Evan's style coffee table

[Corey Pelton]

Hi everyone!

Finished up the table I've been working on the past few weeks. It's an Evan's style coffee table. Had a lot of fun making it. First project for my new domino as well.

Here's the finished piece.

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Here's a run through of it start to finish. Apologies in advance, I'm pretty horrible about keeping track and taking pictures as I work, hah.

So I had this large piece of glass from an old coffee table that I've been meaning to use for a year or two. I was originally going to cut it down, but I decided I liked the length once I had my mock up built. So, on to the build!

I always start with a 3D mock up in Maya. I know a lot of people use SketchUp, but I'm a Maya guy, so I stick with what I know.

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This really helps me get a feel for the piece. I build it to scale, or as close as I can. Now I have a general idea to figure b/f and cut lengths.

After that, I build a real world mock up in some cheap construction grade wood. More of a proof of concept, but it helps me find all the things I've missed in my sketches or 3D mock ups.

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Once I feel I have what I need from that, I move on to the real thing. I had scored some really nice 8/4 Walnut, and I was itching to get it cleaned up and ready to process.

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Initial cuts to rough length.

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Rabbet's run, then mitered and chamfered. Didn't realize my router bit had a small chip in it. Didn't really affect anything, so I let it go. Thought I probably could have belt sanded the pieces down a bit to remove the bandsaw marks, but I actually liked the look. At least at this point, so I left them alone.

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[Corey Pelton]

This was first tests using the domino on the mitered corners. It was not playing nice. After some knowledge drops and suggestions from fellow Creeker's, I built a jig. That really fixed up all the problems with alignment.

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Once the domino's were set, I dry fit it together, see how it looked.

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The rest was just connecting up the legs and finishing. Used Tried and True danish oil and a wipe on poly finish.

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Close up of the routed corners. Was happy they turned out, as I wasn't exactly sure they would line up correctly.

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Overall happy with how it turned out! Had a lot of fun working on it, and learned a lot along the way.

Thanks for looking!

[Frederick Skelly]

Nice table Corey! Goes well with the chairs and floor where you have it located, too. I also love repurposing things, so reusing the glass is an extra bonus!

Remember to keep an eye on that table if someone visits with small children. Would be easy for them to run into it, sit on it, hit it and/or get hurt.

Fred

[Marshall Harrison]

Nice looking table Corey. Nice jig too. I don't have a domino but I would like to build that table sometime. I guess I now have an excuse to get a domino. Now I have to figure out how to pay for it. Those boogers aren't cheap. Do you have the larger version or the smaller one?

[Jim Becker]

Really excellent project ... and an excellent tutorial on how to approach a project like this from start to test to finish!

If I may, I suggest you consider doing another thread that describes your mitered corner jig for the Domino in detail. I think there are a lot of us who could benefit from the same.

[Corey Pelton]

Thanks, everyone!

Yeah, the table is not children safe by any means. It'll be sold to someone without children of an age that might cause themselves harm. Or, I can cut the glass down by up to 18" to help relieve some of the stress of the long float.

Marshall, I have the XL 700. Love the tool. It's pricey, but it does it's job exceedingly well.

Jim, I'd be glad to throw something together for the jig. It's mostly from my domino thread and everyone that posted their jigs. I just bit off them and made it work!

[Jim Becker]

Corey, I'm wondering if some kind of relatively unobtrusive truss rod down the center line under the glass would insure it doesn't come apart through accidental knocking. It doesn't change the physics of something flopping on top, but...

[Corey Pelton]

Corey, I'm wondering if some kind of relatively unobtrusive truss rod down the center line under the glass would insure it doesn't come apart through accidental knocking. It doesn't change the physics of something flopping on top, but...

Yeah, Jim, I don’t think it’s possible for it to be knocked apart, at least without a lot of deliberate effort.
The fit is fairly tight. Biggest concern is someone sitting on it, hah.

[Jim Becker]

Biggest concern is someone sitting on it, hah.

And the moment you say "don't sit on it", human inclination is to do just that. LOL

[glenn bradley]

Cool design and nice execution. I would not have thought about dominos for those joints. I lean toward bridle joints for such things. Your choice gives a nice clean look and the edge treatment ties it all together nicely. A great example of the old axiom "if it's worth making, it's worth making out of walnut".