Live Edge Cedar Table

[AlaskaFlyerFan]

I’ve always liked the look of a cedar table so I decided to build one. It was June 2019. I searched around for cedar slabs and was shocked at some of the prices the places were asking. They were awful proud of their wood! .

I found a place that was pretty close to the house and the price was reasonable compared to all the others so I bought three slabs about 14 feet long, 18 inches wide, and 2 inches thick. The first thing I did was trim them down to approximately 6 feet long each.

I took them to a shop that had a planer large enough to run the slabs through. They ended up at 1 5/8" thick.

I should tell you up front that I don't have any real experience with wood working and I really suck at the fine finish work. I kind of stick with the rough stuff, hence the live edge. I also don’t have a shop to work in so everything I did was in the garage or just outside the garage in the driveway. All of my tools are hand tools, no big shop tools.

All three slabs came from the same tree. The two outer pieces are book face. Once I layed the wood out the way I wanted it, I had to use an electric hand planer on the edges since I don't have a joiner. I spent a little bit of time chasing the edge but finally got it where it needed to be.

[AlaskaFlyerFan]

I used glue and biscuits to join the slabs together. I started with two pieces and used cargo straps to pull them in tight. After letting the glue set up for a few hours I joined the third slab to the other two. I strapped and clamped the table and let it sit for a few days so the glue would cure.

A friend of mine was cleaning up some cedar on his property and I went and picked out some 3 to 4 inch diameter logs to make the legs. These logs were loaded with cedar bark beetle larva. They made peeling the bark difficult at times but the tracks left in the wood added additional character to the overall project.

It got a little too hot to continue working on the table so I set it aside until the temperatures cooled off a little bit. Life got in the way and the table sat until this spring.

[AlaskaFlyerFan]

I started working on the table again in May. I spent many hours sanding. The cedar started to look pink rather than the red that it looked before. I used some of the excess wood and cut the live edge off and added breadboard ends again using biscuits, wood glue, and cargo strapped them in place. I had several months to think about how I was going to attach the legs to the table and figured the best way was to add an apron to the underside of the table. I used pocket screws to attach the apron.

The legs would go on the inside of the apron and I would lag screw them to a piece of cedar cut to form a 45* angle.

I decided that I was going to use epoxy for the finish. I did a lot of research to learn how to use it. I had a lot of trouble with the epoxy but finally got it right. You can read about it here: https://discussions.texasbowhunter.c...d.php?t=771353

[AlaskaFlyerFan]

Once I got the epoxy finish right it was time to permanently attach the legs. One leg seemed a little loose so I decided to pin all the legs with some cedar dowels. It was the right choice as those legs don’t move at all now. I also put levelers in the bottom of the legs just in case. I only had to adjust one of them to get the table level without any wobble. The table is heavy and solid. Here are the pictures of the finished project. I'm extremely happy with the finished product! I'm going to try my hand at making some chairs to match later on this year.

[Gulfcoastin]

That is awesome. Great work

[bobc]

I like that a lot.


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[sendit]

Nice write up and a very nice table. One of these days I am going to try my hand at building one myself.

Job well done!

[WildThings]

The live edge breadboard takes it over the top!!

[XBowHunterMike]

That is fantastic!!!

[scjeeptx]

Beautiful!

[Bro. Bill]

Awesome job!

[FLASH_OUTDOORS]

Looks awesome! How did you join the legs?


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[Dusty Britches]

That is absolutely gorgeous! I have some cedar on my place that I'd love to do something like that with. Fortunately, the trees are alive and well so I have time.

I really like the way cedar looks, too.

[El Viejo]

Holy moly, that thing is beautiful! I'd say you nailed it!!!

[batmaninja]

I spent a little bit of time chasing the edge but finally got it where it needed to be.

Looks great, thanks for the write up. Just curious on what you mean by chasing?