For us, this is one of the most fun aspects of custom metal work: NYC business owners seeking us out to help them make an individual, distinctive statement that truly adds to their décor and serves to elicit conversation or create a bold first impression.

While it’s always fun having a blank slate to work with so we can structure a lobby around a sweeping, mono-stringer staircase, it’s an equally enjoyable challenge to come up with unique metal products that work within the confines of existing spaces and décor.

Custom Metal Furniture For The Office

The first thing we tell clients looking to jazz up their office spaces with custom metal furniture is this: even small pieces can have a big impact.

For instance, we make small metal tables NYC business owners love because these unique pieces are on-trend, different than the expected wood and glass, and fantastically durable in high-traffic areas. Functional statement pieces like these are easy to fit into nearly any style of office, especially because we make them available in such a wide variety of colors and finishes.

Making a statement doesn’t have to mean redoing your entire office. It truly can be accomplished by integrating the right custom metal pieces into your existing décor. For some great ideas, check out our Swarf tables, always a favorite among conscious consumers; or have a look at the edgy Pipe Bomb Bar, a masculine design that works as well in an office as it does in the hippest of man caves.

Give us a call and see how you can add style to your office in a unique way.

Or, if you’re more of a glass-half-full kind of person (or a kid), maybe it’s gift-receiving time.

Either way: presents! And some of this year’s most fabulous presents will undoubtedly be electronics.

But before you know it, it’ll be January, and while you’ll probably be well entrenched in your new love affair with Siri, you’ll also be looking for a place to dock and charge that new iPhone along with whatever other techno-goodies Santa dropped off.

Many people like to keep their devices handy while they’re charging, so it’s not uncommon to see coffee tables, side tables, and nightstands cluttered with various chargers: one for the Bluetooth, one for the iPad, one for the smartphone, one for the wireless drywall stud finder… All the important stuff.

Cleaning Up that Wire Mess

Unfortunately, all these cables and chargers and wires create a big, tangled mess and sometimes a tripping hazard too. That’s where the SideWired™ End Table comes in.

This is one of the most practical pieces of custom metal furniture we make here at TMRnyc, and it’s one of our favorites among our unique metal products.

Why? Because SideWired™ End Tables are more than just tables; these are smart small metal tables NYC residents absolutely love. Functional as an end table, nightstand, or occasional piece in a home or office environment, the SideWired™ End Table, along with the entire SideWired™line, has built-in outlets so you can plug your phone right into the table, reducing the cord clutter, outlet overloads, and tripping hazards.

Available in multiple finishes and sizes, the SideWired™ desks and tables also make great holiday gifts. Especially if you give them with an iPhone.

Contact TMRnyc to learn more about our SideWired™ furniture line, and how they can help clean your cord clutter.

Today’s recreation spaces are full-fledged man caves, complete with high-definition plasma TVs, well-stocked wet bars, pool tables, wireless Internet, video gaming consoles, and high-end furniture.

These in-home retreats can have anything from mini gyms to bandstands and aquariums to retro arcade games. Man caves are personal spaces that can be tailored to any personality, interests, and hobbies, and they’re areas that see a lot of traffic.

That makes man caves ideal settings for custom metal furniture.

By integrating custom metal pieces such as small metal tables, NYC man caves can achieve a sleek, masculine aesthetic without wood pieces that are prone to water damage, nicks, dings, and scratches.  At TMRnyc, we’ve created a variety custom metal furniture ideal for man caves.

One of our favorites is the Pipe Bomb Bar. We love the overall look of this piece, with its hand-rubbed blackened patina, just about as much as we love the name we came up with for it.

It’s the ultimate man cave accent furnishing, great for serving up drinks during the game and just as effective as a DJ stand for those nights when the tunes are really cranking. The hammered finish adds a subtle texture that really makes this piece stand out, even as it blends well into any masculine décor.

Are you building a man cave of your own? Give us a call and see what custom metal furniture can do to set your space apart from the rest.

But the truth is, when buying furniture, we can all make an effort toward conscious consumerism by selecting locally crafted unique metal products that last longer and produce less waste during the manufacturing process.

At TMRnyc, we’re committed to keeping our carbon footprint as small as possible by reducing manufacturing waste, turning swarf into functional art, and crafting products that last far beyond the lifespan of traditional wood furnishings.

“Swarf” is a catchall term used to describe the filings, shavings, and waste left over from the metalworking process.

Instead of recycling our swarf the way most fabricators do, we decided to salvage the laser-cut steel sheet drops to create our “greenest” product, the Swarf Table.

After our laser cutting, NYC master craftsmen gather the usable swarf to make these individually unique pieces, which are ideal for a broad range of uses: offices, lobbies, homes, and more.

That means your Swarf Table is made of upcycled materials; instead of being recycled, they’ve been put to use in new fabrication. New York City’s website for locally manufactured products, madeinnyc.org, has even included our Swarf Table among their green product listings.

