Live Edge Coffee Table

[Julie Moriarty]

This project really has no plans. It started a few weeks ago when we wanted to look at their pecky Bolivian walnut. Everything they had was in a shed, stacked to the ceiling. It was a Saturday. The deal primarily with commercial customers. Saturday has a skeleton crew. No fork lift drivers. No way to pick through the piles.

Inside is a showroom, so to speak of live edge planks. Suddenly I hear, "Julie! Come look at this!" I thought I was the wood nut. I turn a corner and there's my SO, with an excited look, pointing at a live edge piece. "It's flamewood, like the island boards. Wouldn't this make a cool coffee table?" What could I say? Here's what we brought home
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_001.jpg

I thought about pulling the router sled out but all that rot in the middle left me skeptical. BTW, my SO loves the rotted out center and it is my job to preserve it. So the top would only me RO sanded. The plan is to put glass on top so the wood underneath just needs to look good.

After sanding and with mineral spirits applied
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_002.jpg

Next was beefing up the splits. The SO nixed quilted maple I picked out for butterfly splines because it was too bold and I nixed the precious ebony I have. So I went with pecky Bolivian walnut hoping to make a connection with the entertainment center.
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_004.jpg

http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_005.jpg

http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_006.jpg

I planed and sanded the first spline and went to work on the second. After those two were done I applied some BLO to match the rest of the slab.
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_007.jpg

This is what the workbench looked like after all that
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_008.jpg

Now I have to figure out how to do the legs...

[Mike Cutler]

I think to will look nice when you finish. A lot of extra work on your part though.
It's kinda cool when the SO is into picking wood. I know mine likes too. However, it also appear that they have a much different eye than a wood worker, and seem to gravitate to the hardest, most unstable, piece of wood to work with in the store/pile. :eek:

PS
Is it to late to dye the butterfly's ebony? The ebony coloring would be a very dramatic accent.

[Jim Becker]

That's going to be a lovely table, Julie!

[Julie Moriarty]

I think to will look nice when you finish. A lot of extra work on your part though.
It's kinda cool when the SO is into picking wood. I know mine likes too. However, it also appear that they have a much different eye than a wood worker, and seem to gravitate to the hardest, most unstable, piece of wood to work with in the store/pile. :eek:

PS
Is it to late to dye the butterfly's ebony? The ebony coloring would be a very dramatic accent.
Mike, I got sucked into the excitement of the moment and never once examined the slab for the challenges it may bring. The worst is the rot in the center. I wanted to fill it with epoxy but that discussion was shut down instantly. But I like your idea about black dye. I'll do some experimenting...


That's going to be a lovely table, Julie!
Thanks, Jim. Now what lays ahead is how to make the legs? In the search for ideas, there's not a lot of originality on the Internet. There was two leg designs we both liked but one wouldn't work for the shape of the slab we have. The other is this:
https://static.wixstatic.com/media/5ab7e6_bf8b4d35147b4059bbead2f57d1d0311.jpg/v1/fill/w_498,h_498,al_c,q_90/file.jpg

I've got some 8/4 sipo I plan to use for the legs so this design might be adaptable. My brain is out of ideas...

[Julie Moriarty]

I'm guessing the top frame of the legs are part of a rectangle upon which sits the top. Or do you think there are just two pieces that that tie the two halves together and are secured to the top?

[Jamie Buxton]

I think that dying the butterflies would be challenging. The issue is that the dye doesn't penetrate very far into the wood. In my experience, a few strokes of a plane will take off the dyed exterior. If you inlay a butterfly, and count on planing it flush, you may go through the dye.
And dying the butterfly in place will not work. The dye will wick over into the flamewood.

[Julie Moriarty]

I think that dying the butterflies would be challenging. The issue is that the dye doesn't penetrate very far into the wood. In my experience, a few strokes of a plane will take off the dyed exterior. If you inlay a butterfly, and count on planing it flush, you may go through the dye.
And dying the butterfly in place will not work. The dye will wick over into the flamewood.
The butterfly ties have been planed flush, Jamie, but I completely agree with the problems of trying to control the dye from wicking over. Somewhere in the back of my cobweb memory I recall experimenting with that, but, IIRC it could not pass close inspection. And, giving this more thought, considering the fact some of the slab wood is very porous, while the walnut isn't, could create more control problems.

