Abbey window inspires table motif

He looked upward, at the very architecture of the nearly century-old abbey church.
    

“The steel rosette is torch-cut by hand after the exact scale and angle as the abbey’s rosette windows,” explained Brother Joseph (photographed at right, with one of the Abbey church windows visible in the distance, at center top).
    

Each distinctive tabletop was cut out of one-eighth-inch-thick “mild” steel plate – a type of low-carbon steel. The legs were fashioned out of quarter-inch angle iron and painted gloss black.
    

“The top is ground down and polished with an angle grinder and then clear-coated, so it shines through the glass top,” Brother Joseph said.
    

The tables are finished with 24-inch glass tops, which make them easy to clean and accentuate and protect the hand-polished steel rosettes.
    

At press time, two tables were available for sale, and Brother Joseph had received materials to make 10 more.
    

Houston-born Brother Joseph, 30, a self-taught welder and metal worker, also shares his talents in the abbey’s wood shop, bakery and soap-making ministries. He is currently a “junior monk” who has taken first vows and will take final vows in a couple of years.
    

“(Making the tables) was a lot of trial and error, but eventually you find what works and your hands remember the motion,” he said.
    

For pricing and details, please visit the gift shop at  https://stjosephabbeygiftshop.ecwid.com/.