Robert Hensarling – Mesquite Chair Artisan – Conference Table, Forest Heritage Center

Conference Table

Forest Heritage Center

Broken Bow, Oklahoma

This table was commissioned by Quintus Herron, of Idabel, Oklahoma. Mr. Herron has been instrumental in providing art to the center, in the way of paintings, pottery, highly specialized wood art, and art furniture. In the past I have been commissioned by Mr. Herron to build several of my Classic Rocking Chairs, and several small tables of various sizes.

When he first approached me on this project I thought I better reject it because of having medical issues with my back that had required several surgeries. I talked to some friends around the area, and found some that could help with the heavy parts, and also some of the sanding.

The requirements were a table that would be  60" wide, and 224" long. It would need to be in 6 sections so that it could be broken apart and used in separate parts of the Heritage Center when activities required it to do so. Most of the time however the table would be in its total form, in the main conference room of the Center.

Of the 9 massive Mesquite tables I have built to date, this one is the largest. It may in fact be the largest Mesquite Conference Table in existence. In 1993 I was commissioned by George Baker, the great, great grandson of J.P. Morgan, to build a conference table for a special area at his ranch in Texas. I received a plaque from the Texas Forest Service at that time indicating that it was the largest Mesquite table built to date. This new table is larger.

I was assisted by Rusty Jones and Keith Owens, with Rusty assisting throughout the project, including the sawmilling of the mesquite lumber for the table. Together we milled the lumber, dried it in my vacumn kiln, cut and sorted the pieces into what would become this World Class Mesquite Table. Total construction time was about 1.5 years.

This table can be seen during the visiting hours at the Forest Heritage Center, in Beavers Bend State Park, Broken Bow, Oklahoma.

If anyone reading this is interested in a large table  made from mesquite please contact me. I currently have one order out of Houston on which we are waiting to hear the approval. After that one is done I will be ready to start another, with or without chairs. Pricing of these massive Mesquite tables is based on the length, times $2,000 per foot. Therefore a 12 foot table is $24,000. If Mesquite chairs are also desired, They are priced at $3,500 each. You can see designs of chairs in the gallery part of this site