[Jim Becker]

I would expect that the support under those slab sections in the photo is most likely rectangular as you mention to prevent weight forces from separating things. The hidden cross members may or may not be full thickness like the visible rails are, however.

[Julie Moriarty]

We've talked this leg thing to death and gotten nowhere. I am completely stuck on what to do for the legs!

[Steve Jenkins]

I can relate. I have 3 slabs of big leaf maple just waiting for me to figure out bases.

[Julie Moriarty]

I'm trying to think of something creative. I don't know about you, Steve, but creative is not one of my strengths.

[Phil Mueller]

Beautiful slab, Julie. Just my 2 cents, but for irregular shaped slabs I like the simplicity of strategically placed legs like in this picture:

393126

I think they are very complimentary, yet don’t take away from the slab...which should be the main focus.

[Jim Becker]

Phil, I really like how you let those legs into the slab and have them in contrasting material. Really nice look!

[Phil Mueller]

Jim, thank you!, but I can’t take credit where it’s not due. This is a photo I found on the internet some time ago. It’s how I want to do a slab coffee table for our cabin...at some point this winter. That’s the plan anyway. I hope mine turns out this well.

[Mason Hanson]

It's a gorgeous slab of wood! I think you'll end up having a beautiful table.

[Jamie Buxton]

Jim, thank you!, but I can’t take credit where it’s not due. This is a photo I found on the internet some time ago. It’s how I want to do a slab coffee table for our cabin...at some point this winter. That’s the plan anyway. I hope mine turns out this well.

Aha, so now we get a "how was that done?" debate. Here's my entry...
It looks to me like there's gaps between the leg tops and the surrounding slab. If that's true, the legs aren't really connected to the slab, but rather they just stick through it. I think the base is a separate subassembly, and the slab just sits on it. (Okay, with a few screws to keep it from wandering around.) I think there are beams running across the slab from leg to leg. Probably mortise and tenon from the ends of the beams into the legs. Then there's a beam running down the midline of the slab connecting the crossbeams together.

[Julie Moriarty]

That makes sense, Jamie. Having stretchers between the legs would make that a much simpler job.

[Julie Moriarty]

Finally settled on this for the legs
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_CAD01.jpg
(ignore the grain direction :o)

For the joints, half-blind dovetails seemed the best option, and also the hardest, by far. Yesterday I spent about 5 hours doing one pin and tail set. It took two hours to get here
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_010.jpg

The first tail is done!
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_012.jpg

Marking the first pin, with the angle and thickness of the wood, was a challenge
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_013.jpg

On to the first pin
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_016.jpg

It took me almost three hours to get here
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_017.jpg

[Paul Girouard]

Nice work!

[Julie Moriarty]

Thank you, Paul! I've been chopping away at those dovetails but it's a slow boat to China. :)

[Julie Moriarty]

The second set went much easier than the first but it still took quite a bit of time. Nature of the beast combined with inexperience, I guess.

The tail is in a little less than 1/2" in the pictures below. But it's getting pretty tight.

http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_023.jpg

http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_023.jpg

Got some more fine tuning to do. Time consuming and conducive to a stiff neck, but I'm much happier with the results on this one. The blue tape trick really worked well.

[Julie Moriarty]

A paid project stopped the presses and little has been done on the table since I started the other project. In the meantime we debated laying glass over the slab or doing an epoxy fill. As we were debating I noticed the center rot has been flaking off every time it's moved. Some of the remaining wood is extremely fragile and tapers to a pencil point at some places. Because of that, the epoxy won out over an all glass top. Plans were to tint the epoxy the same as the glass on the kitchen island.

On another thread, Ecopoxy was mentioned because it can be poured very thick, up to 1-1/2". It's their Liquid Plastic product that allows for thick pours. So I jumped in and ordered a gallon. But the price - OUCH! I bit the bullet because I knew I couldn't torch out bubbles with all that fragile wood in the center. I also ordered a small GloPoxy kit in green. I see epoxy experimenting in the very near future.

[Prashun Patel]

You do very nice work, Julie.

[Neil Gaskin]

The glopoxy is fun. One of my painters has started playing with it. Puts off a pretty good bit of "glow" at least initially. Can't speak to long term.

In your Dutchman, is that a streak in the grain or do cut a groove. If it's a groove can you explain why?

thanks neil

[Julie Moriarty]

In your Dutchman, is that a streak in the grain or do cut a groove. If it's a groove can you explain why?

thanks neil
It's the pecky in the grain. I picked pieces where the pecky was pronounced. But once I decided to go with epoxy fill, I wished I hadn't installed those.

