The Dovetails standard
What leaves our shop carries our name.
We build in small numbers, answer our own email, and put our hands on every piece before it leaves. These are the standards we hold ourselves to, no matter what we are making.
- Built hereDesigned and made in our workshop. Not outsourced, white-labeled, or bought finished.
- Materials named plainlyWe tell you what a piece is made from, where it matters, and why we chose it.
- Designed for real roomsIt has to work once someone lives with it, not just look good in a photograph.
- Clear expectationsWe tell you what is in stock, what is made to order, and when it should leave the shop.
- We make it rightIf something arrives damaged or is not as it should be, we take care of it.
For this piece
- Nine lights for standard Hanukkah candles
- Reclaimed heart pine, over 100 years old
- Solid brass candle cups, included
- About 16 inches long
- Made & signed by Asha
- Made one at a time in our Alabama studio
THE WOOD
Before it held nine candles, this wood helped hold up a house.
The heart pine in 500 Miles is more than a hundred years old.
It came to us as reclaimed beams from an old Southern home. We used some of that wood for a custom farmhouse kitchen island. When the island was finished, there were pieces left.
We kept them.
That's not unusual around here. When you've spent enough time around wood, you get pretty bad at throwing away the interesting stuff.
Eventually, one of those pieces ended up on Asha's bench.
The nail holes stayed. So did the old wear, the color changes and the occasional tracks a worm left behind. We cleaned it up, made it smooth and stopped before we erased the reason we'd saved it in the first place.
Look at the end grain and you can see something else. The growth rings are packed together far more tightly than what you'll usually find in a piece of pine today.
This tree took its time.
Then the house got about a hundred years.
Now it gets nine candles.
That's 500 Miles.
It came to us as reclaimed beams from an old Southern home. We used some of that wood for a custom farmhouse kitchen island. When the island was finished, there were pieces left.
We kept them.
That's not unusual around here. When you've spent enough time around wood, you get pretty bad at throwing away the interesting stuff.
Eventually, one of those pieces ended up on Asha's bench.
The nail holes stayed. So did the old wear, the color changes and the occasional tracks a worm left behind. We cleaned it up, made it smooth and stopped before we erased the reason we'd saved it in the first place.
Look at the end grain and you can see something else. The growth rings are packed together far more tightly than what you'll usually find in a piece of pine today.
This tree took its time.
Then the house got about a hundred years.
Now it gets nine candles.
That's 500 Miles.
THE MARKS
We could sand away a hundred years. We don't.
Reclaimed wood presents an interesting problem.
Some of what comes through the door has to go. A century of dirt isn't a finish. Loose fibers need to come off. Sharp edges need to soften. And whatever Asha turns into a menorah still has to feel good when you pick it up.
But then there's the other stuff.
An old nail hole. A hammer mark. The black stain where iron sat against the wood for decades. A track left by a worm a very long time ago. The darker surface that tells you this board didn't spend its first hundred years wrapped in plastic on a lumber rack.
Those stay.
The trick is knowing when to stop.
We sand 500 Miles until it feels like something we've made, but not so far that it starts looking like a new piece of pine.
Because if we're going to use wood that's already lived this long, we think it ought to be allowed to look its age.
Some of what comes through the door has to go. A century of dirt isn't a finish. Loose fibers need to come off. Sharp edges need to soften. And whatever Asha turns into a menorah still has to feel good when you pick it up.
But then there's the other stuff.
An old nail hole. A hammer mark. The black stain where iron sat against the wood for decades. A track left by a worm a very long time ago. The darker surface that tells you this board didn't spend its first hundred years wrapped in plastic on a lumber rack.
Those stay.
The trick is knowing when to stop.
We sand 500 Miles until it feels like something we've made, but not so far that it starts looking like a new piece of pine.
Because if we're going to use wood that's already lived this long, we think it ought to be allowed to look its age.
We smooth the surface. We leave the hundred years.
Shop note
500 Miles started with leftovers.
We had built a commissioned farmhouse kitchen island for a customer in Texas called Autumn Leaves, using reclaimed heart pine from an old Southern home. When the island left the studio, a few pieces of that beautiful old wood stayed behind.
Asha wasn't about to waste them.
Asha had one of those pieces on her bench when Peter, Paul and Mary’s 500 Miles came on.
She stopped.
Whatever she had been thinking about making could wait. She started sketching a menorah instead.
We’ve always had a soft spot for Peter, Paul and Mary, but there was something about this song and this particular piece of wood.
500 Miles is a song about being a long way from home. About distance, longing, and the feeling that the place you came from can remain part of you even when you're far away.
That felt particularly right for this wood.
It had already traveled through more than one life. First as part of a Southern home. Then to our studio. Some of it became Autumn Leaves and headed to Texas. What remained was sitting on Asha's bench, more than a hundred years after the tree first came down.
