Flippin' Junk

I finished up my first live edge table, made from a solid slab of walnut! It started as a rough-cut slab with a few cracks and imperfections, but I could tell as soon as I saw it there was some beautiful grain beneath the surface. I got it roughly level and smooth before filling any cracks with black epoxy. Then it was back to sanding, sanding, and more sanding... I sanded down to 400 grit before applying some Danish Oil, natural. Man, did that grain pop! I did 3 coats of oil in total. While the table top cured, I welded together some stainless steel legs. Because of the shape of the top, I made one leg more narrow. I was worried the different sized legs would look out of place, but ultimately I think it helps it look like a custom piece of furniture. The legs got 4 coats of semi-gloss black paint, and I mounted them on the underside of the table. Here's the final product! This was a really fun project, and I l...

There are lots of people out there making some amazing epoxy river tables that sell for thousands of dollars. They generally use live edge slabs of specialty wood that can cost $1000+ alone, not to mention the tables sometimes contain $500+ of epoxy as well. I wanted to try to make a low-cost version of one of these amazing tables. I spent: $16.00  (2) 2" x 6" x 96" fir construction lumber $28  (2) 1/8" x 2" x 72" flat steel ~$17.50  32oz of a one-gallon kit 2-part epoxy ~$15  finish, paint, screws, etc. That brings me out to a total of roughly $76. First I used a biscuit joiner to align and glue (4) 4-foot lengths of the construction lumber together to form the table top.  I let the glue dry for a few days before taking it out of the clamps, and filling any remaining gaps with clear epoxy. I put some parchment paper down between the center support to prevent the epoxy from sticking. The center support board is to prevent the ta...