On to the latest progress...

I finally finished the dovetails and dadoed the two bottom pieces. Not glued up yet.

http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_025.jpg

Then it was time to play with the epoxy. I took a couple pieces of scrap and used blue painter's tape to form a dam around them. Then I mixed up a small batch of Ecopoxy 2:1 Liquid Plastic and threw some drops of purple Transtint dye in it. I used purple because I had the most of that color. Ecopoxy 2:1 LP is about the consistency of watered-down maple syrup. And it takes three days to cure. I wondered if the blue tape would hold, but in every video I saw, that's what they used.

After pouring the epoxy over the two pieces of scrap, I had some left over. So I grabbed a piece of live edge scrap and taped up a spilt in the wood. Then I poured the epoxy in there, too. About 10 minutes later all the epoxy in the live edge opening drained out. When I checked the the other pieces I could see small amounts of the epoxy had leaked out. Obviously, blue tape doesn't hold up well on wood.

I flipped the live edge slab over and removed all the blue tape. Then I started filling anything that couldn't be seen through from the top.
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_026.jpg

Tomorrow I'll sand it smooth and try to figure out what I can use to contain the epoxy in the center part.

[Julie Moriarty]

Fingers crossed... I took plumbers putty and made rings around the areas to fill. Based on what I've seen, it looks like they use foam boards to create the walls of the dam. I have a lot of 3/4" Celotex so I decided to use that to contain the epoxy. I screwed the Celotex to the underside of the slab and where the edges were close to the plumbers putty I could see it squeezing out. Tomorrow I'll jump in with both feet.

Wish me luck!

[Terry Hatfield]

Incredible work Julie! Following for updates.

[Julie Moriarty]

Thank you, Terry! As for the updates, they aren't what I hoped...

I mixed the epoxy and added a few drops of blue Transtint. The color looked perfect. Ecopoxy says their Liquid Plastic can be poured in thicknesses between 1/4" and 1-3/4". If I filled the entire center to the top I'd be at 2". They also said Liquid Plastic does not shrink. With fingers crossed I began to make the pour, checking along the way for leaks. When I was confident the center wasn't leaking I gradually filled the center.
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_027.jpg

Once the center was filled, I poured where I had built the side dam.
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_028.jpg

Almost all of the other openings, that I thought I had sealed with wood putty, leaked. As the other sections settled, epoxy was added. Bubbles were torched out. But bubbles continued to form from the rotted wood and didn't stop until the epoxy started to gel. From there the bubbles couldn't be torched out.

About 6 hours later a cracked formed. And it grew from there. As first it looked pretty cool. This is how it looked this morning:
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_029.jpg

In the areas that look dull, I had used a chisel plane to shave off cured bubbles.
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_030.jpg

I'm going to contact Ecopoxy to get ideas on how to deal with the cracks.

[Charlie Jones]

Don’t give up. Inspiration will come. It will look great when you finish.

[Julie Moriarty]

Oh, no. No giving up, Charlie. I mixed up some more epoxy and poured it into the cracks. It filled them pretty well. The next day another crack developed. The slab was on sawhorses on the lanai and we got a cold snap - down to the mid 30s overnight. I think that played a part in forming the new crack. But I'll fill that, too. It has character now and I'm okay with that.

[Steve Jenkins]

That shade of blue looks terrific with that wood

[Charlie Jones]

I love the blue “lake” and the dark “canyons” . Maybe a little paint where you ground down the epoxy...

[Julie Moriarty]

Got a chance to take on the epoxy again. I saw a video where the guy used stretchy semi-clear tape to seal in the epoxy. I asked him what it was and he told me "mat tape". It's what they use to tape wrestling mats together. I knew it looked familiar. My son wrestled for 8 years. Anyway, he swore by it so I picked up some and today put it to use.

Trying to form up this part of the slab for the pour was taxing my poor brain. The tape is very stretchy, but would it hold in the epoxy?
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_032.jpg

Underside shot
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_034.jpg

The next location
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_033.jpg

I poured in a total of 3 oz in the two locations. After 15 minutes it seems to be holding. Hope this works!

