In 2002 and 2003 I devoted some time to furniture made from rare exotic woods. I averaged one hour a day 6 days per week.
Not exotic woods, but RARE EXOTIC WOODS. I have finished four chairs of Red Amboyna and one matching table to store cue accessories and to sit drinks on. So far (June 2006) I have sold two sets of this furniture. Not much, but rare wood is too expensive for most, but the well-to-do.
I have been so busy making cues that it took until 2005 to finish my own billiard table started back in 2001 - now pictures of that table below.
These are the exact measurements. Not a 2 by 8 which is really 1 3/4 by 7 1/2.
I have a 15 HP (three phase) 18 inch bladed saw and do my lumber mill work when I am able to get wood that is huge. Usually supporting columns from the older houses and hard-wood floor joists.
The main frame's wood (the outside box) is 15 inches wide by 3 1/2 inches thick. Plus I have scabbed on additional 3 inch thick hand-carved solid wood panels, making the main box frame 6.5 inches thick.
The sub frame's wood is 2 inches thick by 8 inches.
The table weighs 1, 770 pounds.
The carved wood on the legs is 1 1/2 inches thick and is scabbed onto a laminated leg.
Then the legs are 9 1/2 inches thick (before the carvings are added) and square, plus the 3 inches of the carvings, making a total size of 12.5 by 12.5 inches and solidly laminated.
The table is higher than standard by a full two and one-half inches because I am a tall person. Pool table height standards are still from the 1800s when people were shorter. Today these tables are still being pumped out being built for the average height of people that are 5 foot 6 inches tall.
The legs are laminated and nailed using 2 inch thick lumber.
The top is 1 and 1/16 inch slate.
The pockets are from the States and are leather with fringe.
The cushions are "Super-speed" made by Brunswick, which the BCA requires on all tables before they will sanction a tournament.
The number of polyurethane coats on this table are 24 with sanding between every 2 layers to flatten the finish.
Every piece of wood is sealed including the rail and sub rails, the main box and wood between the main beams. Sealed all the way around each piece.
Even the bottom and the top of the legs are sealed. Main frame and sub frame also. In-other-words every piece of wood is completely sealed with many, many coats of polyurethane. The joints are sealed with 4 coats and then bolted with 1/2 inch stainless steel bolts and glued with urethane glue!
There is no way the humidity or lack thereof will affect the shooting of this table due to the woods all being sealed and because they are also dried to a moisture content that is 6% lower than the U.S. accepted furniture woods! In-other-words the wood in this table will remain straight until run over by a bulldozer! But humidity does affect the dampness of the cloth and the rubber. That does affect how the balls roll on the table and bounces off of the cushions. A damp table will roll shorter off of the cushions. As the air conditioning dries down the room the balls starting rolling longer.
Please do not ask me to make you one for I will not. I was offered $12,000 for this table from a very famous pool pro. A few weeks later a collector offered me $15,000. This table is mine and I will not make another one. No perfectionist should go through the tough job of building two pool tables! Besides I am 14 months behind on cue orders on November 5, 2008.
Know how you can push your body against most tables and shake the ball a little? You can get two men to lean against it, bump it and the balls do not even shake because the table does not vibrate let-alone allow the balls to shake.
The three white sections from the left diamond to the left corner are burn marks put there when Efren was testing my cue against the ones he was using. He was jacking up the cue and stroking a power draw shot hitting a ball in the upper left corner pocket and coming back down table.
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That "QP Logo" is 5/8 inch (diameter) of solid 18k gold.
Not exotic wood furniture, but RARE Exotic Wood Furniture.
Note November 2006: There is no way I have time to make any more of these sets. I am too busy building cues.
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1.- Red Amboyna
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2.- Yellow Amboyna
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3.- Brown Amboyna with Bees Wing figure
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4.- Black Camagong, not striped with black and gray mixture,
but solid black that was one of three support posts for
a house built in the 1800s.
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5.- Red Tindalo (super rare to find legally, and often
confused for Red Narra by locals who do not know better.)
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6.- Molave (In the Ilocano language it is called, "Sagat").
Formerly used for wagon-wheels and wooden spokes by the locals.
All six woods are illegal to cut in The Philippines. I have a source and am still able to get some from older houses that are still being torn down.
