Clockwise from Top Right Corner:
1) The RE-CO BKLYN yard in Williamsburg.
2) Cutting slabs from a red oak log with our chainsaw mill.
3) Milling with our Sawmill.
4) Finished Black Walnut crotch slab table with cast iron legs.
5) Silver Maple conference table with bowties to stabilize cracks.
6) Red Oak bar top for a Midtown restaurant.
7) Flitches of slabs air drying.
8) Roger and Dan, Owners.
9) Elm coffee table from a downed tree on Roosevelt Island.
10) Flattening slabs, getting them ready for table tops.
11) Black Walnut tree felling in Salt Point, NY
Brooklyn's Only Sawmill Harvests NYC Trees for Unique Lumber
When trees in the NYC area fall or are removed due to storm damage, safety hazards, pest infection or to make way for urban expansion, they are routinely wasted by either burning, chipping or heading straight to the landfill.
At the same time, local woodworkers are habitually paying a premium for hardwoods at lumber retailers for material of an unknown provenance which was cut from perfectly healthy trees in a dwindling patch of woods often hundreds of miles away. Working with local arborists, tree services and city parks departments we locate downed trees and trees slated for removal.
We then save the tree from a fate of being chipped or turned into firewood. This method reduces unnecessary logging and waste, deforestation and high lumber prices due to shipping expenses. This material comes with a known local provenance, a link to our communities and lives. We are leading the change towards a greener, lower impact and more logical way of sourcing lumber.— RE-CO BKLYN
By storing, sawing, drying and selling all of the lumber at their Williamsburg, Brooklyn facility, RE-CO BKLYN is able to keep costs down and stay in tune with local demands.
As the only source in the city for highly sought-after “live edge slabs”- full width boards that feature the tree’s natural shape on both edges- RE-CO BKLYN has positioned itself as a crucial vendor to the thriving population of Brooklyn based artisans. Also featuring a full furniture shop and a custom-design background, RE-CO BKLYN is creating their own line of bespoke furniture based around this material. Says co-owner Roger Benton, “Our design/build team has created one-of-a-kind pieces for private and residential clients ranging from local homeowners to popular celebrities as well as hotels, bars, restaurants, retail stores and more”.
Dan Richfield
After a long career in computers, I pursued off grid housing construction in New Mexico and around the world where I learned an appreciation for a sustainable lifestyle and self sufficiency. Like so many others who feel like they are stuck in a cube, it was a long suppressed dream to work with my hands or even outside. It was 6 years ago I made that leap, and I’ve never looked back.
Upon my return to Brooklyn, I began to learn the craft of furniture making at 3rd Ward, an artist collective turned trade school. Roger was teaching woodworking classes there, and we met over a shared desire to combine the things we loved, the making of things and sustainability.
Roger Benton
I was introduced to woodworking as an artisanal process through music, having met and worked with several custom luthiers and drum builders. The biggest lesson for me was that the smallest details of the construction process and extremely careful wood selection are what make the real differences in the finished product. As a furniture maker and teacher I am heavily biased towards using hand tools in the old world manner because of the connection it gives me with the individual pieces of wood that make up a project. For me, the process of harvesting damaged trees and milling them into beautiful lumber is an extension of that connective process.
VIDEOS:
The New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/currency/2013/10/making-money-sawmill.html
Fast Company: http://www.fastcoexist.com/3019587/change-generation/take-a-trip-to-new-york-citys-working-sawmill
RE-CO BKLYN
200 Morgan Ave.
Brooklyn, New York 11237
Hours: Monday - Friday 10am - 6pm
Phone: 347-770-5002