A table from historic oak

When something good gets better, it gets close to perfect — like the table built in Karsten Schilling's workshop on a base of historic oak. The Münster joiner did not make it for a client, though. His client, Alexander Wirzbach, built the piece with his own hands, under guidance.

The saw runs and cuts through the timber without effort, shredding the fibre centimetre by centimetre and lifting a fine mist of sawdust that catches the light. However striking the moment is, Alexander Wirzbach barely notices it. Behind hearing protection he is focused on one thing — the board he is pushing steadily through the blade. When the saw stops, the first cut is made, and he is visibly pleased. Until now he had only known furniture by sitting on it.

The long workshop weekend begins

The goal is a real dining table: 2.80 metres long, 1.20 wide, with a 7-centimetre top bringing it to 76 centimetres — high enough that chairs with backrests slide under comfortably. The weekend is short and there is a lot to do, so it is back to the mixer to pour the concrete legs. Schilling chose a fast-setting mix so the project can take shape the same day.

Wood and concrete

The forms are assembled from screen-printed board, squared and clamped. Concrete is unforgiving of a form that moves, so every joint is checked twice before the first pour. While it cures, the oak goes back on the bench for flattening.

A dining table, but not like everyone else's

The oak came out of a barn roof that stood for more than two centuries. Every beam carries mortises, nail holes and splits from its first life, and none of it is sanded away — the marks are the reason the timber was chosen.

A journey through the material

Old oak is hard on tooling. It has dried for decades, it moves less than new stock, and it hides the occasional nail. Cuts are taken slowly, blades are checked often, and the extractor runs constantly — fine oak dust is not something anyone should be breathing across a two-day build.

150 kilograms for the top, 150 kilograms for the concrete base.

Finishing touches

The last stage is the surface. Sanding runs through the grits without skipping, each pass under extraction so nothing is driven back into the grain. The oil goes on thin, twice, and the difference is immediate: the marks of two centuries come up dark against the pale grain, and the table looks like what it is — old wood, given a second job.