I was originally asked by a friend to design and build them an outdoor table - but after doing an initial version of a design with a slatted top to let the rain through, they changed their mind, and were now wanting a coffee table built instead. Wanted to carry over some part of the initial design , so we were quickly on our way to building a slatted coffee table!
Figured a full tabletop made of slats wouldn't be ideal for daily use, so we went with just the middle third made of slats, keeping the remaining two-thirds solid timber. This introduced a few tricky decisions about the grain direction... essentially, the top had to have the grain running on the short edge (which is different from most tabletops), otherwise, the slats would've been too fragile. I'm really happy with how it turned out... and was a challenging but fun process.
Built out of messmate (Eucalyptus obliqua) hardwood, and finished with hardwax oil. Joined most of it with dominoes, but you could just as easily swap these out for dowels or other types of joinery (mostly mortise & tenon).
Also thought I'd try out a video without backing music through the whole thing - let me know in the comments if you prefer this, or if I should return to the old format I've been uploading in the past.
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https://instagram.com/kastnerfurniture
Shot on Black Magic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K
Music via Artlist: https://artlist.io/Chris-376678
0:00 Intro
0:33 Tabletop
4:22 Rails for the slats
6:44 Base
9:30 Base finish & assembly
12:06 Finishing
15:24 Final piece