This web site is an outgrowth of my woodworking hobby. Back in 1992 while my son was in Waldorf preschool, I made several nature tables for ourselves and some other parents. That was the start of a trend. Since then, I've been making various items for local Waldorf teachers and parents. In 1997 I decided to create this web site to offer some of these items to a wider audience. New items have been added as they've been suggested. In 2000, I registered the naturetables.com domain name. Dot-com name aside, this still remains a hobby. My goal is to provide a few unique products to help cover my woodworking expenses and tool buying habit.
Most items are constructed from "white pine," a term I use for almost any pine species other than Southern Yellow Pine. Generally, Ponderosa or one of the many Spruce varients will be used. The plywood used is blond Luaun or Birch veneer. Joints are mitered where appropriate, splined, and glued. Corners are rounded over. Please understand that wood is a natural substance and it's color will vary. Pieces will darken with age. Also, I consider the knots to be part of the wood's beauty and will often try to take advantage of what a particular piece of wood has to offer.
I've been asked why I use Pine rather than Oak or Maple.
There are several reasons. Primarily because I can get it at a reasonable price.
After all, houses are made from it.
Another reason is that of all the north american woods, pine is the most renewable.
It grows faster than hardwoods allowing it to be treated as a "crop" akin to corn or wheat.
Admittedly, there is still a lot of clear-cutting, but more and more wood suppliers are starting to manage their forests and re-plant.
This just won't happen with hardwoods.
The main disadvantages of pine are it's softness and often wide prominent grain patterns.
In most applications, the wood used for a nature table won't matter as it will be covered in one way or another.
Other items will acquire a patina as they age and are "finished" by repeated handling.
Any of my items can be finished quite easily with bee's and/or carnuba wax.
(Write me if interested in the formula.)
I use PayPal's shopping cart function for online orders. Simply click on the Add to Cart buttons and a shopping cart will be displayed. When done, click on the Checkout button in the shopping cart. If you're already a PayPal member, then checkout will be easy. Non-members will need to provide all the usual billing and shipping info. At present, PayPal is the only way I can take credit cards. To help reduce the potential for credit card fraud, I ask that orders over $60 be shipped to a PayPal confirmed shipping address (credit card billing address).
To order via mail, print and fill out the Order Form. You can also proceed as though you were going to use paypal and create a shopping cart. Then print the shopping cart and mail it along with the Order Form, filling in only the shipping and totals sections. Payment must be made out to Scott Crumpton. Please note that there will be a $32.00 charge for bounced checks. That's what my bank charges me.
Orders shipped to a Florida address need to include 6.25% sales tax. Online orders will have the tax added automatically at checkout. If you're using the order form, please remember to add the tax.
(For the purpose of determining local sales tax surcharges, all orders shipped to Florida addresses will be treated as delivered when released to FedEx in Alachua county.)
Unfortunately, I can only accept purchase orders when accompanied by a check. Purchase orders without a check will be returned. I regret the inconvience that this may cause, but past experience with excessive paperwork and other requirements to get paid have forced this decision. Payment must be made out to Scott Crumpton.
Orders that are cancelled prior to shipment will receive a full refund. After shipment, the item should be returned and a refund will be issued, less my shipping costs and PayPal transaction fee. Refunds will be given only for items that arrive back in new sellable condition.
Prices and specifications are subject to change.
If you're working from a printout of these pages, please be sure that it's no more than 3 months old.
Shipping within the contiguous 48 states is included in the price of each item. Orders under $50 will have an additional $4.50 in shipping/handling added. When possible, shipping boxes and packaging are recycled (previously used) materials. Don't be surprised if your nature table shows up in a Dell computer box.
I now ship via FedEx Ground. Please make sure that your shipping address is a street address as they cannot deliver to PO boxes. If you require the use of another carrier, please email me and we can make arrangements. Additional shipping may be charged.
I try to keep a couple of each item on hand and ship as soon as possible after payment clears. For PayPal orders, I can usually have the package out within 4 business days. Personal checks need to clear my bank before shipment, about 8 business days. In the event that I'm out of stock on an item or cannot ship in a timely manner, I'll notify you via email. If you have a specific delivery deadline please email to check availability prior to ordering. Please include an email address if you use the order form.
On Feb 5, 2007, FedEx changed their rate structure to employ "Dimensional Weight" on packages over 3 cubic feet. All of my nature tables fall into this category. In the past my packages were classified as "Oversized 1". This meant that shipping charges were calculated on a minimum of 30 pounds. The actual shipping weight is between 14 and 16 pounds. Under the Dimensional Weight system shipping charges for a nature table are based on 44 pounds! This has resulted in a substantial increase in my shipping costs (approximately $10) which I've had to add to the price of the tables. The average cost to ship a nature table is now around $30. I fear that this will price my tables out of the market. I'm going to take a wait and see attitude while I investigate the possibility of redesigning the tables so that they can ship in a smaller box. I'm also looking into switching back to UPS, but I suspect that they will shortly follow FedEx with this change if they have not done so already.
Shipments to Alaska and Hawaii will incure an additional charge, click here for details.
International orders must be arranged in advance. Additional shipping and handling charges will be determined based on the items to be ordered and the destination. These charges must be paid at the time the order is placed. Most of my items are either too large or heavy to ship internationally and not have the shipping exceed the cost of the item. Only those items on my Butterfly Painting pages can reasonably be shipped internationally.
Shipments which are returned by the carrier as undeliverable for reasons beyond my control
(such as incomplete/erroneous address supplied, no one to accept delivery, or delivery refusal)
will be reshipped only upon receipt of additional shipping charges to cover the first attempt.
Otherwise, the order will be considered canceled and a refund will be issued as described above for canceled orders.
Your satisfaction is very important to me.
I'm relying on you to tell your friends about my products and I want you to say good things.
So, if for any reason you're not satisfied with your purchase, let me know first.
I promise to do my best to make it right for you.
If you are using a C/R SPAM filter system such as EarthLink spamBlocker there is a very high probability that you will not receive your order acknowledgment from PayPal. You should also be aware that you will not receive any email from me unless you pre-authorize (white list) my email addresses. In order to receive email related to your order you must pre-authorize the following email addresses: scc@naturetables.com, scc@naturetables.net, and service@paypal.com.
For further information on why C/R systems are a bad idea please see these links:
Why Challenge-Response is a Bad Idea and
A Challenging Response to Challenge-Response.
For lots of additional reading on the subject go to
SpamLinks.
This is a hobby business and I want to keep it that way.
The volume necessary to get production and shipping costs down to where
real wholesale pricing would be possible is beyond where I want to go.
I don't like spam or any other use of personal data without consent. Any information you provide to me will only be used in the processing of your orders. I will never release this information to third parties except as may be required by law.
I do not have access to credit card information used for PayPal orders.
Other than my email folders, I do not accumulate email addresses.
Your data is only stored online when it appears in email and my accounting records. When not in use, my email folders and accounting records are kept encrypted.
Secure email may be sent using my PGP Key.
The pictures on these pages are an accurate representation of the subject. However, I did need to do some minor photo editing to fix a few photographic defects and clean up some backgrounds. The toybox in the group photo has been discontinued. I need to do a new photo.
Any trademarks mentioned in these pages are acknowledged as being the property of their respective owners.
You can email me at scc@naturetables.com.