The
finish is many, many coats of polyurethane. You cannot feel
the grain. A foreign visitor the other day rubbed the table
top and chairs and looked at me saying, "This is American
made. It feels like polished glass. " He was correct.
This is furniture of the finest quality, it was American
made (by me).
The table top is Red Tindalo, the dot inlays and borders of the drawers are ebony, and yellow Amboyna also accents the edge of the top. Even the ends of the knob drawer openers have black Camagong inlays.
These two pictures show the true color of these fine rare woods.
The drawers are of Brown, Tiger figured, Amboyna, sometimes referred to more technically as Bees Wing figure, and with Black Camagong wood framing the Amboyna.
The sides and back of the drawers, which cannot be seen, are also of Brown Bees Wing figured, Amboyna. No shortcuts, only fine furniture. The true color of the Brown Tiger Amboyna is shown in the two above pictures.
The sides and back on the main frame of the table are of the rare hardwood called Molave. All woods are endangered and illegal to cut. The only legal sources are from very old houses built 75 to 200 years ago. The Brown (Bees Wing figured) Amboyna is so rare that most furniture dealers here do not even know what it is or that it even existed. This is from a main house support in a house built in the 1800s! Termites are a real problem in any tropical climate, but they cannot eat some of these woods, too hard.
Every side (including under the drawers, and even the ends and bottom of the legs) of this wood has a finish on it. Nothing was spared to make this a beautiful piece of furniture that will never warp and last a lifetime. Wait, there is a place without a finish. The drawer slides do not have a finish on them due to making the drawers have more friction with opening. Without the finish on them they will slide open toooooo smoothly.
Would you believe that these fine pieces of furniture are made without nails? Not a single metal nail in this table or in the chairs. So far they have been tested to 350 pounds and they do not break, sway, rattle, or give. Solidly built.
This
table and chairs are my own personal ones and for show.
Notice how the woods change tones and colors within just a inch or so in each pieces. Hard to find these tonal woods anywhere else on the planet. In the world there are 24 premier hard-woods. Twelve of the 24 are found in The Philippines. Thus more of the premier hard-woods are found in The Philippines than any country on earth.
Notice the high reflection in the top of the table.
The above picture shows the exact coloring of the highly figured Brown Tiger Amboyna.
The table is: 36 & 3/16 inches high . . . . 19 by 21 1/4 inches wide at the top...... 17 1/8 deep.
The drawers inside measurements are:4 1/4 inches deep (depth), 16 3/16 long from front to back and 15 5/8 inches wide.
There are 7.50 cubic feet of space in the drawers.
The chairs:
Back height: 46 inches
Seat height: 32 inches inside length from front to back is: 17 inches
Inside width from side to side is: 20 1/8
Seats are of two inch impact foam covered in real leather. Two inches of foam is for you skinny people without enough padding on your bottoms.Heh, heh.
I guarantee these chairs to hold a 450 pound person without breaking!
And the seats are wide and deep enough for a 450 pound person to sit in.
You can rub your hand anywhere under or on this furniture and the finish feels like glass. The finish on these pieces of rare furniture is the usual show car finish that I put on all of my cues.
The chairs are from Tindalo, Molave, but mostly Red Amboyna. Wooden chairs without a single metal nail and 65% of the wood is rare Philippine Red Amboyna!
The above picture shows the footrest and the next one the bracing under the footrest. The footrest of of very rare Tindalo and are a full 1 3/16 inches thick. The bracing is also the same thickness. The footrest from front to back is 4 1/8 wide. These chairs are rugged.
In the two close-ups above notice how thick the arm rest is and how thick the bracing is. Yet not a single metal nail in any of the chairs. I used wood nails that I made, not metal.
Notice that two of the chairs have leather in groves cut for the cues to rest in while your opponent makes you sit.
The total price for the four rare exotic wood chairs and matching table was $6,500.00 from 2003 to January 2006. From January 1, 2006 the price is $8,500.00.
A certificate of ownership comes with this fine furniture and the table is signed and dated in Gold ink.
November 1, 2006. I cannot build anymore of these sets. I am 9 months behind in catching up on cue orders and have been 9 months behind for 3 years.