She started with work on furniture restoration, then switched to interior items made from wooden pallets, and now she has become interested in making furnishing elements in the loft and living-edge style - the team has collected all the designer fashion, including hit tabletops made of wood and glass. We tell you how they are produced and how to catch the current trend.

From restoration to production

The emergence of a full-fledged carpentry shop in the restoration workshop became a logical stage in the development of Lemon Oak. Renovation often required manufacturing parts of furniture dear to the customer’s heart that had been lost over time. Then the team caught the trend for interior items made from pallets, or pallets. The mini-factory is still engaged in it today and still approaches the choice of material with pedantry that is not typical for this direction. For example, they do not use raw materials that served as containers for transporting petroleum products or household chemicals. “Wood absorbs odors. I think it’s not very pleasant to sit on a sofa that exudes the spirit of powder,” explains the head of the company, Alexey Nikolaev.

Craftsmen not only use ready-made pallets, but also assemble them themselves, after which they are sure to be sanded and coated with Italian paints - durable and without the characteristic amber. Alexey admits that the price of one item in his company is higher than the market price. You can buy a sofa made from pallets from handicraft workshops for 5,000 rubles. At Lemon Oak, this will cost 11,000 rubles, excluding upholstery - it is ordered separately, and the price ceiling in this case is 15,000 rubles. Such objects are still popular among commercial spaces - cafes, hookah bars, and less often - among private customers who understand how such furniture can be integrated into home space. One of these clients was a famous Samara architect, for whom they put together a large corner sofa.

Lemon Oak constantly studies the market, and the result of one of these studies was the launch of a line of loft-style furniture - today only the lazy do not engage in it. True, the start came at a time when the Internet had not yet been flooded with such offers. However, Alexey still insists on exclusivity. “I come up with the design together with the designer and the client - it’s a team effort. If the customer comes with a photo finished product, we are still redoing everything - no copies,” the general director voices his position. The situation on competitive market things were not easy. Alexey complains that many people trust students or non-professionals who do it cheaper, but the quality of their products leaves much to be desired. Loft is loft, but a “raw”, uncouth look and “raw” work are two different things. At Lemon Oak, according to the manager, they don’t allow themselves to do the latter.

How to make a table with a river

You can make a table with a glass river in the middle from any wood, the craftsmen are sure. Most budget option- pine. However, there is one disadvantage to which many turn a blind eye, and some do not believe in it until the very end.

The point is that pine secretes resin, and your table may one day become “myrrh-streaming.” The plus for which the customer is willing to endure this amber madness is the price: an average-sized table will cost about 30,000 rubles.

Glass, too, at the request of the client, can be anything, but by default its thickness is 4-5 millimeters. "Lemon Oak" uses tempered glass. Firstly, at such a thickness it is super durable. Secondly, even if the unexpected suddenly happened, it would not break into large pieces, but into small ones - like a car. The palette is wide. One of the last orders - coffee table with blue glass.

In general, the process of making such an item differs little from the production of an ordinary table. At the final stage, when everything is assembled, a stencil is made along the contours of the array, then a template is made, according to which a panel of the necessary parameters is made in a glass workshop. This is where the fun begins. Alexey says that in his lifetime the glass has never stood up as it should - the craftsmen always have to adjust the inner edges of the array to the manufactured surface. No glue is used - everything is held together due to a precise fit. They even transport the item assembled.

Favorite instrument

Alexey knows by heart all the processes that take place in the workshop, but admits that he is first and foremost the manager and ideological center of Lemon Oak. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t make anything worthwhile out of the boards. At the stage of forming the equipment fleet, he, as an experienced manager, trusted the professionals - his craftsmen.

IN modern design premises, extraordinary and exclusive interior items are increasingly being used, capable of attracting all the attention of the people present in the room. Such an original interior solution includes tables decorated with epoxy resin.

This interesting thing You can do it yourself, turning an ordinary piece of furniture into a true work of art.

