Coffee Table – Week 6

Before I unveil the completed table, I want to show what we did to repair the damage caused by storing the wood in less-than-ideal conditions. This gave us the opportunity to add an unplanned design element that I hope will also prevent further damage.

Rather than cut the top apart at the failed seams and glue the pieces back together, I decided to use the damage creatively. I didn’t want to undo all the work it took to get the top glued up, planed flat, and cut to size. We never would have been able to get it back to ‘perfect’ with the tools we have.

Dad has plug cutters in three sequential sizes that I liked, although the middle size isn’t exactly halfway between the other two. I made up for this by asking Dad to drill the middle holes closer to the small ones to distribute the visual weight.

The repairs were inspired by kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. We used something far less expensive, though. Epoxy holds the plugs in and fills the wide gaps and larger cracks.

On Dad’s next visit, he cut the plugs shorter (shown here), then chiseled and planed them flush. After he sanded the entire surface, Dad puttied the cracks and gaps as shown in Week 5.

Dad came back over, sanded the putty, and gave everything a few passes with the sander. The final major step was to apply the cove detail to the top edge. Later, I applied two coats of finish to the underside and the table was ready to assemble.

~ Check back for Week 7, the final installment of this project, or leave a quick comment letting me know you’d like to see more of our projects. You’ll receive an early-bird email with a link to the grand reveal and a notification when we start the next project. Thank you for your continued interest.