Dear imgur, I made a thing!

2nd coffee table I've made (I'll post the first if you guys like this). My dad made the mistake of telling me he's always wanted walnut furniture, SO GUESS WHAT DAD? (Don't tell him, he's coming out in June and this is a surprise).
Anyway, first time working with walnut AND epoxy, strongly recommend walnut for your first hardwood project.

First, you go buy some rough 8/4 slabs that are way more expensive than you'd think they'd be (fully kiln dried, so it's worth it). This aint your home depot twisty boi 2x4s.

Then you gently coax them into becoming flat by violently assaulting the surface with spinning knives

Normally you can use wood shavings for all sorts of things, but black walnut is mostly just good for killing plants and making people itchy. It contains juglone which is an herbicide and an irritant (I broken out in rashes for the first week, had to take antihistamines, it was crazy).
Also WEAR A RESPIRATOR. Especially when sanding, but especially when using finer grits.
Fine hardwood dust WILL cause mesothelioma with sufficient exposure.

Doing the first epoxy pour on the table top! Using tuck tape wrapped plywood and silicone to prevent leaks. Also, surprising how much epoxy SHRINKS when it sets!

Glued the two table top boards together, radiused (it IS a word, damnit) the edges, sanded the surface.

This is my 4th time doing this joint in projects. Made some new jigs, got a digital angle gauge, and you can still see a little gap in there but this is the most accurate I've made this joint by a pretty wide margin!
Also, I make the joint separate to the leg because it's WAY easier to make a new joint extension than it is to make a whole new leg.

ALWAYS wear safety glasses when working with power tools. This cannot be over stressed. You only get two, and it doesn't take much to lose one.

Trial fit of the joint for the legs, but I also use this time to put the radius edge in the corners of the joint since I can't fit the router in there once the legs are on it, and I can't glue the legs onto the joint extensions properly after they're glued together.

So I may have forgotten to take a few pictures, but these are the legs in question.
Leg board had a big old knot whole in it, so of course it gets filled with epoxy for reinforcement of both the structure and the aesthetics!

After the last coffee table, I decided it would be best if I had a custom clamping jig to hold the joint together while gluing. Works so much better than the mess of clamps I was using before.
(tuck taped the base so it doesn't get glued to the joint itself)

CLEARCOAT! ALMOST DONE!!!
Using Osmo polyx 3034 clear satin. First time working with big boy clearcoats (I usually use water based polyurethane)

ALWAYS wear a respirator when using dangerous chemicals.
And make sure you have the CORRECT FILTERS!!
These are organic chemical filters, made specifically for these kinds of volatiles.
Rule of thumb is; If you can still smell the chemical, then you have the wrong filters.

LOVE how this turned out. Shame it's on the inside of the leg so most people won't notice it.

Fully clear coated legs!
Always read the application instructions for your chemicals.
Put that rag in a bag if you plan to reuse it for the next coat.
Many oils (linseed oil in particular) have exothermic reactions with oxygen and rags can spontaneously combust.

Finished table top prior to clearcoat

SO RICH.

I'm surprised that slab coffee tables generally have such simple and boring legs.
The legs are just as much as a creative outlet as the table top itself.

It's not a chainsaw wound, it's a decorative feature!

This is actually how much that epoxy shrank after setting. Was considering planing to surface, but it actually looks like a really cool water feature, so I left it.
There is a gouge there on the left, should have planed the board down more anyway, but I didn't catch it until it was too late.

And there it is! Also all 4 legs touch the floor, because I'm a machinist, not a framer, we actually know how to use the little lines on tape measures =p

Dog tax!

DOUBLE dog tax! (Because I live in socialist country)