I made the trek down to Berkshire Products. This place is about as far as you can get from Boston and still be in MA. But they mill some of the most beautiful wood anywhere. It’s just amazing. I’ve always loved wood. In the context of Clover I think wood can bring warmth to what is going to otherwise be a very cold and modern aesthetic. There are other things we do to ensure things don’t feel to sterile (e.g., breaking up planes and rectangles). But the wood plays a huge role for us. Those counters carry a lot of weight design-wise.
We went with a New England red oak. Well, there’s no way to be entirely sure it’s New England based. I pressed these guys on this issue this time and they admitted that they don’t track. So “almost all” maple, ash, and oak is New England in origin, but they can’t be certain.
They had a production sander this time. They either didn’t have it last time, or I just didn’t see it. Awesome. For $40 they ran it through for me down to 120 grit. That means I got a board that had been planed and sanded. Awesome.
After the break I’ve included pictures of the counter getting sanded and packed on top of my car. I spent the weekend building and finishing the counters. I’ll post the final product when it is installed.
