Chinese Tea Table
Tea table sessions were a mainstay of my life when I was building a Chinese supply chain for my startup in 2014-16. Most factory negotiations include a long Gong Fu tea session. I was impressed with the tea tables positive effect on the outcome of difficult conversations and set out to build one with my girlfriend summer of 2017. Due to its complexity and our inexperience, this project took about a month of 20-30 hrs a week.
This tree had been split in half by lightning. Difficult to harvest- we had to set up some ratchet straps to prevent the saw from pinching.
Preparing Stools for Burning
Making some flat surfaces and planning drainage
Burning stools (eventually two of them became legs for the table)
Cutting drainage hole where the semi rotten center of the knot was
Blurry workspace
The final product after much polishing and tung oil
