Who knew eucalyptus was so beautiful !?!

Back in 2016, I was approached about building this three-tiered shelving unit. 

I don't know where the photo came from - the customer emailed it to me, and asked if I could build it. 

My answer?

I really liked the minimalist design, and the legs could be easily fabricated from flat steel stock.

So - against my usual policy, I ordered the legs for it. I usually wait until I have a deposit to start purchasing materials, but for some reason, I ordered them before getting a confirmed commission. 

I drew up what I wanted, and Hugo, my awesome metal guy, made them.

Turns out - the customer never ended up ordering the shelf, and I was stuck with some gorgeous legs for a future project. Turns out - it was meant to be.

Fast forward - seven years... there's a corner in my house that needed a shelving unit.

Let me jump back in time for a minute...

When I first opened the woodworking school in 2009, I purchase a HUGE lot of wood from an auction house. There were all sorts of random boards, literally a couple of thousand board feet of miscellaneous woods. It filled a UPS truck and took three of us to empty it, and another week to sort it.

Two different batches of boards caught my eye. 

Both were abnormally heavy for their size, and I was stumped! Since I couldn't identify them, I sent pieces of them to the US Department of Agriculture, whose Forestry division offers a free wood identification service.  Here's a link, if you ever want to get some wood identified. 

Turns out the lighter colored boards were from a Breadfruit tree, and I made this desk out of it. 

Who knows how these boards made it from the South Pacific region to Las Vegas! Check out this tidbit of info, taken from the National Tropical Botanical Garden website:

"Europeans discovered breadfruit in the late 1500s. They were amazed and delighted by a tree that produced prolific, starchy fruits that, when roasted in a fire, resembled freshly baked bread in texture and aroma."

The other batch of boards was smaller - just a three slabs of ridiculously heavy wood - and again, the USDA Forest Service identified these boards too - Eucalyptus! These boards had the deepest, most rich and vibrant maroon color of anything I've ever seen. So one afternoon, I laminated them, planed and sanded them, and finally used those metal legs from 2016.  

BTW, yes - that's a megalodon tooth on the top shelf.  

Because - why not?

This unit is one of my all-time favorite pieces that I've built - and yes, it's pretty simple and nothing special, design wise. 

But the wood makes this piece pretty special. 

And here's the good news - I had one piece left.. about 8" wide and six-feet long. There's not much you can do, furniture wise, with a single board, but I'd kept in the shop - and it in the back of mind, until the right inspiration hit me. 

And it finally hit me last week. I sketched out a simple design for the legs, and gave the drawing to Hugo. 

Within a few days, I had the legs in my shop - and viola! 

And just like that - I've used the very last of this wood that I purchased 14 years ago. 

I'd say it was a pretty successful purchase!