I’ve been getting some questions about commissioning my Four Quadrant pieces, so I thought I would give a basic overview of the process here. I will also post some pictures below so you can see examples of different wood styles, as well as some other fancy options I could do for you.
Please let me know if you are interested in getting one of these for yourself or for someone you love! Just send an email to corey@integrallife.com, and we can find a nice unique design for you.
What kinds of wood are available?
You can feel free to tell me if you have any preferences around wood type (maple, walnut, oak, cherry, purpleheart, etc.), or maybe even just a color preference (dark woods, light woods, red woods, etc.). I would then make a custom piece for you, and send you images to make sure you are 100% happy with it. Then I would ship it out to you, and send you a tracking number as soon as I have it.
In terms of types of wood available, if you have a preference for a specific kind of hardwood or exotic, let me know and I will see if I can find it. Finding pieces that are large enough can be a challenge, but I have a really great local shop I get my wood from that has some nice variety. Most of these so far have been made from maple (curly, figured, Birdseye, etc.), walnut, purpleheart, and white oak. I’ve also got a nice slab of red oak that I wanted to carve up and see how that looks, as well as a super nice piece of figured white oak.
There is also the option to do multi-wood pieces, which would add to the cost but would result in an even more beautiful and unique piece. There are two basic options here – either a) a simple inlay, where the “knot” in the very center of the piece is made from a different kind of wood, or b) carving the quadrants from a board made out of several kinds of wood. You can see an example of these multi-wood boards below. These would also allow for much larger pieces, up to about 19" x 19" or so.
How large are the Four Quadrant pieces?
In terms of size, these generally go from about 9.5" x 9.5" (which is about as smalll as I can go while keeping enough detail) up to about 11.5" x 11.5". Every now and again I find a nice wide board that lets me make a larger piece, up to 12.5" or so, but those are a bit more rare. And again, if we went with the fancy multi-wood pieces, I could do larger.
As an example of a piece that is currently available, I have this lovely Purple Heart version available right now for $400, with metallic gold features (see attached image below). It is 10 3/4" x 10 3/4", and though I don’t have an exact weight (I need a good scale!) it is definitely heavier than, say, a version made from Maple, because purpleheart is such a dense wood (which makes it a bit difficult to work with).
How much do the Four Quadrants pieces cost?
These take me about two days to prepare, carve, sand, and finish (more for larger pieces) so the range tends to be from around $250 - $500 for a standard single-wood piece, depending on size, quality of materials, and material difficulty (some woods are much more difficult to work with than others). I may also have some “imperfect” pieces (small chips while carving, etc.) that I would sell at a discount.
As you can see, my hourly rate on these is exceptionally low — I basically just want to be able to sustain my hobby, while creating beautiful and meaningful pieces for folks like you to bring into your homes!
Interested? Let me know!
Purpleheart, gold features
Birdseye maple, bronze features
Birdseye maple details, bronze features
Mahogany, Red Heart Inlay
Mahogany, Red Heart Inlay Details
Walnut, silver features
Mahogany, black features