Epoxy resins are not used in furniture production pure form, since the magical qualities of epoxy appear as a result of its contact with a special hardener. By changing the ratio of these two connected parts, you can obtain a composition of different consistency. Depending on the specific purposes for which it will be used, these may be:

• liquid essence,
• viscous or rubbery substance;
• solid;
• high strength base.

The process of manufacturing any furniture with decor using epoxy resin involves coating a wooden base with this polymer and thoroughly polishing the product after the resin has hardened, resulting in a product with high wear resistance. The correct ratio of ingredients will depend on general properties the entire composition. The incorrect amount of hardener can significantly reduce the strength of the finished product, as well as its resistance to impact. environment And household products. Therefore, when preparing the mixture for work, it is so important to follow the ratios recommended by the polymer manufacturer, Most often these indicators are 1:1.

According to the method of use, epoxy resin can be hot-cured or cold-cured. When creating pieces of furniture at home, the second type is most often used.

Compared to regular tables from natural wood, tables with epoxy resin treatment have a number of advantages:

• When dried, the resin composition has practically no shrinkage, holds its shape well, retains its original color, does not deform and is not subject to mechanical damage;
• exclusivity of each product and limitless design options;
• the ability to use various additional materials for decoration (coins, tree cuts, shells, stones, starfish, etc.);
• the ability to add multi-colored dyes to the mixture, including phosphorescent paints;

• impermeability to moisture and dampness;
• excellent tolerability chemicals cleaning.

The main disadvantage of these tables is that they are very high cost products. To cover one copy, depending on the size and shape of the product, it can take up to several tens of liters of polymer substance. Another possible unpleasant drawback is the presence of air bubbles that form in the epoxy mixture as a result of non-compliance with instructions and technologies during production.

The very first and one of the most important stages in preparation wooden structure before pouring with epoxy resin - thoroughly remove dust and all other contaminants from the surface of the wood. After which the surface of the table that will be poured must be primed. If this is not done, then the resin, absorbed into the porous wood, will form air bubbles that will spoil appearance products.

Only after the preparation stage is completed is it prepared required quantity mixtures of epoxy resin and hardener. On at this stage the most important thing is strict adherence to the proportions specified in the instructions for use. IN ready mixture depending on the chosen design, dyes or additives can be added decorative materials. Next, the resulting mixture is applied to the prepared wooden surface.

If the countertop has a specific design made of additional materials, then they need to be placed on the table surface before pouring. Moreover, lightweight materials such as wine corks or shells, must first be glued to the surface in accordance with the intended pattern. This is necessary so that when pouring the mixture they do not float, thereby turning a thoughtful composition into a disorderly and uninteresting structure. If unwanted air bubbles appear during the pouring process, they can be removed using a hair dryer by directing a stream of hot air to the problem area.

The mixture will begin to set within fifteen minutes, but by final stage, namely, grinding the product can be started only after the resin has completely hardened. It is advisable to keep the product for a week, since after this period it will be fully established and ready for use.

After sanding, it is advisable to coat the product with several layers of protective varnish. This will prevent the release of toxic substances into the atmosphere, which may be contained in small quantities in resin compositions.

To create a table with an original tabletop, decorated with epoxy resin, you can take absolutely any type of tree, including various fragments, saw cuts, wood chips and even sawdust, the main thing is that everything, even the tiniest particles of the future tabletop, are thoroughly dried. Antique and rough wood looks amazing in epoxy resin. For decoration, you can also successfully use sea and river shells, pebbles, dried herbs and flowers, coins, and other inclusions that can give the product special originality or a specific theme. And by mixing luminescent dyes with epoxy resin, you will create a magical glow effect.

All tables are the same except that they usually have a tabletop and legs. Otherwise they are very different. Different shapes, materials and even manufacturing ideas. The industry produces large quantities of comfortable and inexpensive standard furniture.

But the most interesting specimens are presented to us by artist-designers. They not only change the shape and finish, but even create their own unique technologies for making objects. The talented artist Greg Klassen lives in Washington.

