Exotic Modern Coffee Table

I found a mud caked sun bleached old table that must have been outside in the weather for at least 5 years while helping a friend clear a large cluttered yard of one of his relatives. The wood was totally gray in color on the surface. Something told me to take the top of the table… maybe there was something worth keeping underneath the mud. So I knocked the old legs off and I surfaced about 1/8 of an inch off the top and the bottom of the table boards…. It was really nice solid walnut with a lot of great character.

So I decided to give it a new life with an entirely new look. First off I had to trim about 2 inches off each side edge to remove some minor cracks that had begun from all the weathering the table top had seen. After all the initial prep work on the top was done I added an Ebony border topped with a Bloodwood edge finish.

The legs were constructed from 2 1/2” x 24” Bloodwood turning squares that are assembled with a 90° bend in the middle that uses an Ebony block to lock the joint together. The bottoms of the legs are caped with solid Ebony feet.

I assembled the table to the legs by fabricating a walnut and bloodwood “X” brace that is held to the table bottom by dowels and glue. The legs have a matching milled slot in the center top where they are held to the brace by 2 dowels and glue.

I had to add some additional support to prevent the table from sagging over time. I did this by adding the diamond shape stiffeners made from Wenge and held in place by dowels and glue.

Finished the table with tongue oil and polyurethane.

-- Never teach a pig to sing ... It wastes your time and annoys the pig.