[Julie Moriarty]

Monday evening I poured 6oz of tinted epoxy, a little at a time, and checked to see if there was any leaks. Everything seemed to be holding well. Yesterday I added another 6oz to the deepest areas. The center was good. Here are some pics taken today:

This is at the crotch, the most difficult to form the dam. The mat tape was a savior.
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_035.jpg
The arrows mark the top of the fill. I can probably do one more pour to fill it the rest of the way. Once the tape comes off, I'll shape the epoxy as needed.

This is the other area that was still low after Monday's pour. I need to check how flat it is there to see if I knock it down or fill in epoxy.
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_036.jpg

The center shot shows how much the epoxy flows out. It cures so slowly it levels much like water would.
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_037.jpg

It's a relief to be past the leak stage, at least for the larger areas. After all the large areas are filled and cured, I'll seal the remainder of the gaps and fill them.

[Jim Becker]

Wowsa! That's going to be an amazing piece!

[marty fretheim]

I read something about using CA (super) glue to pre treat before pouring the epoxy. Helps seal up and prep the work area. Not gonna work on the big cracks but I found it seals those pesky micro cracks you can't see. And as you probably learned the epoxy will find em. It also helps stiffen up those fragile pieces inside the crater. I dunno if that is helpful just something that worked for me when I had to epoxy a hole in a table top I built.

Marty

[Julie Moriarty]

I used CA on some of the smaller openings. Poured in thick CA and hit it with an accelerator. Thing is it's really hard to tell if it's sealed because some of these voids are like caves - you never know what's beyond the obvious until you go in and explore it. I've poured epoxy into what looks like a narrow slit on top and watched it disappear. Next day there is leaks on the bottom sometimes a foot or more from where I poured.

Videos I've seen show pours where the slab sits in a box and gallons of epoxy are poured in. 6 liters of 2:1 Ecopoxy is $225. At that price, those massive pours can get pretty expensive!

By Sunday the epoxy should be pretty well set up. I won't do any more pours until after I remove all the mat tape and see what it looks like. There's probably not much more than a liter left so I need to be frugal.

[Tim Andrews]

Julie, this table looks like it’s going to be beautiful. I love your sense of design. Those dovetailed legs are awesome! Looking forward to more posts.

[Julie Moriarty]

Thanks, Tim. Here's the next update -

Pore filling this slab has been an interesting venture. Some of the crevices led to caves deep in the slab. I think the bugs were spelunking.

After trying to plug the deepest caves, I did an overall pour. Epoxy was getting sucked up in some areas and disappearing down the tiniest openings. I made up about 6 oz of epoxy and kept pouring it where it disappeared until it was gone. That took about 6 hours. It thickened toward the end and I thought that would help plug the voids but it kept disappearing. After it hardened it was pretty uneven so I had to take it down with the belt sander. The RO sander was pretty much worthless.

http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_038.jpg
After this I ran the RO sander over it beginning with 80 grit and finishing with 400.

Next up was making up some clear epoxy and trying to squeegee an even coat over the whole slab.
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_039.jpg

I thought I was getting there but some areas drank up the epoxy. Look to the right of the blue pond. Where there is no gloss is one of the areas the wood completely absorbed the epoxy. And I had laid several coats over that during that 6 hour fill. Lots of pinholes drinking in the epoxy, too.
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_041.jpg
Tomorrow I'll take another stab at filling those areas.

On to the legs...

All four legs are glued in place. I ran them over the jointer, half-blind part first, to even things up. Then I ran the RO sander with 180 grit to finish it up. On two of the legs the wood rattled over the jointer cutters. Don't know why. But the RO took care of that. Anyway, this is the worst of the dovetails.
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_040.jpg

It looked pretty bad before I ran the RO over it but the dust filled the voids. Then I dripped some CA glue into the crevices, hit it with accelerator and sanded it smooth. I was pretty surprised how it came out. There is light at the end of the tunnel!

[Phil Mueller]

Looks great, Julie. If that’s your worst dovetail, I’d say you did good!

[Greg Parrish]

Looking great Julie. I used thinned 50/50 poly on my slab coffee table and I think it took about 30 coats with sanding to 400 grit in between to build up the finish I wanted. Probably should have tried the epoxy approach. Can’t wait to see it all finished up.

[Jim Becker]

Looks great, Julie. If that’s your worst dovetail, I’d say you did good!
LOL...I was going to say that but you beat me to it!

[james glenn]

I cannot wait to see the final table. It's been great following along and learning.
Thank you for keeping us updated.

