AUSTIN, Texas -- A severe windstorm that tore though the Waco, Texas area in 2010 brought craftsmen Brandon Berdoll just what he needed to win awards at the 2013 Texas Furniture Makers Show in Kerrvile, Texas. The heavy winds uprooted a massive 121 year-old Pecan tree along the banks of the Brazos River. With nothing more than a chain and a few ramps, Berdoll loaded the 13 foot long, 9,100 pound tree trunk and began the long and tedious process of turning a log into a finished table.

The log was sawn into thick slabs nearly four feet wide and 13 feet long and naturally air dried for more than a year. After air drying, the slabs spent a lengthy three months in Berdoll’s own computer controlled kiln to ensure proper drying. Berdoll, along with craftsmen Bill Headrick and Jeffrey Cox built the table over a two month period at Berdoll Sawmill and Furniture Co. in Cedar Creek, Texas. A unique feature of the table is a completely natural elongated hole that stretches 7 feet long in the center of the table top. Glass inlay was carefully cut to fill the natural shape of the hole and fit with precision to within 60 thousands of an inch! The table is rightfully named, The Brazos Beauty.

The Brazos Beauty was awarded third place overall out of 45 entries and received the People’s Choice Award at the awards ceremony on November 9. The table is on display for purchase at the Kerr Arts and Cultural Center in Kerrville, Texas through November 30th.


Contact
Brandon Berdoll, Berdoll Sawmill & Furniture Co.
(512) 497-5910