He is young, has a degree in theology, but works as a carpenter. The furniture he created is distinguished by its natural beauty and naturalness. Greg tries not just to make a household item out of a log, but to see the natural beauty of the material and emphasize and enhance it with his skill.

The American artist's design table looks like a river. To achieve this effect, the author uses wood defects. A knotty board cannot be used for making traditional furniture, because it will easily crack under load. But for the original product it will be useful.

Greg separates the array along the natural fiber line in areas of weak adhesion. Having a large number of different inclusions, a thick board easily breaks, revealing uneven edges.

The second component for creating the image of a river on the tabletop is blue glass. It is this that creates transparent shallows in places where there is a tight fit and tints the uneven edges of the board, turning them into steep banks and pools.

This is what a round unusual table looks like. Added to the sides quality material. This is necessary for the strength of the product. The legs are carved from hard wood, capable of supporting heavy loads. Everything is covered with colorless matte varnish. This protects the wood from wood pests and damage humid air. At the same time, its natural appearance is preserved.

At the bottom of the river, a metal frame made of sheets is visible, which serves as a support for the tabletop and holds the entire structure. The glass is placed in a groove precisely made to its shape and glued with transparent glue, which gives an additional water effect.

The second method of fastening glass, when it is inserted into a groove, adds steep banks to the river. The surface of the table in this version is uneven, but unique.

Creative table in avant-garde style. It was made like this by rectangular legs from a metal corner. It is enough to change the design of the product, and glass waters belong to a different era.

Deep mountain lake of volcanic origin. The steep banks drop down almost vertically and look hard and rocky. You have to have an unusual gift to see such beauty in a simple hemp with a loose core and create it.

Notice how natural everything looks. It was as if lava was flooding the mountainside in waves. Then the depths cooled, and water filled the depression of the former crater.

A fragment of another masterpiece is in the workshop. Knots prepared for polishing are visible, fixtures and the floor glow through artificial water.

Artist's workshop. The new designer table is already partially ready. The contours of the glass are outlined and a sample will be made along the intended line. The glossy surface, like real water, reflects light and surrounding objects, giving them a bluish tint.

Even in defects you can see beauty and create a miracle.

Those who pay great attention to room decor, as a rule, use the most non-standard and original ways to decorate rooms. Serial store-bought furniture does not satisfy the needs of people with creative thinking, so apartment owners who want their homes to be unique often search for one-of-a-kind designer items.

Wooden furniture made from modern technologies will undoubtedly surprise guests. So unusual, but at the same time beautiful things You can include a table called “glass river”. Few people know what a river table is, and it is this fact that makes these pieces of furniture so special.

Peculiarities

This item received its unusual name due to the glass insert or epoxy resin filling in the center of the tabletop. Visually, the table resembles a mountain gorge, in the hollow of which a river flows. It's getting crazy beautiful effect, which instantly wins the hearts of everyone who sees the masterpiece for the first time.

IN classic version the table-river represents a weighty unit made of natural wood with a glass insert in the center. Glass can be colored or transparent. Sometimes glass insert replaced with a mirror. The highlight of the product is a small insert with uneven edges.

In almost every home you can see a coffee table or desk, each one is different interesting design, the main function of which is to “revive” the living space. But not a single table can compare with an amazing table made of elm (a type of elm) or slab (a cut from a tree trunk, the edges of which are in finished product remain untouched) with built-in blue ponds.

The first creator of this amazing product was a furniture designer Greg Klassen (USA). The material for his creation was waste from sawmills and construction sites, wood with various damages, which could not be used in the furniture industry due to a serious defect. In the hands of a skilled craftsman, all the seemingly inconspicuous elements that they wanted to get rid of quickly turned into a real treasure.

At first, the tables were quite simple, but when Greg made a complex glass pattern in the wood, ideally imitating the incorrigible natural flaw of wood, the man got those very voluminous rivers with ornate banks and crystal clean waters. Each table created by Greg is a unique and original item, and you won’t find another like it in the world.

