Merbau coffee table

[toughgamer]

Merbau coffee table with vintage legs and brass rods to add extra detail.

• The project
• Steps
• Tools and materials
• More coffee table inspiration for your home

The project

120cm x 60cm x 43cm Merbau coffee table with brass accent, polished to perfection.

Steps

Step 1

The supporting posts.

I first cut the offcuts of 33mm Merbau into 50mm wide, around 400mm strips - all five of them.

I then ran them through the router to make them oval shaped - for imperfections just sand them flat with a 60grit sanding pad.

I then cut them using a drop saw to 290mm long (so I can have 5mm in both panels to house the brass rods).

Step 2

The panels.

I drilled holes for dowels using a self made jig that works both for the supporting posts as well as the panel itself.

I stacked them together and rounded the corners by cutting a little triangle off with a handsaw, then smooth it out with 60 grit sand paper and a random orbital sander.

Step 3

Assembly.

I predrilled 4mm holes to house the brass rods, aligning them perfectly with the posts.

The posts were aligned 45 degrees to the sides to create a lively presentation.

I first laid the bottom panel down and glued the posts with dowels into the predrilled holes.

I then added glue over the top of the posts, with wife's help I was able to put the top panel on the posts.

Then I added a lot of clamps, wait over night for glues to dry.

Step 4

Finishing.

While waiting for the glue to dry I started applying danish oil on the bottom board and the posts.

Then on the second day I applied Danish oil on the top panel as well, on both sides so the wood won't bow.

I applied a total of three layers of Danish oil, in between I waited for them to dry for 4-6 hours, lightly sand down the surface before applying the next layer.

I waited for the oil to dry for three days (get close to the panel and if you can't smell oil, it's dry).

I then applied three layers of water based varnish, again between each layer I waited and sanded. 

To achieve a mirror finish, I polished the surfaces with turtle wax and a polish pad using my orbital sander.

It came out really nicely and the table top is buttery smooth.

Tools and materials

Materials used in the project:

• 2 pieces of 1200mm x 600mm x 18mm Merbau panel 
• 6 pieces of 300mm long, 4mm diameter brass rod
• 1200 x 300mm x 33mm Merbau panel
• Dowels
• Wood glue
• Danish oil
• Clear water based varnish
• 5 tapered furniture legs (100mm tall)
• Wood polish.

Tools used in the project:

• Lots of clamps
• Drop saw
• Track saw and tracks
• Drill
• Hand saw
• Dowel jig
• Sander
• Foam brushes
• Polish pads
• Trim router 
• Curved router bits.

More coffee table inspiration for your home

Bunnings Workshop community member RJ's place completed this upcycled coffee table and TV unit project.

Community member DanaR shared her upcycled coffee table project.

Get more inspiration from 8 ways to make a coffee table by clever and creative Bunnings Workshop community members.