Materials

My furniture is primarily made of aluminum and native hardwoods. Most pieces are fabricated in my studio, which is essentially a wood shop and a machine shop. The fabricated pieces are either powder coated or anodized. Sometimes, both finishes are incorporated into a single piece of furniture.

Anodizing is an electro-chemical process, which imparts a very hard, permanent, scratch resistant surface to the aluminum, which can, as part of the process, be colored with a wide variety of vivid hues. Some of these colors are reminiscent of the aluminum cold drink glasses from the 1950’s. The color range is greens, blues, reds and pinks, purples and violets, gold to oranges, clear, and grays to black. The texture of the anodized surface can be satin, smooth or high polished. I have two dozen standard colors (Color charts are available to clients in the course of working out commissions.) and I often develop custom colors for my clients.

Powder coating is a paint finish in which paint is sprayed on the metal surface as a powder and then baked at approximately 400 ° F. Powder coating is very tough and durable and the surfaces can be clear or opaque colors, smooth and matte or shiny, or textural. Colors can be solid or variegated, or take the appearance of metal patinas. There is virtually no limit to the range of available finishes and colors.

Many tables have glass tops, generally 1/2" or 3/4" thick. The glass is attached to the aluminum with high strength, optically clear adhesives. Typically, for shipping, only a small or "cap" element is adhered to the glass and the rest of the table is packed KD (knocked-down) for ease of shipping. Assembly is usually only a matter of putting in few screws on site by the client, or by me if I deliver the furniture.

I use wood as a frequent tabletop material, generally as “solid” wood, with my personal preferences being Pennsylvania hardwoods. I also often use wood when appropriate to build cabinets and to be used in combination with aluminum. Fully upholstered chairs and sofas are made with hardwood frames.

Other tabletop materials available  are stone, typically granite and solid surface materials such as Corian ®. Solid surface tabletops can have color and patterned inlays applied to the surface, as well as color banding at or near the edges.

Chairs and sofas are upholstered in fabric or leather. The client can provide the fabric or leather, or I can provide a selection or help choose covering material. The cost of the covering is not included in the price of a piece though the cost of the upholstering is included. I frequently order the fabric for my clients and provide the material at my wholesale cost ("net"), with the check or credit card  for the material being sent directly by the client to the fabric supplier. This policy is called COM (customer’s own material)