Coffee table design

[SawDustB]

So I've got a project on my workbench that's a bit of an experiment. As I've mentioned before, I'm involved with a technology company that I started with some colleagues. Anyway, we're in the process of moving into a new building that we bought at the beginning of the year. As part of our renovations, we removed a section of the main beam and I rescued the cutoff piece from the dumpster. It's nothing particularly special, pine or something from around 1990 glued into a laminated beam. Here's what I started with. The cutout was about 36" long, 22" wide, and the beam is 7 1/4" thick.

Anyway, I've pulled out the nails, straightened the cuts on all sides, and planed the long and end grain. It's looking pretty good (aside from the fact it's pine, but that's not its fault ). This is one of those times I'm really happy to have the Roubo for working on.

 

So now for the actual project. I'm thinking of making it into a coffee table for the new space. We'll need at least a couple, and this has a bit of a story to it. The beam in the building will be exposed in the space, so it will also tie in. I'm trying to figure out 2 main things:

1. What (if anything) I should do in terms of modifying the chunk of beam as a top. I'm contemplating putting a bit of an underbevel on it to lighten the look a little.
2. What kind of base to use. I could do something like a premade metal base, but right now I'm thinking of building something from ash to go with it, fairly minimal.

Anyone have any brilliant thoughts, or designs I should look at? Here are my initial Sketchup doodles. The left one is to scale with the final beam dimensions, if I made the coffee table 18" high. The right one shows the possible bevel I was considering.

Let me know what you think, thanks!

 

[Chestnut]

I think under bevel for sure, from the sketchup i like the looks of it. Constructed it might look even better. Now how much underbevel is something you might want to play with. Would you want to have a larger belvel for something this thick?

For base going to throw something radical out there, why not pick through some of the nicer fir beams at the home center and make them from that? Wonder what that would look like if they were artfully burned and then finished?

[Mark J]

When I started reading I was wondering where on earth you were going with this, but now I see, I like the idea.

But I think the visual story will benefit by keeping the beam segment as close as reasonable to "as cut out".  You might want to chamfer the edges so they're not sharp to the touch, but I think the thing should still look like a beam.

As to the base, that I think needs an industrial feel, or at least it should look structural.  I'm thinking a framework of steel or a lumber like fir, ash or maple.  A dull finish, nothing shiny, especially not steel.  Base could be painted to de-emphasize it.

Or you could do something else entirely. 

[SawDustB]

1 minute ago, Chestnut said:

I think under bevel for sure, from the sketchup i like the looks of it. Constructed it might look even better. Now how much underbevel is something you might want to play with. Would you want to have a larger belvel for something this thick?

For base going to throw something radical out there, why not pick through some of the nicer fir beams at the home center and make them from that? Wonder what that would look like if they were artfully burned and then finished?

I'm leaning toward the under bevel as well. It's hard to tell, but the one I put in there is 2" wide and 1" high (whatever angle that works out to be). I wouldn't want to chew into the width a whole lot more than that, although I could go up to a 45 degree angle and have it be 1" higher. I'll play with it.

That's an interesting idea with the beams... I was going to go with the ash partly just because I have it, I know it's dry, and I figured it would work well for ebonizing the base if I go that route. But definitely a softwood would work, and I might be able to get something chunkier (and cheap).

2 minutes ago, Mark J said:

When I started reading I was wondering where on earth you were going with this, but now I see, I like the idea.

But I think the visual story will benefit by keeping the beam segment as close as reasonable to "as cut out".  You might want to chamfer the edges so they're not sharp to the touch, but I think the thing should still look like a beam.

As to the base, that I think needs an industrial feel, or at least it should look structural.  I'm thinking a framework of steel or a lumber like fir, ash or maple.  A dull finish, nothing shiny, especially not steel.  Base could be painted to de-emphasize it.

Or you could do something else entirely. 

I agree, I don't want it to look like it's something else. If I just wanted to make a coffee table, there's easier ways than lugging home a 90 lb piece of wood covered in drywall dust . I think I'm leaning toward having the finish on the base involve darkening the wood. I thought that greying solution looked really good on ash. They're supposed to be staining the beam in the building in the next couple of weeks, so I may see what it ends up looking like before I commit to any particular finish.

[Chestnut]

Now i'm wondering what 2 smaller slabs would look like. Just like your model but solid.

[Barron]

Have you considered rotating the legs 90 degrees?  I think that might improve the look. Just a thought. 

[RichardA]

Can you find some railroad ties? That might be your  base answer.  Get used ones, not new.

[Byrdie]

I did a project with used RR ties some time back.  Had to cut them with a chain saw, needed a new blade after a few and never got the creosote out of the overalls i was wearing at the time.  Ended up burning the overalls - with a big black cloud of smoke.  

[SawDustB]

2 hours ago, Chestnut said:

Now i'm wondering what 2 smaller slabs would look like. Just like your model but solid.

It's an interesting idea. It would definitely be simple, and I think it would work with the aesthetic I'm going for. I might have a piece of 8/4 pine in my shop that could work for this.

 

56 minutes ago, RichardA said:

Can you find some railroad ties? That might be your  base answer.  Get used ones, not new.

