The "Ark"

Made this back in “01. My parent’s neighbor, a contractor, had a job dismantling one of those professional villages that used to pop up on the side of the highways during the early eighties. He saved the signs that hung out front of the place, two massive things, 8’ 4” by 4’ 2” ovals, just under 2” thick. Not having any use for them, he asked my Father if he’d like them, and my Dad in turn asked me, to which i heartily agreed! I finally decided to do something about the complete lack of counter space in the kitchen and built this piece, affectionately called the “Ark” after my neighbor asked me what I was building. As it had been raining steadily for two weeks straight I told him I was building an Ark. The name stuck.
I had been told that the signs were solid Mahogany but was always skeptical until I finally applied clear polyurethane to it and it revealed it’s beautifully rich, kind of cocoa color. The pictures I’ve included are of it in it’s final form, it’s sanded form, and it’s original blue painted form. The whole finishing process took over five years because the thing is too useful to me to have all disassembled. No glue and no nails were used. There are two screws that hold an angle iron brace to the back for racking prevention and I also screwed angle iron underneath the main shelf for stengthening. Michael C.

-- Mike in Manchester, NH---Unpleasant tasks are simply worthy challenges to improve skills.