My very own millennial token coffee table

[kyokahn]

*fair warning: if you find overly wordy posts particularly boring/annoying, scroll til you see a picture*

I know most people around here don't appreciate the artful craftsmanship of contemporary rustic furniture... kidding! I really don't like the plague of sloppy "furniture" passed as "rustic" nowadays either, and I still feel it's an unusual consequence of the economy. However, I don't believe all river tables belong in the same category as pallet salvaging benches, crate nail-together shelves and and HD 2x4 twisted knotty pine farmhouse tables.

There is a caveat though, most makers of these tables make a real effort to bunch them together with that trendy bunch, mostly by adding whatever's at hand as legs, not thinking of wood movement at all or just just poor fit and finish. So I totally get the criticism, but I'll live with it and give in to my millennial nature by giving it a shot.

Now, as you may know, I'm no master craftsman, barely a novice and possibly on the wrong side of the Dunning-Kruger chart for thinking I can do better than that. We'll see how it goes!.

Anyway, the coffee table I got for my first apartment has sustained over 10 years of abuse and the torture of moving, and it was ugly and poorly made to start with. I was thinking of utilitarian designs but couldn't come up with anything "good enough" for a while. About a year ago, I saw an beat up plank at the lumber yard, thinking it'd be an interesting challenge to make something out of it, the seller wouldn't dare charging me for the price of more than 2 PMT (~2.2 bf), as it was cracked after the first 30 inches of length, it was rough and live edge on one side and sapwood on both. Funny enough, looking at the only picture I have of it, only the "good part" (but still with an ugly knott i cut off) of it shows, and the wood I'm using for the legs covers the rest as I bought it the same day.

So here they are in the middle of the pic, for the top, Andiroba (BS name: Royal Mahogany), and for the legs, Sura wood (BS name: dragonwood):

Here's some progress I've made over a couple weekends:

As I mentioned I chopped off a bit of it and most of the rest was split in half, so I crosscut the remains in half, leaving me with a half cracked piece and the other one totally split in half, so I jointed some of it on the router and glued up both sides until the part where the crack bowed, then flattened with a planer jig, that beautiful grain screamed back at me with some tearout due to interlocking (assuming that's what it's called):

The joint looks credible enough to me, hopefully even better once it's sanded properly. Of course, the cracks will try to rebel over time, so they need to be tamed somehow, a few butterflies should help here, so I decided to give the Dutchman a shot with the same wood as the legs :

*don't notice the rubber mallet, I'll make a proper one some day*

*definitely not a supermarket chisel*

If you notice the clean bottom it's because I tried to make it with the CNC, somehow it came out way undersized (probably measured the bow ties wrong), and since even if it was perfect I'd have to clean up the corners, I decided to chop the rest. I was off by a bit on that last one so it's a little gappy, notice that bigger one is barely two inches wide though, but I'll try to make it look presentable before finish.

And then the legs, which is where I'll try to make it a bit different than usual for its kind, not much to say, angular, floating top and still need refinement. But first: mill fest!

Adding angles with a jig on the crosscut sled:

Cutting slots to allow the top to slide with the seasons:

Dry assembly (6x  1/4x1-1/2 dowels, purpose made "jig" if you can call a stick with holes and a slot that):

Now I don't know exactly how strong that is, but I sat on each of the dry fit assemblies with just 3 dowels in them and it held just fine. Then removed all the dowels, glued up, made a few angled things to clamp straight (these have a name I can't remember) and clamped them tight:

And that's as much as I've done until now. That and testing the finish on the cutoff, 2 part poly sanding sealer until it's smooth to the touch without visible buildup, and then a couple coats of wipe on poly (which I have yet to do).

Now it's time for questions and feedback!

To those of you design-oriented folks out there: any suggestions? especially on the legs? I'm planning on giving them a slight taper on the inside as I feel they could look more stylized, but trying to avoid curves to prevent visual clutter, is that right? Also, same color resin for the cracks and the middle "river"?

