I visited a lumber yard that specializes in live edge slabs and selected this unique silver maple slab. I wanted to challenge myself with flattening the slab, apply dovetail keys, and creating splayed legs for this unique coffee table. The table is 55" long, 26" wide and 18" high

I first flattened the table with a low angle jack plane and measured and cut two dovetail keys at the end and middle of the table to prevent any further cracking. The keys are approximately 1/4" deep and after gluing I flattened them with a low angle block plane. The live edges were gently scraped to remove any remnants of back.

I designed splayed legs in walnut as a contrasting base and used box joints to add strength as well as contrast with the end grain.

The top was sanded to 400 grit and the base was sanded to 320 grit. All parts were then finished first with two coats of boiled linseed oil/mineral spirits letting each coat dry 48 hours. The table was then sanded again with 500 grit on the top and everything received 4 coats of Arm-R-Seal sanding in between each coat. I then applied two coats of Black Bison wax, buffing each coat to a light sheet.