Leif -- a pertinent question. In 1965, American cultural historian and artist Eric Sloane wrote a book I can recommend, "A Reverence for Wood." He tells of New England farmers who, needing fencing at the best price, took counsel which advised the planting of a row of trees along the property lines, from which typical split hardwood fencing could be hung -- thus saving the expense of seasoned locust fence posts (which came from trees planted on Long Island) and providing both a present and a future benefit, in the form of shade -- and salable lumber.
Many American towns today have rows of trees lining what were once rural lanes.
My belief is that the two bolts, zinc-coated steel penetrating the tree 4", that support the center of my bench are harming the tree not at all -- despite the slight seepage of sap through the tubular stand-offs jacketing the bolts. The living part of the tree is only the thin cambium layer beneath the bark, and a somewhat thicker vascular layer of sapwood, while the interior of the tree is essentially (very wet) lumber, not a living substance.
I am more concerned by a loss of tree bark existing on the sidewalk side of the tree, just above the ground. Someone doing underground work prior to my arrival seems to have caused the damage -- which, if it passed much more than half-way around the trunk, would seriously threaten the life of the tree. (Compared to the several inches of width of missing bark, my 5/8" bolts interrupt only a small bit of living tissue.) Further, bark surrounding this injury has rotted to a degree, perhaps accelerated by the many dogs who "mark" the tree on a daily basis. Current advice cautions against any sort of application of sealer to the damaged area; I am considering constructing a shield for the base of the tree . . .
Leif, I would be very interested to know if I'm mistaken in any way. Do others have experience with the bolting of hardware to living trees ?
SDR: I was just being too clever by half. We take boards to the shop and we make them into a chair, and thus we insult the tree and the platonic form of the chair. Yet this is what we do. We change the stuff we find. It is a deep question why we do so.
As to hurting your tree, I very much doubt you have injured it. James Michener once said that he is like an apple tree that got old and stopped producing many apples, so the orchard tender drove a few nails into the trunk to scare the tree into producing more fruit.
I almost feel like I should not interject myself between Lief and SDR – you two communicate on a different level than I.
But alas, I thought I would share some of our more recent finds:
1) a sibling for our Arne Jacobsen Swan chair, Fritz Hansen c. 2001 (white is not my fav, but beggars can't be choosers);
2) Veranda sofa by Vico Magistretti for Cassina – originally supplied to Oracle HQ;
3) Challenge sofa by Martin Borenstein for Croyden – the upholstery dates to the '80s, is perfect, and actually looks pretty good in person;
4) a birch wine rack in our basement cum celler cum furniture storage, courtesy of my wife's uncle; and
5) a few cases of some really decent local wine, discounted to $5/bottle on account of a mishap with the labeling machine – about the only way we'll ever afford to fill this thing.
Been an interesting month for picking. Maybe some day I will stop spending money on chairs and instead get some real flooring in our house. Now would be a good time, given that the wine cellar is not two weeks old and is already full of our overflow....
What looks to be a very nicely executed home-built job, fine furniture grade white oak faced solid hardwood laminated plywood closed back speaker cabinet, plenty of volume, body and punch, rockin fuckin hard
don't know what the impedance is, but my head hasn't blown up yet
40 dollars from Goodwill
hot damn damn damn
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