Anyone who's made one of these things, I'm thinking of using a slight metallic swirl translucent (no glitter) dye, but just on the very bottom 1/4" deep of the resin pool, and the rest a plain translucent blue, is that even possible? furthermore, would this make it more or less tasteless?  

Now again, I know this isn't the preferred type of project around these parts, but if someone knows how to make it look more "design" and less "rustic", I wouldn't expect to find them anywhere else, so any and all feedback is welcome.

This is my first table too and I haven't made chairs or beds or anything like that, so whatever it is, I'm excited things are going somewhat close to the plan.

Thanks for reading!

 

[wdwerker]

Not exactly sure what the total design is going to look like but it seems you are doing great so far, especially considering the limitations of   your location. Your methodology seems sound. Please keep posting your progress !

I'm so glad the PMT isn't a unit of measure in my world. I work in inches and millimeters all the time. Euro hardware & Festool make that a daily commute.  It is fun to read about a  homegrown hybrid unit of measure. Looks like you have collected a pretty decent array of tools so far. Proper wooden mallets are for tapping things. Rubber mallets are for beating the hell out of something without causing damage, both have a place in my shop. I only used rubber, urethane & nylon plastic mallets until RichardA gave me a nice wooden one he made. Urethane mallets are a definite step up from rubber if you ever get the chance to acquire one.

[wtnhighlander]

Looking good, and thanks for the journal.

The only suggestion I'll make, is that if you're going to make a 'river' table, make it a sure-enough "river"!  Inlay a piece of wood to give a bottom to the gap, add a layer of sand and CA glue, some fine gravel, and some smooth river stones. Wedge a few twigs of 'driftwood' in before filling with crystal clear resin.

If you really feel giggidy-giggidy, hand carve and paint a few tiny trout to embed in the resin....

[wdwerker]

Brown or Rainbow ?

[Chet]

9 hours ago, kyokahn said:

Now again, I know this isn't the preferred type of project around these parts

First off, it looks like you are off to a great start and keep us updated with your progress.

I would like to think that all projects are welcome and of interest around here.  I will say that doing a live edge build is not on my list of things to do but I enjoy watching the process and there is a possibility that something may come up or a technique used that will be useful knowledge for another type of project down the road.

I can see why they would want to relate Andiroba to looking like mahogany, it does have a similar grain texture.

[Chestnut]

If it was me, I'd keep the river part on the narrow side. I also like the idea of having a bottom to the river, the problem with that is that the river part would get dark and hard to see through the resin. 

On 6/23/2018 at 1:13 PM, wdwerker said:

Brown or Rainbow ?

If this is goign to be true to Costa Rica he needs to add some alligator gar, rainbow bass, and well an alligator.

 

[wdwerker]

Adding a recess near the bottom for LED lights ? Perhaps just add a beach on the inside of a curve. Maybe place a mirror below the clear sections ?

[kyokahn]

On ‎6‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 10:19 AM, wtnhighlander said:

The only suggestion I'll make, is that if you're going to make a 'river' table, make it a sure-enough "river"!  Inlay a piece of wood to give a bottom to the gap, add a layer of sand and CA glue, some fine gravel, and some smooth river stones. Wedge a few twigs of 'driftwood' in before filling with crystal clear resin.

If you really feel giggidy-giggidy, hand carve and paint a few tiny trout to embed in the resin....

 

7 hours ago, Chestnut said:

If this is goign to be true to Costa Rica he needs to add some alligator gar, rainbow bass, and well an alligator.

That's why I don't want to go too realistic here. If it's the river with the alligators, I'd have to make miniatures of trash bags, empty bottles and I wouldn't want to say why the river is a muddy brown color. Going for furniture, not a political/environmental statement!