I think that's probably more work and mess than I'm up for, but thanks for the suggestion. It's winter here, so I want to be able to process everything in my shop.

1 hour ago, Barron said:

Have you considered rotating the legs 90 degrees?  I think that might improve the look. Just a thought. 

I'll take a look at it, thanks!

[Spanky]

1 hour ago, Byrdie said:

never got the creosote out of the overalls i was wearing at the time.  

WELL!!!!! A good ole country boy. 

[wtnhighlander]

I think the thick, chunky slab looks good. To that end, I would ease the edges, but not really under cut it.

Some simple staked legs underneath could make appear to float, especially if they were black.

[Bombarde16]

8 hours ago, wtnhighlander said:

I think the thick, chunky slab looks good. To that end, I would ease the edges, but not really under cut it

I'd go the opposite direction: Leave perhaps an inch of flat around the top but everything else gets coved out on the table saw. Lots of work dragging a slab that size back and forth and even more work to sand out the saw marks... Out just leave them since you're going with a rough look. But curves, curves, curvy goodness for days.

[wdwerker]

I would do minimum easing/beveling on the slab and make the base from ash. If you dye ash black  and use a clear top coat the grain pattern shows as a nice effect.  I think it would end up being a nice simple modern base to display the beam segment on. 

If you can stain the slab similar to the one in the building a satin clear finish rubbed with a red abrasive pad then a gray pad will dull any sheen yet still leave a protective coating. 

[SawDustB]

I think I'm less decided than before I asked for advice. I'm definitely not getting into table saw coves on this one, although it's an interesting idea, just not what I'm going for. I like the idea of either having slab like legs, or dyeing the base black to minimize its appearance. I've heard of using ink for that, but what would you usually buy? I can also go to Lee Valley and buy dye there.

Decisions, decisions... I may start milling up the piece of rough ash I have later, although I'm thinking I may need more wood. One thing I may do is recess the base into the top a little. That will minimize it a bit more, while letting me account for wood movement.

[wtnhighlander]

India ink works, but has a purplish sheen, and rubs off on anything the piece touches, until you top coat it.

The best thing I've found for a deep, flat black is Kiwi liquid show polish (leather dye). It seems to penetrate better than ink, and dries fairly fast.

[Chestnut]

Bust out the torch and torch it. Carbon black is nice and jet matte black. plus who doens't love fire? Jokes.

[SawDustB]

1 minute ago, Chestnut said:

Bust out the torch and torch it. Carbon black is nice and jet matte black. plus who doens't love fire? Jokes.

While I could, I'd rather not need to go outside on this one. My wife won't be very understanding if I fill the house with smoke . I think I'll look into the dye @wtnhighlander suggested. I still have to build something first.

[Chestnut]

8 minutes ago, SawDustB said:

While I could, I'd rather not need to go outside on this one. My wife won't be very understanding if I fill the house with smoke . I think I'll look into the dye @wtnhighlander suggested. I still have to build something first.

IIRC ash smoke smells nice and sweet. Just call it a new air freshener....

[SawDustB]

23 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

IIRC ash smoke smells nice and sweet. Just call it a new air freshener....

Right... I hear complaints about the stink if I burn a router bit. I can only imagine if I started deliberately scorching wood in the garage. 

[SawDustB]

This has to be one of the few projects that can make the Roubo look thin. I've planed the surface on both sides. I still need to fill some holes and sand it as well. I took a few shavings in the process.

Here's the piece of ash I'm thinking of using. I can build a base like the first sketchup picture out of it if I make the members approximately 2x3.

[wtnhighlander]

@SawDustB, be sure to test that shoe dye on a scrap of your chosen stock. I try a lot of 'off-label' applications in my woodwork, usually with decent success. But as @chestnut recently demonstrated, some of these applications aren't consistent between wood species.  YMMV

[SawDustB]

16 minutes ago, wtnhighlander said:

@SawDustB, be sure to test that shoe dye on a scrap of your chosen stock. I try a lot of 'off-label' applications in my woodwork, usually with decent success. But as @chestnut recently demonstrated, some of these applications aren't consistent between wood species.  YMMV

Ok, thanks. I may end up just buying the aniline dye in black at Lee Valley, since I can walk over there from work next week. I'll definitely test on a scrap.

[wdwerker]

I would make sure the dye can be dissolved in alcohol if at all possible. Water based dye can raise the grain and it also takes longer to dry. I think the holes in the beam might look better un-filled. That is a nice thick chunk of timber even if it's just laminated pine.

[SawDustB]

I've started down the road of building a variation on the original base I showed. The pieces are all 2"x3". I'm planning to use bridle joints at the top, and mortise and tenon for the lower stretchers. I do want to join the sets of legs together. Right now I'm leaning towards using a piece of 1" steel pipe (maybe 2 of them), but I'm still deciding. Here's the mock up before cutting the joinery.

I am going to try dyeing it black, since I think that'll look good.

[Chestnut]

Man that thing looks like a back breaker. I think 2 pipes would look the best but with the tops of your legs being 3" wide if you get a good connection to the top i doubt you'll need the braces. Everything is so bulky and big if you did one in the center it'd end up looking like that one guy that roids and only does arm workouts.