Undoubtedly, designer item It's not cheap. But thanks to the fact that the master never hid the techniques for producing original furniture pieces, the table-river became public property. If desired original item every person can do.

Original tables with a river bed come in a variety of configurations: rectangular, square, oval, round, made from laminated wood or from a whole trunk.

The core, if the table is made from a trunk, is carefully removed and blue glass is “installed” into the resulting opening, repeating the contour of the trunk’s irregularities.

The result is that very real river or lake, the bottom of which can be seen with the “naked” eye.

Manufacturing methods

The river table is a new trend in the world of furniture production, and it’s called Live edge. Products created in in this direction, give a feeling of closeness to nature, which is why they are very popular among people living in modern megacities. Many designers and just amateurs unusual interiors delighted with tables that imitate a piece of living nature.

As mentioned earlier, for making unusual table wood with various flaws is often used, which is considered defective in industrial production, however, skilled craftsmen with experience and boundless imagination are able to turn disadvantages into advantages.

So that everything natural features natural material preserved unchanged, each trunk, slab or cut is carefully processed by hand using a manual woodworking machine - a framer. Then the core is carefully removed, and a blue or clear glass, repeating the contour of all the irregularities of the tree trunk. The end result is a real deep-sea lake.

There are several options for making a table with a river:

• The glass is placed in a groove that is pre-cut to accommodate the glass insert. Bonding is done with transparent glue.
• The glass is inserted into a groove that is formed naturally.

The insert in the barrel is made of epoxy. You will learn more about how to make a river table yourself in the following video.

Flaws

All furniture items produced in the Live edge style are almost perfect. There can only be disadvantages if the table was manufactured with technological violations. That is, the disadvantages do not belong to the product, but to its manufacturer.

Working with resin is especially difficult. During the production process, air bubbles may appear (poorly executed filling), which are unacceptable in the finished product; this is considered a defect. But unscrupulous performers may try to hide this fact.

The second disadvantage is the inability to correct the error. Making a river table using epoxy resin occurs in several stages. First, the first layer of thickener is poured, additional decorative designs are made on the resin, then all the artwork is filled with a second layer, and if something goes wrong, it is impossible to correct the resin that has hardened by mistake. This moment significantly influences pricing policy, so epoxy resin products are very expensive. Every wrong step is spoiled material.

Transparency does not tolerate any mistakes. For this reason, tables with simulated water flow are created in conditions of absolute cleanliness.

IN production premises there must be an ideal air filtration system, otherwise specks of dust, hairs and everything that will bring all the work to naught will be visible in the picture.

Place in the interior

A table whose top is flooded liquid glass, epoxy resin, treated and decorated with metal, phosphorus or other in an original way is a new approach to the production of exclusive interior items. A decade and a half ago, no one could even imagine such methods of processing timber, and most importantly, imagine that from defective, at first glance, raw materials, stunning furniture could be made that would decorate any room.

Original tables made from materials of natural origin can make "revolution" in the interior. Created from solid wood and glass, polymer or resin, river tables create the illusion of being in a forest, a medieval castle, somewhere far from modern life.

Slab is a cut from a tree trunk, the edges of which remain intact in the finished product. The term was borrowed by the carpentry industry from the stone industry. Initially they were called slabs monolithic slabs, which were obtained by cutting stone blocks. In the woodworking industry, slabs are called a solid longitudinal cut of wood - an array that excludes gluing and other types of joints.

The exposed section demonstrates the unique natural structure of the material - color transitions, small knots, natural growths - suveli and burls. When processing the slab, the natural cut lines are preserved - the free geometry of the slab follows the natural curves of the tree trunk. The edge is not only not leveled, but its natural original relief is also emphasized.

More often, slabs are made from the lower part of the tree - it is distinguished by its large width and increased strength. Cuttings in places of bends and branches of the trunk are especially valued. The thickness of a wooden slab is usually 5-15 cm. The most impressive look are slabs made from solid wood species - elm, oak, larch, walnut, poplar, acacia, mahogany, ebony, rosewood, teak, wenge, merbau and others.

