CYPRESS CABINET

“Deadhead” is a term ( at least in Florida ) used to describe wood that has been under water for a long time. A more scientific term for it may be “anaerobicaly cured”. Whatever you call it, it’s good stuff. Thoroughly cured and stable after the lake, river, or stream water evaporates. A bonus here in the south is that much of our water has a high tannic acid content that imparts a rich golden patina to the pine and cypress that was logged at the turn of the century and rafted to the sawmill. Some logs were natural “sinkers” and never made it to the mill. These logs are now very valuable. A state permit is required to salvage them. I have a friend who is a commercial salvage diver who finds these logs, raises them, and turns them into finished lumber. The butt ends and slabs I turn into functional sculpture. The beauty of the wood is inherent, a result of natural phenomena. My job is to recognize and release it. The cabinet pictured is 5 ft. 6 inches tall and finished with half and half Watco Natural Oil and satin polyurethane wet sanded with 300 to 600 grit paper.