On the Bench · October 2026
The Monogrammed Dining Table
Most monograms are engraved somewhere discreet. On this table, the monogram holds the whole thing up.
The commission was a custom monogrammed dining table. The client had many requests, but one mattered most: it had to be a statement piece.
Bigleaf Maple · Sourced from Aurora, Oregon
A Bookmatched Top
After several months of searching coast to coast, we found the right pair of slabs at Goby Walnut in Oregon. The top is two slabs of bigleaf maple, bookmatched so the figure on one board mirrors the other across the seam. Together they make a surface 8 feet long, 50 inches wide, and 2⅝ inches thick, with natural edges left along both sides.
An Overhead Shot • In The Shop
Red Maple · Sourced in Floyd, Virginia
More Than Legs
Stand at either end of the table and each leg reads as a capital M, the initial of the family name. The legs are cut from red maple from Little River Lumberyard in Floyd, Virginia. A stretcher passes through both legs and is locked in place with a keyed tenon.
A single wedge driven through the stretcher draws leg and stretcher tight and does much of the heavy lifting, while pegs pin the remaining joints so the base stays together for good.
It is also what gives the base its character. Planted wide at the floor and drawing in toward the top, the legs give the table a grounded, deliberate stance that a square base could not.
Angled Joinery
Five Degrees From Square
The legs do not stand straight. Each one leans in at five degrees, and that small angle changes every part of the build. Every mortise has to be routed at five degrees, every tenon shoulder cut to meet it, and every joint in the base laid out from that angle instead of from square. It is slower, harder work, and an error at one joint carries into the next.
Silver Maple · Sourced in Floyd, Virginia
Letters in the Base
Step to the side and the base keeps spelling. The framework between the legs is built from silver maple, also from Little River. Its long diagonal braces form a large M for the family name. At the center stands a small T for a middle name, and resting on top of the T is a small M for a first name. A full monogram, worked into the joinery rather than applied to it.
Delivered to Smith Lake, Alabama
We Delivered
Every part of this table is maple: bigleaf from the Pacific Northwest, red and silver from the hills of Southwest Virginia, joined into one piece made to hold a family’s meals for generations.
Before and After · Finished in Rubio Monocoat
FROM ROUGH SLAB TO TABLETOP
When the slabs first came into the shop, they were rough-sawn and weathered, with saw marks across the surface and the spalting hidden beneath a dull grey film. Flattening and sanding revealed the figure underneath, and a coat of Rubio Monocoat gave it its full depth and color. Monocoat is a plant-based hardwax oil that bonds with the top fibers of the wood in a single coat, leaving a natural matte surface you can feel instead of a layer of plastic sitting on top. It contains no VOCs, stands up to daily use, and can be spot repaired without refinishing the entire table, which matters for a piece meant to stay in a family for generations.
BeforeAfterHave a piece in mind?
If there is a name or a story you would like carried into a piece of your own, we would be glad to hear it.
