Woodworker: Michael Fortune

This walnut hall table (12 in. deep by 72 in. wide by 32 in. tall) is made from a salvaged city tree. Fortune, a FWW contributing editor, had to work carefully around the clothesline hooks, pulleys, and gate hinges that he found embedded in the wood. To make the circular stand, he steam-bent a piece-2-1⁄2 in. thick by 4 in. wide by 106 in. long-around a 10-in. radius form. Bending the substantial stock required a lever 17 ft. long, and three people to pull it. The top is made with MDF and walnut burl veneer salvaged from an airplane interior. The table is finished with catalyzed lacquer and includes ebony details.