For as far back as I can remember, my grandfather had a workshop in his garage. From a young age, I was fascinated by how he turned everything from scraps and off-cuts, live edge, or slabs of wood, into virtually anything you could imagine. He was able to repurpose wood furniture into tools and vice versa. As I grew, he started teaching me his techniques and how every tool used
There are two steps that everyone and anyone will want to watch. One is applying the first coat of finish to see the wood grains pop for the first time, and the other is the first pour of an epoxy/resin river. It is very cool to see the formation of a table come to life. There are several tools/odds and ends you’ll need during your pour. Much like the tool
So we’ve clean up the floor, got a cup of coffee, and are ready to continue. The next two steps I use are debated among woodworks whether or not they are necessary. I’ll give you my reasons for each step, but leave it open for you to decide on your own build. The first is sealing the edges with clear epoxy and the second is to shellack the top and
Now it’s time to get to work. You’ll start to see the table come together in the next few steps. You’ll also need a few more tools used in each of these steps. For easy reference, you’ll find a full list at the bottom of this blog post. Just to recap, we have the slabs and have identified the layout. Let’s make some sawdust. I like to use chalk to
Let’s start with a simple question; where do we find the wood? Well, that’s complicated. I’m located on the east coast which limits the availability of wide slabs of furniture grade wood at a reasonable cost for a small shop. My preferred species is walnut, more specifically black walnut, which makes it even harder to get the slabs I’m looking for. Forget about Bastogne or English Walnut, it is virtually
At first glance, you would think this is pretty easy. To the uninitiated, you see the end product and understand the basics of how to get there; cut some wood, pour epoxy, sand a bit, attach the legs, and voilà, you have a table. Of course, there is a bit more to it than that. These builds do have a process, a standard set of procedures that can be broke
I’m sure you’ve been asked the following: “Where do you see yourself in ten years?” Maybe you’ve been asked this during a job interview. Or, as part of a “getting to know you” exercise in school. Either way, I was asked this question in college and I can tell you now my answer was off. Like, way off. Back then, my answer probably included words like: veterinarian, animal trainer, zoo,
