Turning Old Coffee Table Into Memory!

Clök Concept
by Clök Concept
14 Materials
$80
3 Days
Medium
We got married two years ago. We had a country wedding and one of the things I really wanted was for our wedding cake was to be presented on a wooden slice. Hubby's godmother gave us 3 slices from trees in her "backyard" where we got married. Unfortunately, in the action, we totally forgot to use it! icon

Since then, I am planning a project to use those slices!

My husband had an old yellowish coffee table and I hated it! I decided to transform it into something beautiful... Well, at least that's what I think!
First things first, I disassembled everything and sand every pieces. I was positively surprised by the quality of the wood. Under the old varnish, the wood was perfect!
I replaced the thin planks on the botton shelf with larger ones (scrap wood from an old bed). I stained all the pieces with Minwax black stain gel and waxed them with Minwax Special dark Paste finishing wax. I then reassembled everytning,
I used 2x2 as moulding to create a box where I could display the wooden slices. The edge of the original table being round, I had a big gap to fill with plastic wood.
I used oak veneer to cover up the new edges of my table. I used pre-glued CEDAN veneer wich is thick and really easy to install with an iron.
In order to create a nice 45 degrees angle, I simply glued one veneer on top of the other and, with a metallic ruler and a knife, I cutted both ply at once. With the iron, I reheated the glue to remove the exceeding parts.
Before staining, I made sur the veneer was holding up everywhere and corrected what wasn't good.
Time for the fun part! After cutting the slices with a saw bench, I placed some little pieces of wood to leveled up the slices with Gorilla wood glue.
While the glue was drying, I spray painted some river rocks (not all of them). I didn't planned on using rocks, but hubby really insisted! I used Rustoleum metallic spray paint. There is no colour name on the can, but it is like a very old and dark bronze. I also used it on the decorative hardware and screws.
I mixed and pour concrete. TIPS : I found it easier to add powder to water than the opposite. Wear a mask!! I didn't wear one for my first batch and I feel like my nose is full of concrete! Keep a hammer or a sledgehammer closeby. As soon as you pour the concrete, strikes underneath with the sledgehammer to level the concrete. I put river rocks around the slices of wood ... A little at a time, until I was satisfied with the result.
I let it rest for 24 hours. I cleaned everything, added masking tape and poured epoxy. Also used a sledgehammer to level epoxy! I have try several brands of epoxy... The one I truly prefer is Varathan Bar and table finish.
Only one last step before I am done. I am already SoOOOooo excited by the almost final look!
And now... The final result! I am so happy with my new table!
Our wedding, inspired by nature, as my table
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  • Brittney Brittney on Jun 01, 2019

    How heavy is this coffee table now?? I'm in love with the results but with 3 long hair dogs I'm constantly moving furniture to clean fur up.

  • Lorri Poiroux Lorri Poiroux on Jun 02, 2019

    Is the epoxy over the wood slabs too? Is It all level?

  • Cathy Landslide Cathy Landslide on Jun 02, 2019

    $80? The epoxy is $69.49 - this table looks more like $200 in materials?

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