# Nakashima Inspired Coffee Table



## PittsburghTim (Jan 16, 2012)

*The Wood*

Let me preface this with a wanring that I am not a pro, just a weekend woodworker and an experienced DIY'er. This is my first blog and I hope you enjoy reading it.

A dear friend of mine saw a coffee table that I had made from a piece of crotch walnut with very intense figure. She asked if I would make one for her and her husband's new home. We took a trip to my favorite lumber yard (Keim Lumber) in Ohio and selected a two inch thick, ten foot long slab of walnut with some burl and wavy grain. As the slabe had a large crack through it in one location, we selected a piece of wenge to use for some bow-tie shaped patches.

The first task was to remove the bark. I used various wire wheels chucked in a drill. I have found that this removes the bark and leaves a pleasing texture that I believe compliments the natural edge for a table without destroying the live edge.


----------



## BTimmons (Aug 6, 2011)

PittsburghTim said:


> *The Wood*
> 
> Let me preface this with a wanring that I am not a pro, just a weekend woodworker and an experienced DIY'er. This is my first blog and I hope you enjoy reading it.
> 
> ...


Lovely slab. This one's gonna be cool.


----------



## Deycart (Mar 21, 2012)

PittsburghTim said:


> *The Wood*
> 
> Let me preface this with a wanring that I am not a pro, just a weekend woodworker and an experienced DIY'er. This is my first blog and I hope you enjoy reading it.
> 
> ...


What were you going to use to finish it? Could you upload a pic of the live edge when your done, I am really interested in your approach.


----------



## PittsburghTim (Jan 16, 2012)

PittsburghTim said:


> *The Wood*
> 
> Let me preface this with a wanring that I am not a pro, just a weekend woodworker and an experienced DIY'er. This is my first blog and I hope you enjoy reading it.
> 
> ...


Deycart, here is an image of the edge after using the wire wheel. It leaves a soft texture without destrying the edge. In this photo you can see the worm/insect tracks still in tact.

Tim


----------



## Deycart (Mar 21, 2012)

PittsburghTim said:


> *The Wood*
> 
> Let me preface this with a wanring that I am not a pro, just a weekend woodworker and an experienced DIY'er. This is my first blog and I hope you enjoy reading it.
> 
> ...


That does look good.


----------



## PittsburghTim (Jan 16, 2012)

*Epoxy Fill and Cleanup*

After cleaning the bark, the next task at hand was to fill the large crack in the top and the slab for the legs with epoxy, I used blue masking tape to cover the openings on the underside and the sides of both pices of walnut and placed them both over plastic/paper drop cloths from the depot. Their cheap and protect my benches and floor.

I used System 3 mirror coat two-part epoxy, mixed according to the instructions using some cheap plastic mixing cups from an autobody supply house. I poured the epoxy into the voids and cracks, waited for five minutes, used a propane torch to remove the bubbles, and repeated as necessary. Some areas required more applications as it took a while for the epoxy to displace the air trapped in the voids.

In hind site, I would use a quick set epoxy two essentially build dams around the areas needing to be filled as this would have saved a lot of the System 3 product from spreading over areas surrounding the cracks and voids. This would save a good bit of the product and a lot of sanding.

The pics below show before the fill, after, and after sanding and trimming the top to final size. I waited to trim it until after the epoxy was complete as it stabilized things and kept any splintering when the cut was made.

Thanks for looking,

Tim


----------



## PittsburghTim (Jan 16, 2012)

*Wenge Inlays*

To prevent the large crack in the branch portion from moving and for a decorative touch, I wanted to add dutchmen from a piece of wenge, selected by my friend and the eventual owner of the finished table. I have owned the Freud template routing set for many years and finally used it. I purchased a clear plastic router base to mount the template to my Porter-Cable plunge router as the adapter provided with the router was very hard to center. After practicing on a few scraps, I routed the wanlut slab and then the patches in the wenge. I made sure that the patches were a bit thicker than needed. With a small amount of sanding the corners of the patches, they fit perfectly. I used a belt sander to take down the excess and then finished with a 6 inch ROS. Here are a few pics.

For the last picture, I wiped a bit of mineral spirits on the piece to give a preview of the finished top.

Next up will be to make the legs.

Thanks for looking, Tim.