The material is used for the manufacture of unique designer furniture and interior items: massive tables, kitchen countertops, chairs, benches, bedside tables, bar counters, shelves, headboards, shelving, window sills, lamp bases. Manufacturing of products from slabs is separated into a separate design direction Live edge - “live edge”, “natural edge”. It implies an emphasized miraculousness and an emphasis on the uniqueness of wood.

Today there is a “slack mania” in the furniture market. Interior items made from slab create an atmosphere of native closeness with nature, which is why they are extremely popular among residents of megacities. Live edge elements look organically in loft and eco interior styles. They are also used as accents in minimalist, eclectic, rustic and ethnic interiors.

Particularly popular are the combined tables made in the Live edge style, made of slab and figuratively cut glass or a layer of epoxy resin, called “flowing river”. Slab tables look extremely impressive in the interiors of offices and meeting rooms, as dining, coffee and magazine models.

The author of the idea is furniture designer from the USA Greg Klassen. When creating the tables, he used waste from sawmills and construction sites - wood with defects that did not meet standards furniture production. He turned the apparent disadvantages of the material into advantages. Complex glass patterns imitated river beds with ornate banks and crystal clear water.

Each river table is unique. It is logical that the price tag in this case is also exclusively “cosmic”. However, the master never hid the technology for making his masterpieces, so the table-river became public property. Almost anyone can do it if desired.

Stages of making a table from a slab of wood with filling

Tool preparation

To make a river table from solid wood with your own hands, you don’t need professional equipment and skills. You will need:

• hand router;
• tabletop circular saw;
• eccentric sander;
• electric drill.

Material selection

A slab of elm or elm is especially popular as a base - it is durable, does not rot, can be processed well, has a dark brown core, light bark and a moiré wood texture. The residual moisture content of the massif should not exceed 10%. Pre-heat-treated wood acquires an even richer and brighter shade.

The cheapest resins - such as ED-20 - are difficult to work with, viscous, and have a yellowish tint. A good value for money epoxy - Cristal two-component cold-curing compound: colorless and optically transparent. Due to the low viscosity of the composition, bubbles come out of its volume on their own.

The resin can be given any color using special tinting pastes. However, it is not recommended to choose compositions based on water based, as they promote the formation of bubbles.

Wood preparation and processing

Depending on the functions of the table, determine the size and make a sketch. The slab is milled, after which the tape grinder Carefully sand down the marks from the cutter and polish. The natural curvature of the edges is preserved as much as possible.

After that manual router with a special carriage, the slab planes are aligned, which will be installed parallel to each other. At this stage, the largest irregularities are removed and boards of the same thickness are obtained.

Afterwards they make formwork from chipboard sheet. The joints of materials are coated with transparent silicone sealant so that epoxy does not flow between them. To prevent the resin from getting onto the outer surface of the tabletop, the edges of the slabs are glued with masking tape.

After this, the river “bed” is primed thin layer epoxy. Thus, they close the pores and stabilize the wood. The resin is prepared in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.

To prevent air bubbles from forming in the voids, epoxy is poured in small doses - layers ~1 cm thick every 24 hours. If air bubbles form on the surface, they are heated with a hair dryer and they burst. The gelation time of Cristal epoxy is 60 minutes, complete polymerization is 1 day, complete curing is 5 days. After this, the formwork is dismantled.

At the final stage, the tabletop is sanded with a step-by-step reduction in grain size - from P40 to P320. Before final grinding and polishing, the legs are screwed to the product. Finishing sanding of wood - P600 grain, resin - P1500. After this, the wood is coated with protective oil, usually in 2 layers. Its shade is selected taking into account the type of wood and the color of the “river”. After drying, the tabletop is rubbed with lint-free textiles.

Loft style table made of slab oak and epoxy

The cost of the finished table will depend on the chosen material (beech, oak, elm) and will average 50-70 thousand rubles. Budget ones can be viewed in our catalogue.