modern live edge "Lake" coffee table

modern builds: s.02 Ep.27

There are a lot of live edge epoxy and resin tables. Often times, tables will be made with two live edge slabs facing inward to create a 'river' of swirled epoxy. It's a cool look, but I wanted to do something more unique and original. If you've seen my other projects, you'd know that I like modern, stark white projects. and to contrast the over the top Ecopoxy style resin tables, I kept this one simple.

Olive-wood slabs have great character, both is shape and color. A lot of hardwood trees grow in a symmetrical, circular shape. Olive-wood, on the other hand has a very unique shape when sliced. Cedar has a similar, unique clover shape. The second characteristic that made me want to use olive wood slabs, as mentioned earlier, is the color and texture. It has a warm, medium-brown tone and a low contrast grain. Even though, it does have a lot of character. It doesn't have too much contrast.

I used Smooth-on 310 white casting resin to fill the voids of my table top. It's traditionally used as a casting resin for silicone molds. I'd never seen anyone use it in this application, but after calling Smooth-on's customer service, they reassured me that it should work. It did. I was a little worried when I read that it cures in about a half hour... When epoxy cures it goes through an exothermic reaction, which creates a considerable amount of heat. Thankfully, it didn't damage the wood at all. It's not cheap so make sure to calculate the volume of the void you want to fill using a calculator.

Materials and supplies

3/4" Melamine for from

2.5" Olive-Wood Slabs (rounds)

3/16" Hot Rolled Plate Steel

Smooth-On 310: https://goo.gl/U7N14E

Maker Brand Oil Finish: Coming Soon!!

Black Silicone Caulk: https://amzn.to/2vHhJTN

Bondo: https://amzn.to/2AZwAOd

White Paint: https://amzn.to/2nwes4R

Welder: https://amzn.to/2B36jPg

Cutting Disks: https://amzn.to/2OqoLTC

Angle Grinder: https://amzn.to/2vA790J

Hot Glue Gun: https://amzn.to/2nssjJJ

Bulk Hot Glue: https://amzn.to/2vC5tUl

Circular Saw - https://amzn.to/2IFTOYf

Drill / Impact Driver - https://amzn.to/2tHFZE1

Cut List:

Table Top Size:

Plate Steel:

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If you have any questions or find any issues with the article, feel free to get in touch.

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