We’re proud to create lasting, beautiful custom metal furnishings through environmentally conscious processes, and we’re always glad for the opportunity to sell to our local neighbors.

Come visit us in Brooklyn, and see how great buying local can be.

For interior architects planning out a new space, custom metal fabricators provide the means to incorporate design options no other craftsman, builder, or tradesperson could produce such as floating, steel mono-stringer staircases and custom lighting fixtures.

Designers enjoy working with custom metal fabricators to create just the right accent pieces, unique design elements, and both indoor and outdoor furnishings. Beyond that, business owners benefit from working with custom metal fabricators for items such as custom signage and specialized shop décor, furnishings, bars, and counters.

Why Is Custom Metal Fabrication A Good Idea?

Custom metal fabrication works for all of these industries because a skilled, experienced metal fabrication team can take a simple concept, a drawing, an idea, and make it a reality through metalwork.

Using state-of-the-art tools and techniques, metal fabricators can turn simple metal into everything from stylish side tables to cool belt buckles to unique staircases. These artisans often work in tandem with other master craftspeople such as blacksmiths, jewelers, glass blowers and casters, mold makers, and woodworkers to create unique, lasting, hand-crafted products that stand apart and truly make a statement.

For information about the types of custom metal fabrication available at TMRnyc, contact us.

Small filings, shavings, and other by-products are produced during the metal fabrication process, and these scraps are collectively called swarf.

Many companies simply recycle these bits of metalworking waste and debris. 

However, at TMRnyc, committed as we are to environmentally responsible practices, we decided to take things a little further with our swarf and, instead of recycling it, we started upcycling it into a really fantastic line of tables: The Swarf Collection.

Our Swarf Tables are individual, one-of-a-kind, functional works of art crafted from salvaged, laser cut, steel sheet drops: in other words, swarf. We upcycle this typically wasted material into tables of various patterns and sizes, then finish the tables in a variety of fashions and even add custom-cut glass tops.

Why waste that which has potential to be something so unique, useful, and beautiful?

Composed of more than 85% recycled material, and crafted right here in Brooklyn, we’re proud to say that our Swarf Tables have landed TMRnyc on New York City’s “Made in NYC Green Products” list.

Buying from local producers is one way we can all be more conscious consumers, so check out the Made in NYC website for all sorts of great links, descriptions, and information about locally manufactured products.

Contact us for more information about swarf and schedule a time for a personal consultation.

Click through the sides to get a complete picture of what Total Metal Resource is all about.

Designer Pages , the new source for searching products in Architecture and Design, commissioned TMRnyc to design and build three SideWired tables for their booth at the NEOCON 2009 expo in Chicago. One being 10′ long. More pictures to follow. Their booth included a giant 12′ media wall that was running a Twitter app featuring all of the Tweets during the show. Farrokh at Farrodyne provided the water jet cutting and installation for us in Chicago. Actually, Farrodyne saved our collective butts after one unmentionable glass company in Chicago dropped the ball at the last minute. They couldn’t understand why I was upset for some reason and then went into this whole “You’re from New York and you have a bad NY attitude”  Is there some weird New York/Chicago beef I am missing? Fill me in.

The SideWired Desk concept came out of a desire to organize all the visual madness of cords, wall warts, and power bricks sprouting out of my laptop, monitors, hard drives and speakers, spilling on to the floor into an ugly tangle of a powerstrip, cat hair and cables.  We are constantly needing to plug in a camera or cellphone for a charge. The frustration of searching for a free power outlet to plug into nearby made me ask, “Why can’t I just plug this into my desk?  Why can’t I just plug my desk into the wall with one cord and neatly plug in all of my other gear into the desk.” The design challenge was to make a great looking desk, incorporate a hidden cable management system and power source as well as making it fast and easy to get at the cable ends to rearrange things as the situation arises. One of the solutions was to make the wire grommets a part of the design. The other solution was to make a hinged tray to manage the cables that can also hold hard drives and any other corded object that clutters the desktop. Hell Yeah.

After an extensive search  there was no result for a desk that met my requirements so I thought, “Hey. I’ll make my own damn desk. ” Then my friends started asking me to make wired desks for them. Well, one friend, but he is a pretty smart guy. Being a UL certified shop for our lighting made it a breeze to make the jump to wiring up our furniture designs.

The Swarf Table is made from salvaged, laser cut, steel sheet drops. These are re-purposed for the beautiful and interesting patterns created from the industrial process. Each table is unique and sizes vary. Finishing options are raw with clear coat, painted, blackened, and raw unfinished for you to finish as you please. Glass can be provided upon request at an additional charge or you may order it locally to fit your table. We kind of like the table without glass!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarf

Swarf (or turnings or chips) are shavings and chippings of metal—the debris or waste resulting from metalworking operations. It can usually be recycled, and this is the preferred method of disposal due to the environmental concerns regarding potential contamination with cutting fluid or tramp oil.