The Kauri Boardroom Table

The Timber

This project started underground — literally. The Kauri slab at the heart of this table was recovered from a Northland swamp, where it had been buried for approximately 50,000 years. Ancient Kauri is one of the rarest timbers on earth. Carbon dating puts these logs in the range of 30,000 to 50,000 years old, predating the last Ice Age.

Working with timber this old carries a weight of responsibility that we don’t take lightly. There are no second chances. Every cut, every pour, every sanding pass has to be right.

Preparing the Slab

The raw slab arrived with extraordinary natural character — deep fissures, voids, and figuring that you simply cannot find in modern timber. Before any epoxy work could begin, the slab needed months of careful preparation.

We dried and acclimatised the timber slowly in our workshop. Rushing this stage with ancient Kauri invites cracking and splitting — failures that would be irreversible on a piece this rare. The natural voids and live edges were cleaned and stabilised, each one preserved as part of the table’s story rather than filled and hidden.

The Epoxy Pour

The resin work on a piece this size is a multi-day process. Each pour has to cure fully before the next layer can go in, and the ambient temperature and humidity need to be controlled throughout.

We used a deep-black tinted epoxy to fill the natural voids and fissures. The contrast between the dark resin and the warm golden Kauri grain creates a depth that changes depending on the light and angle — the resin catches reflections while the ancient timber absorbs them.

Surfacing and Finishing

Once the epoxy had fully cured, the real precision work began. The table was surfaced using our CNC router to achieve a dead-flat plane across the entire 1,500mm diameter — any variation would be immediately visible once the final clear coat was applied.

After CNC surfacing, the table went through multiple rounds of hand sanding — progressing through the grits until the epoxy and timber were polished to a mirror-like consistency. This stage alone took the better part of a week.

The Finished Piece

The completed table is something that stops people in their tracks. The 50,000-year-old Kauri grain is on full display — golden, warm, alive with figuring that only millennia of compression can produce. The dark epoxy fills sit like dark pools in the timber, adding depth without competing with it.

Under a final high-gloss clear coat, the table has a depth that photographs struggle to capture. The surface is glass-smooth to the touch, and the ancient grain patterns seem to float just beneath the surface.

Specifications

Commission a Piece

Ancient Kauri is becoming increasingly scarce. We hold a limited stock of recovered slabs suitable for feature tables, and each one is unique. If you’re interested in commissioning a piece from this extraordinary timber — get in touch and we’ll show you what we have available.