7 hours ago, Chestnut said:

If it was me, I'd keep the river part on the narrow side. I also like the idea of having a bottom to the river, the problem with that is that the river part would get dark and hard to see through the resin. 

I wanted it as narrow as possible, but the material is only so wide and I needed a certain size, so it will be an average of 4" wide. The bottom is supposed to be translucent with  just enough of a metallic swirl to make it somewhat interesting, the upper layers will be blue translucent. Hoping I can make it clear enough, I'm doing a few tests with the resin and I have my first failure (runaway exothermic mess). I'll post some pics later.

On ‎6‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 7:08 AM, wdwerker said:

Not exactly sure what the total design is going to look like but it seems you are doing great so far, especially considering the limitations of   your location. Your methodology seems sound. Please keep posting your progress !

I'm so glad the PMT isn't a unit of measure in my world. I work in inches and millimeters all the time. Euro hardware & Festool make that a daily commute.  It is fun to read about a  homegrown hybrid unit of measure. Looks like you have collected a pretty decent array of tools so far.

I must say I'm doing better regarding tools and supplies, and thank you! Finding suppliers is a bit of a scavenger hunt but after finding a few and better ways to import from the US, it's not that bad. Even PMT makes sense after a while  

On ‎6‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 1:21 PM, Chet said:

I would like to think that all projects are welcome and of interest around here.  I will say that doing a live edge build is not on my list of things to do but I enjoy watching the process and there is a possibility that something may come up or a technique used that will be useful knowledge for another type of project down the road.

I can see why they would want to relate Andiroba to looking like mahogany, it does have a similar grain texture.

Thank you! And I agree with you. Also fun fact, Andiroba's name in Spanish (at least locally) is the (somewhat despective) casual diminutive of the word for Mahogany. Caoba // Caobilla. The workability is similar, as is the grain, the color is slightly more yellow and the stability isn't bad. It's just not as durable. Funny enough, Spanish cedar is more related to mahogany than this is.

6 hours ago, wdwerker said:

Adding a recess near the bottom for LED lights ? Perhaps just add a beach on the inside of a curve.

That would be fun for a beach terrace, but probably not so much for a small apartment living room  

6 hours ago, wdwerker said:

Maybe place a mirror below the clear sections ?

That's interesting, I'll see how a mirror looks under the table, especially if it's not translucent enough to see through, might help the effect somehow.

[kyokahn]

So here's the first test with the leftover material 

First layer went on just fine

But then....

Second layer too thick, so it bubbled up. Here's a look at the back where I was also testing the sealers

So I set a second test with a 1x2 piece of laurel I had leftover from another project and some more ugly melamine

First layer on, and that's it for now

 

[lewisc]

What resin are you using? From what I've read/watched on them so far, there are some which are designed for thick pours.

[wtnhighlander]

Peter Brown has demonstrated at least one brand of pigment that exacerbates the exothermic reaction of the epoxy. It is possible that the problem you experienced is not just from pouring thick.

[Chestnut]

If it were me i'd try and pour the epoxy all from one point to kind mimic the source of the river so the pigment looks like it's flowing... I'm not sure if cremona did it this way but he really nailed the look i thought.

[Immortan D]

Very interesting journal and looking good so far.

[RileyD]

A bunch of questions.

What type of resin are you using? For this application you probably want something that is slow setting, around 24 hours to cure, using a faster setting resin is probably going to end up with bubbles in it.

I'm assuming you used some kind of mica powder on that initial pour, the top of that casting looks good, but there are a ton of voids on the bottom. Either it wasn't fully cured when you poured the second layer and bubbled up or it set up super fast leaving the voids on the bottom. You could try hitting the melamine with some mold release (follow the directions and let it dry) to keep the melamine from chipping. Possibly the melamine is too rough and you are just getting bubbles due to surface imperfections.

Is the gel dye you are using comparable with your resin? Polyurethane resins really don't like moisture of any sort, using a water based dye will do really bad things to your casting (the Peter Brown video mentioned above). I can't tell if that was the culprit on the second pour or it was just too much resin at once.

