Rustic wood

Rich Sather has always enjoyed getting out in the woods and cutting wood. Since farming practices changed on his farm, the side hills in back of his house have been overgrown with thousands of trees that are considered “weed” trees, including box elder, buckthorn, and aromatic cedar. Originally, his plan was to merely cut down and burn all those trees; however, after seeing and purchasing his wife a coffee table and end table made of cedar in Preston, Mo., (near Branson, Mo.), Rich decided to try his hand at the tables himself. He had already been making cedar walking sticks, trivets, and coasters before that.

Rich uses simple tools to work the wood. His tools consist of a chainsaw, a draw knife that had been left in his house many years earlier, a good quality jackknife, and a handheld electric sander.  After cutting the trees, he allows them to dry a year before continuing to create his rustic furniture.

Rich uses most of the tree for his woodworking. He can get three or four slices from the lower trunk of a tree to use as tabletops for end tables. He has his friend, Arlan Henderson, saw the next 45 or 46 inches of the log lengthwise to create two coffee tabletops.

The next part of the tree is cut to create end table bases. Limbs of the tree are sliced to create trivets and coasters as well as legs for the coffee table. Smaller limbs are used to make walking and hiking sticks. The walking sticks range in height, but are around 50 inches in height; the hiking sticks are another 18 inches taller and are often used by morel mushroom hunters on hillsides.

Once the wood is dry, Rich uses the antique draw knife to clean most of the bark from the wood. He uses his jackknife to clean the smaller nooks and crannies of the logs. Sather estimates that it takes him 13 hours to finish removing the bark on a small end table, 15 hours for a large end table, and 32 hours for a coffee table.

After removing the bark, Sather sands the slices with an electric hand sander. He begins using 80 grit sandpaper and then changes to 150 grit sandpaper to fine tune the sanding. Once they are suitably smooth he uses Gorilla wood glue to attach the tops to the bases of the tables, making sure to check the tops for level. On a recent end table Rich altered the table top by adding a lazy Susan so the tabletop turns. The tables then sit for two or three days, drying thoroughly.

Rich finishes the tables with five coats of spar urethane; spar urethane was originally used to preserve the long wooden poles that support a sail on a boat. The urethane  provides a very durable finish. Sather stresses that his furniture is only intended for indoor use, however. When he first started making the furniture, he made a co-worker a table. He had finished the table with seven coats of tung oil. The co-worker had usd the table on an outdoor deck and left it there over the winter. The result? The tabletop turned black and parts of the table had begun rotting. Rich ended up resanding the table and using his jackknife to remove the rotted areas. Although the spar urethane he uses now provides more protection than tung oil, he still reminds people the furniture is for inside use only.

Rich’s finished tables are one of a kind; each table has its own unique look. The growth rings of the wood slice make different images. Imaginative people might see a bird, a dragon, or other creatures in them, just as people do with clouds. The tables are truly a rustic, natural art form that fit in virtually any decor.

Sather does not put any finish on the coasters and trivets he makes. Many of the people that get his items enjoy the aromatic smell of the cedar; some even sand them lightly to release more of the wood’s scent.

Rich worked in the Houston County Assessor’s office before retiring. “I put in a lot of hours working before retirement — I’m a workaholic!” He declared. When he retired, he did nothing for about a week. After that he knew he had to find something to do with his new found time. His first project was landscaping the yard, planting many new shrubs and creating a huge garden. He then built a campsite on his property along Looney Creek, working on a fourth of it at a time. He chuckled as he remembered getting stuck in the creek a few times during that project.

Sather and his wife Marlene travel in between his projects. They have taken road trips to all but five states in the U.S.; they still need to visit Michigan, Delaware, New Jersey, Hawaii, and Alaska. Plans to visit Michigan were scrapped when COVID hit last year. On their road trips, Marlene enjoys taking photos with her smartphone. She later makes note cards using her photos and cardstock.

Their travels have been taking them to the South Padre Island in Texas for the past 10-12 years, where they enjoy the beach and picking up seashells. Of course, they don’t just save the shells; they make jewelry with them!

The creative couple has been together for 56 years; Rich calls Marlene his soulmate, noting they were high school sweethearts. They support each other in their hobbies, and each enjoys the time spent on individual hobbies, commenting that you need your own time as well.

Rich will continue creating his rustic furniture along with other projects; you can be assured this busy man will always find something to do that he enjoys to keep himself occupied and active. The results will be enjoyed by many people for years!