The former American football offensive guard and furniture maker John Malecki recently shared a tutorial video to create a DIY live edge river table. Made from a huge walnut wood slab, this custom-built table has an embedded glass section alongside the live edges, which appear like a decently flowing river on the tabletop. The innovative metal base in golden color adds more elegance to the river table. He has explained the entire process, including required woodworking tools and materials, so that anyone can try to make one at home.
The DIY process starts from cutting a large walnut wood slab into two halves without damaging the live edges. Next task is to flatten the wooden slabs, for which you can create a custom router-sled jig. The leftover sections can be flattened using a hand planer. Next draw an outline for glass inserts on both wood slabs and trace it out on a large sheet of paper. Further, replicate the outline on a lauan so that it can be taken to a glass company for cutting perfect glass inserts.
Also Read: 20+ Best River Tables to Buy
Now it’s the time for complete sanding of wood slabs except live edges that are cleaned manually using hands or a brush sander. John used Rubio monocoat for finishing his live edge river table. However, you can go for any hardwood finishes. Table bases are of various types, so there’s full freedom to make the one you want.
Making live edge furniture isn’t easy as you’ll need different kinds of professional tools and woodworking experience. A small mistake can ruin the entire project, as well as waste your valuable time and money.
