Recently a couple got in contact with me and said they had some timber and they wanted me to make something with it. I visited them, and we worked out there would be enough of this timber to make a coffee table, a drinks cabinet and a mantle piece.

About twenty years ago they had a farm on the banks of the Ashburton River. There was a big flood after some particularly heavy rain and a large log was washed onto their property. With the aid of a bulldozer they recovered the log and, after removing the stones embedded in it, had it milled. It turned out to be Matai which is quite a rarity in these parts. They stacked it very carefully to allow air to circulate and built a shed around it to keep it dry. This meant that when we went to use it, almost all of the wood was in sound condition after being stacked for twenty years or so.

It has been a delight to work with this couple and their wood. Matai is a lovely wood to machine and work with, but difficult to sand due to the natural oils in the timber. When you get it right, it looks beautiful. I have been lucky enough to do this work.

The finished wall unit the day we delivered it to the client.

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