Henry says

The "special" things about the table are:

1)  Bois d'Arc is a native tree, highly resistant to any insect attack, and very durable.  There are a number of houses in the Historic District that date to the late 1800s and pre-WWI era that are sitting on bois d'arc posts buried in the dirt.  The wood is easy to work when it's freshly cut, but once it dries, it's difficult to do anything with.  I'd been told that once a nail had been driven into it (while green) would be impossible to pull out.  I tried it, and broke the nail off even with the surface of the wood.

 2)  When bois d'arc is first cut, it is a brilliant yellow in color.

Exposure to light makes it turn a mellow brown color.  There are various ploys that can be used to keep the yellow color, and I know one of them.

This table is bright yellow [all you have to do to recover the original yellow is cut off a quarter-inch or so from the surface that was exposed to light], and the purchaser can take it home, leave it out in the sunlight until the color suits him.  After that, he can bring it into the house and I will do my trick to assure that it won't keep getting browner.

 3)  The slab is cut from the trunk of an old tree that originally had 3 trunks growing side-by-side, which eventually merged into one tree.  Since the slab was cut near the ground level, 3 sets of growth rings can be seen.

 4)  Milling it is extremely difficult, owing to the hardness of the wood, and I had to use tools and techniques from the machinist's trade to flatten and smooth it out.   I used a milling machine with my own special tool to do the milling, and even then it was a tedious process.

 5)  The legs are made of quarter-sawn white oak, which can be obtained from only one sawmill in the U.S.  It is a specialty wood, much favored by the Stickley company in their furniture, made ca. 1900.  It is commonly known as "tiger oak".  Oak is not usually quarter-sawn nowadays because it wastes a lot of the tree.  Most mills cut the wood in different ways [flat-sawn, rift-sawn, etc.] because the yield of lumber/ tree is higher.  Not as good a quality, but more profitable.

 I've used traditional finishing methods, some of which have been in use since the early 1600s.  The point of the exercise is that I made the table in such a way, and using such materials that it ought to last at least 200 years, barring accident or misuse.  All the finishing products are oils and waxes from natural plants, insects, and the like, and so could be called "organic".  It is completely non-toxic, non-biodegradable, whatever.

Original Bois d'arc billet

This result of this work is pictured below