[Julie Moriarty]

Thank you, guys! I was working today filling in the rest of the dovetail boo-boos. Whatever imperfections are left won't be seen unless someone gets down on their hands and knees with a flashlight and magnifying glass.

I've been debating between doing another epoxy pour or using some other method. The epoxy takes three days to cure. Good for filling all the voids, bad for doing any dusty work in the shop. We're going to Savannah for Christmas so maybe I'll do a pour on Saturday before we leave.

Looking at how I'll tie the legs to the top, I was planning on using table buttons but the grain of the wood means buttons along the narrow side of the legs. Maybe I can mortise deep into the legs to allow for expansion and contraction while utilizing the 8"width of the legs. I feel some engineering coming on...

[Julie Moriarty]

Throwing a little light under the subject...
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_042.jpg

[Julie Moriarty]

Finally got the legs done. The cross joint was too tight and I used a rabbet plane and shoulder plane to shave off the insides. Sipo is tough but its end grain is a bear. I flipped the slab and marked where the base will go with blue tape in case I have to rout for leveling. I also took a router plane to it because the depth was too shallow.
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_043.jpg

Another angle got me concerned the base isn't broad enough to prevent tipping.
http://julimorcreations.com/2220/GrtRm/CoffeeTbl/CofTbl_044.jpg

When I can get some help, I'll set it up on the floor and see how it works. Another fingers crossed episode.

[Jim Becker]

THAT is going to be a masterpiece...

[Greg Parrish]

It’s beautiful. I’d screw it to the floor for stability if I had to as it is going to be awesome in use. :)

[Mark Rainey]

That project is coming together nicely! Can't wait to see it finished Julie.

[Steven Wayne]

Excellent choice and execution on the legs. The table is looking great!

[Julie Moriarty]

Thank you, guys!

We set the table up on the floor to test stability. If someone sits on either long edge, there's a problem. Other than that, it's pretty stable.

Next is I have to determine what the final finish on the top will be. The Ecopoxy makes the epoxy fill look flawlessly clear but it's high gloss and extremely difficult to use as a thin coat. It's meant to be poured into a form. Time to open the lab and begin some experiments with other finishes.

[Jim Becker]

Julie, I suggest you create a bunch of test boards that are coated with the same epoxy material with the same smoothness/gloss that's on the project. That way you can test adhesion of other products as well as experiment with, perhaps, "rubbing out" the epoxy to reduce the sheen without overcoating with a dissimilar finish or losing all the clarity.

[David Huston]

In my very little experience with epoxy I found that packing tape worked better than painters tape. I just filled some cracks in a walnut slice and it worked pretty well. I covered the entire top and poured through the bottom and it seeped a little but nothing that didn't sand down quickly. I had the piece up on some painters pyramids and I think that is what let it spread a little. Next time I will cover with packing tape and clamp it down to some melamine. I have another walnut slice that has a whole in the middle and will get some ecopoxy and fill it when I get around to it! Look forward to seeing your finished piece!

[Jessica de Boer]

Tomorrow I'll sand it smooth and try to figure out what I can use to contain the epoxy in the center part.

I've tackled this myself a few times. What I do is I take a piece of plywood with a high gloss HPL top layer. I apply a mould release agent on it, the same stuff that's used for polyester moulds for easier removal and screw it to the bottom of the slab. When the epoxy is fully cured all it takes is a few taps with a hammer to remove it. I screw as close to the hole as I can and fill the screw holes with epoxy as well of course.

For the finish of the top of the slab a 2 component polyurethane varnish is what you want. It's my experience that a 1 component varnish doesn't really adhere to epoxy all that well. Get a good quality 2 component pu semi-gloss varnish, add 10% thinner and apply a thin coat with a roller. When it's dry sand it with 320 grit, degrease it and apply another thin coat. This will give you a beautiful finish.

[David Huston]

I have watched a few River table videos on youtube and several of the used Rubio Monocoat for the finish. Never used it myself but it sure looked nice on youtube!

[Charlie Jones]

Julie it is looking great.

[Scott T Smith]

Julie, your table is looking fantastic! Can't wait to see the finished product.

Jessica - that's a great tip re the mould release agent. I've been using tape and have not been very pleased because the epoxy tends to soften up the adhesive as it cures. Where do you normally source a mould release agent from?

[Jessica de Boer]

A friend of mine is the general manager at a shipyard where they make fibreglass sail boats. When I need some he puts some in a jar for me.