[kyokahn]

8 hours ago, lewisc said:

What resin are you using? From what I've read/watched on them so far, there are some which are designed for thick pours.

Countertop resin. Harder than the one made for thick pours and more UV resistance, at least better than the one I could find.

7 hours ago, wtnhighlander said:

It is possible that the problem you experienced is not just from pouring thick.

I think you're right, it wasn't only that it was too thick. Pigments are not working as planned at all, in the 2nd test I've had no exotherm but one batch of blue became purple, so I wouldn't discard its chemistry playing with the catalyzer.

6 hours ago, Chestnut said:

If it were me i'd try and pour the epoxy all from one point to kind mimic the source of the river so the pigment looks like it's flowing... I'm not sure if cremona did it this way but he really nailed the look i thought.

That makes sense! I'll give it a shot. Might have to add a temporary slope but I like the idea.

35 minutes ago, RileyD said:

What type of resin are you using? For this application you probably want something that is slow setting, around 24 hours to cure, using a faster setting resin is probably going to end up with bubbles in it.

It's slow-ish cure but made for thin layers (1/4" or so).

36 minutes ago, RileyD said:

I'm assuming you used some kind of mica powder on that initial pour, the top of that casting looks good, but there are a ton of voids on the bottom. Either it wasn't fully cured when you poured the second layer and bubbled up or it set up super fast leaving the voids on the bottom.

Bottom layer is a purpose made resin metallic pigment for countertops. When it bubbled up, everything cured immediately, the top is a big bubble, the bottom is tiny bubbles

37 minutes ago, RileyD said:

You could try hitting the melamine with some mold release (follow the directions and let it dry) to keep the melamine from chipping. Possibly the melamine is too rough and you are just getting bubbles due to surface imperfections.

Did this for the second test, hope it works!

38 minutes ago, RileyD said:

Is the gel dye you are using comparable with your resin?

I tested a smaller batch and it worked perfectly. A larger batch turned purple as I poured it. So I'm guessing the carrier is compatible, but the pigment itself not so much. I didn't use the gel dye at all on the first test, that deep blue you see came from a powder dye, alcohol soluble, that only shows up when the resin overheats apparently (didn't add any color on the second layer of the second test)

 

So I've got the timings and layer height figured out, the problem now is the dye cause the ones I have either turn purple or disappear entirely when the hardener is added. No reliable supplier of epoxy dyes around here, I'm thinking either india ink, or ink straight from a Bic ball pen as the next test subjects.

[Bombarde16]

On 6/23/2018 at 5:59 AM, kyokahn said:

that beautiful grain screamed back at me with some tearout due to interlocking (assuming that's what it's called):

Judging by the picture, this looks more like a local grain reversal than interlocking grain.  Interlocked grain generally applies to an entire board.  Regardless, I'd go after this patch with a scraper, probably a big overhand scraper for tearout that deep.

This hardly looks like a "token millennial" build.  Keep up the good work.

[wtnhighlander]

A metallic powder in suspension may be safer than a dye that dissolves into the epoxy. I have had bad experiences with some colors in epoxy, where the colorant caused the epoxy to never fully harden.

[Coyote Jim]

I am very much enjoying this so far kyokahn! I like the writing as much as the woodworking. You gave me more than just a few chuckles so far.

I look forward to much more!

[kyokahn]

On 6/26/2018 at 7:16 PM, Bombarde16 said:

Judging by the picture, this looks more like a local grain reversal than interlocking grain.  Interlocked grain generally applies to an entire board.  Regardless, I'd go after this patch with a scraper, probably a big overhand scraper for tearout that deep.

Reversal it is then! I took your advice and used a scraper after finding out the belt sander still left tearout, it worked like a charm.

On 6/26/2018 at 7:16 PM, Bombarde16 said:

This hardly looks like a "token millennial" build.  Keep up the good work.

