Small Rustic Table Project
I just finished a small side project. I had a cedar round that kept speaking to me ‘make a small table’. I finally got around to it. A slice of cedar log sanded flat and finished with spar varnish.
The slice is from a western red cedar trunk turned to make a utility pole. This is an offcut from the base. Because it was turned down from the original tree trunk I don’t know how much wood was removed. There is a scar that occurred sometime in the past. The tree rings wrap around the edge of the scar and with those I count 105 years old. The scar happened at about 80 years of age.
I found a piece of driftwood on the lakeshore and cut it into three legs. I added tenons and some dowel holes to affix them to my tabletop.
The driftwood was very dense old growth Douglas Fir. It was very hard to saw. I sanded them lightly and finished them with spar varnish as well.
I drilled the mortises and dowel holes into the tabletop. I also added a butterfly inlay to strengthen the crack from the wood drying.
In the table surface I inlaid the crack with a wedge of cedar. I also inlaid some of the small cracks. I left the scar in the tree with its bark intact. Here I also inlaid the crack in the scar with cedar.
Finally the finished result.
