Walnut Coffee Table – Live edge wood slab

Live edge walnut slabs that have been stored for about ten years appeared when cleaning out some wood bins so a new lumber load could be stored.  The live edge slab was from a small bandsaw mill so all it took to convert the 17 inch wide slab into a coffee table top was belt sander, random orbital sander and card scraper. The slab was shorten to 5 feet and the sawn edge roughen with a rasp and wire brush to blend it with the slab’s live edges. Several coats of wipe on polyurethane after the oil finish was left to dry for two weeks provided a waterproof natural finish surface that let the natural grain and color show.

While replacing the other discovered slabs, I tripped over a walnut branch burl that came from the same sawmill. After a few well chosen words to tell the branch burl to get out of the way, creative inspiration struck. With a bandsaw the burl was ripped into roughly 1.5 inch thick slabs. The bark was removed and the resulting live edge burnished with a wire brush to remove the dirt and bark particles from the pits and grooves.

The attachment point of branch shows a swirl grain pattern cause of the weight compression of the growing branch

Like the top, some sanding and initial oil finish using a mixture of mineral spirits, Penetrol, and linseed oil expressed the compression wood’s interesting grain and color pattern.

The resulting 5 feet by 17 (nominal) by 15 inches tall coffee table is ready to find a new home.  One thing is guaranteed – there will never be another exactly like this one