Coffee Table for an NYC Shoebox
- May 22, 2017
- 3 min read
This project has been on my to do list for months now. This is a graduation present for one of my favorite people, my sister, Shannen. She lives in the East Village of Manhattan, so space is not exactly abundant. Even though she doesn't have much room for furniture, she supports and believes in me to no end. She has been asking me for a slab coffee table. I surprised her with it for her graduation from NYU.
The Slab
I was at the my local lumber dealer getting the lumber for the cutting board. While there I decided to look around at the slabs in stock. Among the huge and beautiful oak, spalted maple, walnut, sycamore, box elder, and many more, I found a walnut slab that was the perfect size for a coffee table. I instantly saw the potential in it; there was minimal checking, clear and few cracks, nice grain, and it was air dried. I brought it home and Let it sit for a week.
After the week of waiting, I was ready to surface the board. I made a router sled and guide rails. It was not a pretty jig, I used the scraps I had on hand. Both sides were surfaced with the jig, and the grain was beautiful.
Butterfly Keys
Now the cracks needed to be addressed. I decided to stabilize the cracks with butterfly keys. The keys are a two sided dovetail that holds both sides of the crack in place. I hand cut all of the the keys so they would be slightly different. When the keys were cut I numbered them and scribed the lines for the mortises.
Sharp chisels are crucial for this, so I honed the blades of my chisels with my water stones. I scored all of the edges with a chisel to prevent any blow out. Then I started removing stock until the mortise was 1/2" deep. I had a long grain blow out on one of the edges, other than that the mortises turned out nice.
Before the keys were fitted, I put a slight taper on them. This is so they would not mar the edges of the slab, yet still tighten into the mortise when seated. All three were hammered in, then cut and sanded flush with the slab.
A Top is Nothing Without Legs
There are endless choices for legs. Deciding on the style legs I wanted for this table was very difficult for me. I went with a very simple look. I used some of the left over maple and walnut for construction. The legs are set on a 2 degree bevel along the grain and a 10 degree bevel across the grain. I used mortise and tenon joinery. To lighten the look I tapered the legs and rounded them over with my spokeshave.
*I lost the pictures I took while making the legs, Sorry.
Finishing Touches
To finish the table, I chose Mixwax Wipe on Poly. I wanted the walnut to have a natural look, so grain filler or dust filling method was used. All surfaces were sanded to 220 grit before the first coat. Five coats total were applied, sanding up to 400 grit between coats. The final coat was hand buffed after curing.
Final Thoughts
Looking at the finished product, there are a lot of flaws and mistakes that I wish I could have prevented. Being that this was my first official piece of furniture, I am still very proud of it. The best way to learn is by doing, and mistakes are a crucial part of the learning process.
When I surprised my sister with her graduation present, She thought I was messing with her. After I convinced her that it was hers, and that I made it for her; She was ecstatic. I'm learning with each project that the clients first reaction to the piece is my favorite part of the process.
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