhood we lived in, and, in his shop was an enormous, end-grain, butcher block table. It had an intriguing patina of oil, blood and fat, and it always seemed to be the butcher's workhorse. Mario would trim the fat off your meat with a sharp knife on the table, wrap it in butcher paper, pack it into a clear plastic sack, twist it twice and thump it on the stainless counter. Then, they would ask you for money. Always dollars, never $10.35, or $12.74 or $5.99. It was always a solid $9.00, $5.00 or $19.00. His straightforwardness was always appreciated.

After reminiscing, the pencil hit paper, and we gathered 3 objectives. One: it had to be completely functional. Two: it had to look great with food and in a kitchen. Three: it had to be built for your grandchildren so they would hopefully have it in their kitchen with their friends, their food, and their messes.

An early morning trip to a local reclaimed wood distributor and we found a pile of heart pine beams that had been removed from an old Confederate fort in southern Alabama. There is no doubt in our minds after examining the grain structure that our beam was probably a sappling when Columbus found the New World. This was inspiring and motivating. The piece's character is enhanced by holes leftover from civil war era screws and flitch plates.

This was such a pleasure to build.

Check out the other photos of the piece at Mikel's website: www.finjay.com