----------



## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

PittsburghTim said:


> *Wenge Inlays*
> 
> To prevent the large crack in the branch portion from moving and for a decorative touch, I wanted to add dutchmen from a piece of wenge, selected by my friend and the eventual owner of the finished table. I have owned the Freud template routing set for many years and finally used it. I purchased a clear plastic router base to mount the template to my Porter-Cable plunge router as the adapter provided with the router was very hard to center. After practicing on a few scraps, I routed the wanlut slab and then the patches in the wenge. I made sure that the patches were a bit thicker than needed. With a small amount of sanding the corners of the patches, they fit perfectly. I used a belt sander to take down the excess and then finished with a 6 inch ROS. Here are a few pics.
> 
> ...


I just spent the afternoon practicing bowtie inlays and I'm glad I saw this as I like the different sizes rather than having them all the same. Thanks for the timely post. I was thinking of using QS White oak bowties in my walnut slab table for the contrast. What do you think?


----------



## Woodbridge (Oct 12, 2011)

PittsburghTim said:


> *Wenge Inlays*
> 
> To prevent the large crack in the branch portion from moving and for a decorative touch, I wanted to add dutchmen from a piece of wenge, selected by my friend and the eventual owner of the finished table. I have owned the Freud template routing set for many years and finally used it. I purchased a clear plastic router base to mount the template to my Porter-Cable plunge router as the adapter provided with the router was very hard to center. After practicing on a few scraps, I routed the wanlut slab and then the patches in the wenge. I made sure that the patches were a bit thicker than needed. With a small amount of sanding the corners of the patches, they fit perfectly. I used a belt sander to take down the excess and then finished with a 6 inch ROS. Here are a few pics.
> 
> ...


Great looking bowties. They look very good in the piece you are building.


----------



## PittsburghTim (Jan 16, 2012)

PittsburghTim said:


> *Wenge Inlays*
> 
> To prevent the large crack in the branch portion from moving and for a decorative touch, I wanted to add dutchmen from a piece of wenge, selected by my friend and the eventual owner of the finished table. I have owned the Freud template routing set for many years and finally used it. I purchased a clear plastic router base to mount the template to my Porter-Cable plunge router as the adapter provided with the router was very hard to center. After practicing on a few scraps, I routed the wanlut slab and then the patches in the wenge. I made sure that the patches were a bit thicker than needed. With a small amount of sanding the corners of the patches, they fit perfectly. I used a belt sander to take down the excess and then finished with a 6 inch ROS. Here are a few pics.
> 
> ...


gfadvm, I think the QSWO would look good, though it may stand out a bit more as it's quite a bit lighter, depending on the finish. It really depends on the look you are trying to achieve.

Thanks,

Tim


----------



## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

PittsburghTim said:


> *Wenge Inlays*
> 
> To prevent the large crack in the branch portion from moving and for a decorative touch, I wanted to add dutchmen from a piece of wenge, selected by my friend and the eventual owner of the finished table. I have owned the Freud template routing set for many years and finally used it. I purchased a clear plastic router base to mount the template to my Porter-Cable plunge router as the adapter provided with the router was very hard to center. After practicing on a few scraps, I routed the wanlut slab and then the patches in the wenge. I made sure that the patches were a bit thicker than needed. With a small amount of sanding the corners of the patches, they fit perfectly. I used a belt sander to take down the excess and then finished with a 6 inch ROS. Here are a few pics.
> 
> ...


I laid some on the slab today and sprayed with MS. I liked the QSWO but my wife didn't so you know how this will turn out!


----------



## PittsburghTim (Jan 16, 2012)

*A Leg to Stand On*

After toying for some time with the idea of using one long leg along the straight side of the top and a turned leg on the other side, some testing with a mock-up convinced me that it was just not goinf to be stable. I turned towards another idea that would still use one long leg down the center of the table with one cross-leg, if you will, off center in both directions. I think that the leg design will be stable, yet is not too heavy looking.

It still needs some final fitting before I sand and glue up the leg assembly, but I must say that I couldnt resist taking a few pictures.

Thanks for looking. Let me know what you think,

Tim



















PS The blue tape was used for lining up the joints.


