Poking out from under a pile of live edge slabs, a rough cut maple slab coming in at nearly 3" thick caught my eye. I had been given this slab when I began woodworking and just never found the right use for it. That is, until now. I started sanding and planing this beast and quickly realized I had a beautiful piece of wood on my hands. The natural browns and yellows created a tiger stripe appearance along the live edge and flame like design on the face. I wanted a natural soft feel for the finish so I opted to use Odie's Oil rather than a film type finish. Odie's Oil is applied similar to a paste wax. I applied it with a rubber scraper and rubbed it in with a soft cotton rag. After letting it set for about 2 hours I buffed the bench with my electric buffer. To my delight the hardwax oil finish brought out the colors perfectly while keeping the natural feel of the wood. To finish off this heavy bench I chose to add unfinished flat steel legs.
Enjoy.