On 6/28/2018 at 9:06 AM, Coyote Jim said:

I am very much enjoying this so far kyokahn! I like the writing as much as the woodworking. You gave me more than just a few chuckles so far.

I look forward to much more!

Thank you both! 

On 6/26/2018 at 8:07 PM, wtnhighlander said:

A metallic powder in suspension may be safer than a dye that dissolves into the epoxy. I have had bad experiences with some colors in epoxy, where the colorant caused the epoxy to never fully harden.

I had to do more than a few tests before finding a dye that didn't change color or entirely disappeared while curing, but I had to use both for the effect I wanted, and clear epoxy from the middle to the surface. Also changed the type of hardener. It did harden properly.

[kyokahn]

Well... Between work, MORE WORK, studies and messing things up more than a couple times, I found myself working on this over a longer period than I expected. You know how it is, life and inexperience have a way of getting in the way. Not even accounting for procrastination here.

So, first things first, a short story of how I messed up: I trusted a too thin piece of pine to help me drill dowel holes straight, and I didn't let the pieces rest after the initial cuts and milling. 

Everything seemed fine while it was clamped and each pair of legs during the dry fit were relatively straight, but here's the catch: I didn't dry fit the end aprons, dowel holes were off by 1, 3, 1 and 1 degree in exactly opposite directions across the table. Sure, the good clamps held it down, but when released it resulted in a rocking table, with the legs across front and back being 1/4 closer on one side and 1/4 farther apart on the other. Frustrated, I left it on top of the table saw for a couple days to evaluate how I'd fix it. To add insult to injury, when I came back to it, the side apron had twisted up and out. Maybe the pressure from the clamps vs the dowels, maybe I selectively forgot just how gnarly Surá wood is.

Solution: Change the strategy! I decided to go with loose tenons instead, learning how to make them on the go, of course. But first, I had to undo my mess, and power tools wouldn't cut it (pun partially intended). In my vast arsenal of refined hand tools, I found the perfect one for this task (NOT). A hand saw that came free when a contractor working on my garage had to buy a long magnetic level. To put it simply: a Ryoba immediately went up a few hundred slots to the top of my buy list. But it worked, eventually, and I detached the legs from the aprons and then refined the cut with the table saw and a sanding block. 

I then re-dressed the aprons back to straight and since I had to go back, why not improve on the design a little? The legs looked a little bulky so I added a taper on the inner side of each leg for a more pronounced angle. Can I call it intentional now? I did let the pieces rest a little this time... probably more than a week. They didn't twist the tiniest bit this time.

Here's a look into the router-cut mortises and the very-much-still-there dowels. I realize I lost about 1/2" length on each and probably some strength as well, but I decided I'd test that later.

Notice how the bottom crosses slightly with the perpendicular mortise, I had to basically miter-join the loose tenons inside. Speaking of which, here's a pic of the loose tenons before cutting them, after roughing them up with a file:

These were cut on the TS and then rounded on the router table with a matching bull nose bit, and here's how they fit:

Sweet burning smell right there, I was a bit careless cutting those on the sled. This was a dry-fit test before giving them a 45 degree angle in the corners for them to match. But it worked! the angles were correct and the cuts straight, so I proceeded to assembly:

I tested its strength by sitting across the side aprons, and lying down across the end aprons (sorry, no pics of the shop acrobatics). No rocking or creaking, I figured it's strong enough for a coffee table.

The pieces on top of the apron aren't glued up just yet, but I'd use them later on to make sure I connect them to the table top in the right position related to the legs once I got that done. So that's what's next, the gooey stuff.

So as I mentioned before, I was having issues with the resin hardener and the dyes. After testing many dyes and changing the hardener (lucky find of a supplier for resin hardeners), I got the process down and started working on the actual table top:

First and second layers: light blue metallic powder:

Then a layer of blue and a 2 of clear that actually shows depth:

It looks cute, but of course, it never ends up flat with the wood (surface tension and all that), so it's time to mess it up with a clunky belt sander until it's flat!

