BOISE, Idaho — Are you good at recycling? There's a Boise man who gives recycling a new meaning. He takes trees that are removed for whatever reason and turns them into a work of art.
Tom Charters has been working with wood for about eighteen years, but his interest goes back to what he learned from his father. If there's a crane up in a neighborhood, there's a good chance a large tree is coming down.
Here's what Tom would say when he drove up to a tree-removing company.
"'What are you doing with that tree?' And most of them would say 'We have to get rid of it.' When you show up with a trailer and you're willing to take it off their hands, they're usually happy to see you."
Tom is happy to show you the dozens of cut trees that he has masterfully turned into tables, countertops, dressers, mantels, benches, and bar tops, through his company called Urban Forestry Products.
"Black walnut, typically, is the one everyone likes. It's one of the most beautiful woods out there and it's one of the hardest ones to come by in the Valley."
Now you might wonder how in the world Tom moves all of these cut pieces of wood that weigh hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds.
He uses what's called the Egyptian method, meaning the way the pyramids were built. They used round towels, basically poles, and move stones on them. Tom said that also works with wood. So Tom takes this wood and rolls it, enabling him to move heavy wood from one side to the other, just like the Egyptians did thousands of years ago.
Once the wood is cut into flat surfaces, Tom puts the large pieces into a solar kiln to dry, a process that can take years. Tom says if you leave this alone without fans and ventilation, you easily can reach 175 degrees inside. When the wood is done drying, then it is time for it to shine.
"This is an all-natural oil that we use on most of our products and it's all-natural, doesn't hurt you, and doesn't hurt the environment."
One piece that Tom is particularly proud of is the bar top at Camp Cocktail in the Warehouse Food Hall. Sixteen separate pieces, assembled on location, from a tree from Boise's north end.
Lori Carrier, a business owner at the Warehouse food hall, agrees, saying that it's really cool to do the back story of how this bar was made and tie it into the local craftsmanship. And the fact it came out of Boise's north end.