----------



## PittsburghTim (Jan 16, 2012)

*Legs are complete and ready for finish*

I had the day off and spent it doing some final fitting, sanding, and assembly of the legs for a natural edge walbut coffee table. The slab was 2 1/4 inch think and has supplied the wood for the entire table.

My friend wants a satin, hand-rubbed finish and I plan to use General Finishes Satin Oil-based Arm-r-seal. I will do the legs and the underside of the top first and then finish the top after final assembly.

Thanks for looking,

Tim

PS I couldn't think of a much better way to spend the day. I had TV Land on the tube, playing old Gunsmoke and Bonanza shows. My wife and I ate a nice lunch together and I completed another stage of my latest project in my cool (temperature and atmosphere) shop. As a dear departed friend of mine used to say, "I never had it so good!"


----------



## Schimmel (Sep 8, 2011)

PittsburghTim said:


> *Legs are complete and ready for finish*
> 
> I had the day off and spent it doing some final fitting, sanding, and assembly of the legs for a natural edge walbut coffee table. The slab was 2 1/4 inch think and has supplied the wood for the entire table.
> 
> ...


Tim very cool table and I really enjoyed seeing your process. I am making a big slab table myself right now so its very cool to see how someone else did it. Great work.


----------



## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

PittsburghTim said:


> *Legs are complete and ready for finish*
> 
> I had the day off and spent it doing some final fitting, sanding, and assembly of the legs for a natural edge walbut coffee table. The slab was 2 1/4 inch think and has supplied the wood for the entire table.
> 
> ...


That turned out absolutely spectacular! I especially like how you did the base/legs.


----------



## PittsburghTim (Jan 16, 2012)

*Finishing*










My friend did not want a high gloss finish, but a more natural looking finish that would still be durable. I decided on Arm-r-seal wipe=on oil-based finish as I have had good luck with it on other projects. I first applied a seal coat of shellac. Following a light sanding, I then applied two coats of Crystalac water-based grain filler to fill the very porous walnut, sanding between each coat. Finally, I applied several coats of satin Arm-r-seal, thinned slightly with mineral spirits to make it flow and level better. For the top only, I sanded with a 1000 grit Abralon pad on my ROS between each coat and apllied the next coat without wiping off the sanding residue as this helped fill any porosities left in the table top. I also switched to a semi-gloss Arm-r-seal as the satin did not seem to warm-up the finish as much as I wanted.


----------



## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

PittsburghTim said:


> *Finishing*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks for posting this. It answers almost all the questions I posted on your project comments.


----------



## PittsburghTim (Jan 16, 2012)

*Final Assembly and Done*

So, I planned on final assembly of the top to the legs last weekend. I wanted to use the figure 8 style connectors to allow for seasonal wood movement. I drove to the local Rockler store to find that they changed suppliers. These parts are now stamped steel and both stamped countersinks are from the same side of the connector, rendering them useless as far as I could tell. The store manager couldn't understand this either. I went home disappointed that I would have to order these connectors from another supplier and put off assembly for several days. The next day, I went to a local hardware store hoping to find some substitute, when I came across the solution. I found that the store sold mechanical chain links. The #60 size was just right, so I picked up two bags. I got home and separated the links and added the countersink, one on each side as it should be. This allowed me to finish the project last weekend and I expect to deliver the table to my freind later this morning.

Thanks for following this build.

Tim


----------



## mojapitt (Dec 31, 2011)

PittsburghTim said:


> *Final Assembly and Done*
> 
> So, I planned on final assembly of the top to the legs last weekend. I wanted to use the figure 8 style connectors to allow for seasonal wood movement. I drove to the local Rockler store to find that they changed suppliers. These parts are now stamped steel and both stamped countersinks are from the same side of the connector, rendering them useless as far as I could tell. The store manager couldn't understand this either. I went home disappointed that I would have to order these connectors from another supplier and put off assembly for several days. The next day, I went to a local hardware store hoping to find some substitute, when I came across the solution. I found that the store sold mechanical chain links. The #60 size was just right, so I picked up two bags. I got home and separated the links and added the countersink, one on each side as it should be. This allowed me to finish the project last weekend and I expect to deliver the table to my freind later this morning.
> 
> ...


I had to go back and read the entire series. I really enjoyed the entire build. I am a live edge lover and anything associated with Nakashima.


----------

