This piece came to be somewhat by accident: I was working on a bench design that would be a mid-century throwback. Meanwhile, I was looking for a supplier of environmentally conscious hardwoods. In my search, I found this slab of myrtle that was the perfect size for my bench. The mid-century design was scrapped as I started looking through the stacks of wood for legs.
The bench top is Oregon Myrtle, or if you are in California I believe it is called California Bay Laurel ... who knew? The legs are soft maple. All of the wood is considered urban tree rescue from Rose City Lumber. The top is hand planed to give it a more natural feel and shape. The live edge was left with only the innermost layer of bark for effect. A live edge was also left on the maple legs which were machined flat then hand planed to their final thickness. The finish is my usual hand rubbed hard oil-wax which should hold up well to the abuse seen by a bench.
