White Oak Coffee Table

This project started as a Valentine’s Day gift in 2023.

It’s still not finished.

The table began as a straightforward white oak coffee table, but over time turned into a long-running exploration of proportion, leg geometry, and finish. We’ve gone through three different leg designs and tested a small army of Rubio Monocoat colors (along with a few other finishes) trying to find the right balance.

The top is built from 8/4 white oak sourced from Austin Hardwoods in Denver. Boards were milled, glued into panels, and later cut to final size. A large-radius circle jig was used at the router to establish the round top profile before final surfacing.

Leg shapes were designed digitally, cut using a Shaper Origin, and refined at the router table using Bits & Bits cutters. Each iteration has pushed the form a little closer to what it wants to be, even if the destination is still unclear.

This one lives permanently in-progress.

Maybe that’s part of the point.