Natural Edge Bubinga Coffee Table (w/pics)

[BillPappas]

My wife saw a natural edge coffee table (walnut I think) in a magazine and asked me to build one for her. She asked about the time I had just finished my desktop and I had a what I thought was just about a useless piece of wood at the time because of its shape and because it was very warped. To make a long story short I showed it to her and she liked the wood, so I designed and built the table shown here...it is a bit different but turned out ok ad most important she really likes how it turned out.

This is the cutoff from the desktop plank of bubinga, picture shows shavings from hand planing. I hand planed it until my arms would not move then started again the next day and the next and so on. Ultimately I went out and purchased an angle grinder and a carving disk. Wow does that thing take off the wood and make a mess. It was all I could do to get the top side of the coffee table flat enough so that things placed on it would not roll off, it is still warped but most of the warp is now on the bottom or near the corners. Had I really gotten it flat on top I would have ended up with a much thinner top.

Next 2 pics are my plans...thought you all might get a laugh out of them...I used a #2 CAD Pencil:rotflm: You might also note that I did not fully follow the plans in the end...I decided some of what I had drawn was not what I wanted.

mdf legs - I wanted to see what they would look like before I committed to the plan.

This next series is the legs and frame being built. Legs are Bubinga and the frame is maple.

Bubinga Leg blanks:

Legs have been cut to rough shape:

Legs have edges routed:

Maple frame has been glued and clamped:

Frame has edges routed and has been ebonized:

Legs read to be mortised:

Dry fit legs and frame:

Dry fit with top on the frame:

Finshed top in shop - really amazing wood:

Finished coffee table in the house on Valentines Day!!:gar-Bi:gar-Bi

This was a fun project and really something different for me...usually it is all about buying and cutting the wood to fit the plan...this time it was all about designing and building around a piece of wood.

Regards,

Bill

 

[mkepke]

Cool.:icon_thum

That is some crazy quilted bubinga.

-Mark

 

[JimmyC]

Bill,

The table looks great and the grain is outrageous. It must be a little different letting the wood talk to you, I guess. BTW, I use the same CAD tools as you :mrgreen:.

 

[Ken Massingale]

Nice design, I like it. That Bubinga is awesome.

 

[skysharks]

Bill great job. Man I like that wood grain for sure.
Is that the domino fasteners that I see you used for frame to leg attachment?
Also what is it that you used for a finish on the top?

 

[mlzettl]

Nice looking table, Bill - great job. :eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap I like the look of bubinga sapwood and heartwood, it's a nice contrast, especially with that waterfall figure. I also like the base/floating top idea. It's a very simple, but effective way to support and showcase a special piece of timber.

If you're interested in doing a bit bigger table, my supplier has some 16 ft. long x 48" wide bubinga slabs. :wink_smil

Matt

 

[TracyP]

Really nice table. I, like the others like the look of the Bubinga:thumbs_up:thumbs_up

 

[Gotcha6]

Great job - and just in time for Valentine's Day. I'll bet that got ya a few 'brownie points' for sure.:icon_thum

 

[JohnW]

Amazing figure. Sounds like quite a workout flattening it out. It looks great.

 

[mlzettl]

Bill,

I was looking at your photos again, and didn't see how you actually attached the top to the base. I would like to know the method, and I suspect others following the thread would also.

Again, great job.

Matt

 

[Gary K]

Bill,

Excellent design and execution! You absolutely did that beautiful piece of bubinga justice.:eusa_clap
I have always used the same CAD system as you, although never with results as nice as yours.
Maybe I need a software update.:mrgreen:

 

[bwat]

Beautiful wood and nicely executed and photographed. I too would like to hear more about the finish and attachment method for the slab.:icon_thum

 

[nelsone]

What a beautiful table! Excellent work.

Thanks for the progress pics!:icon_thum

 

[BillPappas]

Thanks to all for the kind remarks. I will attempt to answer the questions raised in various posts.

I used the domino for the frame and to attach the legs. The finish is sand to 220, Seal-A-Cell (1 coat) and semi-gloss Arm-R-Seal (4 coats). I used metal angle brackets to attach the top..not real elegant but it works. No idea which way the wood is going to move so I did not snug down the screws real tight on the angle brackets hoping they will allow for a little movement if any happens. The angle brackets are hidden by the frame and they are black so they would be hard to see. The slab is so warped that on 3 of the points it touches the frame and 1 inch brackets worked....on the fourth spot I had to put in some wood to shim between the frame and slab and that spot required a 1.5 inch bracket.

Regards,

Bill

 

[ChrisMathes]

Wow, that is beautiful! I love bubinga...where did you get such a highly figured slab?

Nice, nice, nice job!

Chris

 

[BillPappas]

Chris,

I purchased 2 slabs from www.eastwakehardwoods.com. This piece is actually a cut off from one of the slabs that is my desk top.

Regards,

Bill

 

[Tar Heel]

Congrats on building a truly unique piece.

 

[RandyJ]

All I can say is, WOW!:notworthy: Beautiful wood, table, finish, and How-to. Thanks for sharing, Bill.:icon_thum

 

[flatheadfisher]

Another great piece!

For those of you who didn't see the desk made out of that piece, click here. It is really nice!

 

[Tar Heel]

I've already commented on the table here and just checked out the thread with the pics of the desk. I usually check this site more than once on a daily basis but, somehow, missed seeing the desk. All I can say is WOW, that is an unbelievably beautiful piece of wood that has been crafted into a stunning piece of furniture. Thanks Michael for posting the link to the desk thread.