Then we have to square it up and rough sand it (80), don't worry about the mild tearout, I'll chamfer the borders:

And here it is after adding the base that attaches the top to the legs and some filing to round these things over:

The part of the wood closer to the middle is glued, the blocks are glued and screwed, the outer side is held by the blocks. This allows for barely 1/4 of movement, but with each piece of wood being around 8" wide, it should do well unless I decide to keep it stored in a water tank.

I chamfered all the edges before final sanding, then sanded all the way to 180 grit:

Time for the sealer. Another moment that gives the illusion of being close to the finish line but not quite. You see, this sanding sealer, while fresh, looks like finish, but it doesn't flatten out, and looks inconsistent until you sand it. Basically, it just fills, but in some of these pics I let myself go crazy while it was fresh. Bottom first!

That bottom layer got curly while drying, happy it doesn't show from the top. Legs and aprons:

First coat(out of 3) on the top before final assembly:

It dried up, with disappointing results, so I sanded the first coat of sealer, assembled the base of the top to the end aprons and applied the second coat. Note the surface is still not "flawless":

Oh my, that looked almost finished... until it dried. Then sanded down everything and applied the final coat of sealer only on the top. Shop light sure brings out all of the crazy grain patterns:

Past the illusion of being done, next day I sanded for the last time before applying finish, all the way down to 320.

Now THAT looks right!

For finish, my plan was to use satin poly, sanding a little between wiped-on coats, but apparently, having a non-absorbent base makes it harder to get a perfect coat, and I was constantly fighting bubbles or the tiniest particles of dust, even in a closed area where I let it set before even touching the finish. And as I removed the bubbles/dust particles by sanding between coats, I invariably ended up chewing away the previous coat. This set me back at least a week and a half.

The solution: a thicker, flatter coat. I grabbed the paint gun (Tacklife's version of an "HVLP" turbine) and sprayed the first coat, then sanded to 400. Very little bubbles or dust when using that thing, it was MUCH better than I expected.

Then a second one and sanded to 600 after letting cure for a couple days:

Waited 1 week, then polished a little focusing on the epoxy parts:

This is not the final final finish, as I need to wait a couple more weeks before applying satin wax, but it's close enough and it's ready to be used, maybe this is a better view of the "just done" table:

And at this point I though: "well that was a lot of work, I want a few glamour shots to show it off". So I told a friend who actually has a decent camera to help me out. He liked the table a bit too much and decided to take it out for a date at the park:

The grain and figure shine very differently depending on where the light hits it, it's really an atypical piece of wood on that top, and I like to think I made it so that the metallic shine in the middle follows.

So there you have it, folks! It was quite an adventure and I learned much more than I bargained for. What do you guys think? 

As for me, I will be using it until I land on a design idea for a more utilitarian coffee table that looks just right, and then, I'm confident enough someone else will like it enough to keep it for a while longer.

[Chestnut]

I don't know that this qualifies as a typical millennial river coffee table. The top is good looking, but the base out shines it in my opinion. I think you did a great job and if all the token millennial coffee tables looked like this people wouldn't hold grudges against them.

[pkinneb]

I love the top!! Very well executed.

[Chet]

Super project.  The top looks great but the base really sets it off.  It is well above anything of this type that I have seen.  I am not a fan of this style top but you got real close to something I would put in my house.  Well done.

[wdwerker]

Far better than anything I've seen from any millennial build ! Signed & Dated ?

[Coyote Jim]

I love it! I am not that much of a fan of river tables but that wood choice for that top makes it awesome.

And wow that dedication to the finish. Sheesh. I don't think I have that much patience.

Help me out though, what is that sealer you applied before the finish? I'm not familiar with what that is and why one would use it.