By the time she was finished, the menorah had its name.
500 Miles.
The wood already had a hundred years behind it. We like to think Asha gave it a reason to stick around for another hundred. If reclaimed pine isn't quite your style, you'll find the rest of our Hanukkah menorahs in the full collection.
We had built a commissioned farmhouse kitchen island for a customer in Texas called Autumn Leaves, using reclaimed heart pine from an old Southern home. When the island left the studio, a few pieces of that beautiful old wood stayed behind.
Asha wasn't about to waste them.
Asha had one of those pieces on her bench when Peter, Paul and Mary’s 500 Miles came on.
She stopped.
Whatever she had been thinking about making could wait. She started sketching a menorah instead.
We’ve always had a soft spot for Peter, Paul and Mary, but there was something about this song and this particular piece of wood.
500 Miles is a song about being a long way from home. About distance, longing, and the feeling that the place you came from can remain part of you even when you're far away.
That felt particularly right for this wood.
It had already traveled through more than one life. First as part of a Southern home. Then to our studio. Some of it became Autumn Leaves and headed to Texas. What remained was sitting on Asha's bench, more than a hundred years after the tree first came down.
By the time she was finished, the menorah had its name.
500 Miles.
The wood already had a hundred years behind it. We like to think Asha gave it a reason to stick around for another hundred. If reclaimed pine isn't quite your style, you'll find the rest of our Hanukkah menorahs in the full collection.
THE MATERIAL
Century-old reclaimed heart pine
Tight old-growth rings, deep color, and the marks of a life this wood lived long before it reached our studio.
Reclaimed Heart Pine
Old-growth heart pine reclaimed from buildings a century or more old. The rings run remarkably tight, the color runs deep, and we leave the nail holes, worn edges and occasional dark stains right where we found them.
Specifications
Every measurement has a reason.
| Material | Reclaimed heart pine, 100+ years old |
|---|---|
| Length | Approx 16" |
| Height | Approx 3 1/2" |
| Thickness | 1 1/2" - 2" |
| Lights | Nine |
| Shamash | Raised, in a taller cup |
| Candle cups | Solid brass, included |
| Finish | Natural oil |
| Base | Arched |
| One of a kind | Nail holes, worm tracks, grain variation preserved |
| Signed | By Asha |
In the box
- the menorah with brass cups installed.
- ships ready for gifting.
Frequently asked questions
A few things this old wood would probably tell you if it could.
What makes this a farmhouse menorah?
Some of it is the wood. Some of it is the design.
500 Miles has the broad proportions, simple arched base and warm brass details we associate with farmhouse pieces. Then there’s the reclaimed heart pine itself, salvaged from a century-old Southern home and left with the nail holes, wear and occasional dark stains from its first life.
Nothing has been distressed to make it look old. It already is.
We simply gave it nine candles.
500 Miles has the broad proportions, simple arched base and warm brass details we associate with farmhouse pieces. Then there’s the reclaimed heart pine itself, salvaged from a century-old Southern home and left with the nail holes, wear and occasional dark stains from its first life.
Nothing has been distressed to make it look old. It already is.
We simply gave it nine candles.
Why does it have nail holes and marks?
Because they were already there.
This heart pine spent more than a century as part of a house before it reached our studio. Nail holes, old wear, dark iron stains and the occasional worm track come with that history.
We sand the wood until it feels good in your hand. We just don't sand away the hundred years that came before us.
This heart pine spent more than a century as part of a house before it reached our studio. Nail holes, old wear, dark iron stains and the occasional worm track come with that history.
We sand the wood until it feels good in your hand. We just don't sand away the hundred years that came before us.
Is reclaimed wood safe to use for a menorah?
Yes. We use sound, structurally stable reclaimed heart pine, and each piece is cleaned, worked and sanded smooth before it becomes a menorah. Nine solid brass cups hold the candles above the wood.
It is still wood and these are still open flames. Place 500 Miles on a stable, heat-resistant surface, keep it away from anything flammable, and never leave burning candles unattended.
It is still wood and these are still open flames. Place 500 Miles on a stable, heat-resistant surface, keep it away from anything flammable, and never leave burning candles unattended.
Will my 500 Miles look exactly like the one pictured?
No. That's part of working with reclaimed wood.
The design, proportions and nine brass candle cups remain the same, but the grain, color, nail holes and other marks will vary from piece to piece. We don't add those marks or try to reproduce them.
The design, proportions and nine brass candle cups remain the same, but the grain, color, nail holes and other marks will vary from piece to piece. We don't add those marks or try to reproduce them.
What kind of candles does 500 Miles use?
500 Miles is made for standard Hanukkah candles. It has nine solid brass candle cups: eight for the nights of Hanukkah and a raised shamash at the center.
Farmhouse Menorah | Reclaimed Heart Pine
$215.00