This coffee table is made of Modesto Ash, that was destined to become firewood. I grew up with this Ash tree, it watched me and my brothers grow up. Unfortunately the tree was diseased and had to be taken down. I talked to the arborist and made a deal with them to leave me the trunk as a whole piece. They dropped it, my dad and I spent the next few days clearing up all of the brush and cut the limbs into manageable pieces of firewood. The next day I spent a few hours using an alaskan chainsaw mill slabbing up the tree into 10/4 sections. Fast foreward a year, thanks to a hot summer the lumber air dried rapidly and was ready to be repurposed. This will be the second coffee table I have made from this tree. The first is currently sitting in a local coffee shop spreading joy to those who visit it. The table shown is the last of the lumber from this Ash tree. Since this tree watched me and my brothers grow up, my hope is that it will help me one last time in building my business.
The work..
This table was flattened using a router sled and rough sanded using a rotex sander. The legs are all solid pieces attached with through mortise and tenon wedges joinery. It was prepared up to 220 grit sandpaper before finish was applied. I used one coat of Seal-a-cell applied with a rag. The finish was allowed to soak in for a few minutes then wet sanded with a scotch brite pad before being wiped off with blue shop rags. The next day Arm-r-seal satin topcoat was applied using the same method. I typically allow the finish to dry a full day in between coats. After 3-4 topcoats the table gets buffed out with a white pad and is complete.
