FROM CEDAR STUMP TO COFFEE TABLE

What you see here is the after shot of a lot of work.

Below tells the before story.

 

A while back a friend ask me if I wanted a cedar stump.

Of course I said yes. I immediately thought I might make a table out of it

to go on my back porch.

It turned out to be quite a big stump

plus it had a lot of rot throughout the middle

from top to bottom.

But I persisted on my quest to conquer this for a table.

I had a vision.

Here's the top. First it had to be leveled off.

Here's a look at the bottom.

A very pretty shape.

The next step was to start chiseling out all the rot.

From top to bottom.

It was amazing how much came out of this stump.

This took days and days of work, plus spraying for little bugs

that had made their home in this delicious wood.

After getting all the rot out, the stump rode on my golf cart for a couple

of weeks riding in and out of the sun.

This helped with the drying process.

Here's a close look at the inside.

After it was cleaned out it had to be cut to the correct height that I wanted.

I had my son in law do this and he did a great job of cutting

a very level surface.

Here it is cut to size.

The bark has also been removed and the outside sanded a lot.

And I mean a lot. It had to be silky smooth.

A couple of times during all this process

I would enclosed it in plastic and set off a bug bomb inside.

Trying to make sure anything that was living was now gone.

I wanted to make sure the bottom was enclosed as the top would be.

So I cut a thin piece of plywood to cover the outline of the opening.

I also polyurethaned the inside to seal it.

The outside of the stump has about three coats of poly in a gloss finish.

I cut a small circle to cover the top of the stump.

This will also give the final top piece something to be screw into.

It was secured on the top of the stump with screws.

The finished top was then secured underneath attaching it to the small top.

I made the top out of an old 36" round table top.

I cut it down to 30", sanded the fire out of it,

then put 2 coats of a dark stain on it.

Then three coats of poly in a gloss finish.

I wanted the edges to have a rustic finish so I chiseled around the edges.

Then sanded it to make it a smoother edge.

Here's a closer look.

The finished product.

As you can see it did not end up on my back porch.

Here's a close up of the bottom.

It reminds me of animal hoofs.

Here it is being enjoyed in our great room.

It took a lot of work, but it turned out just as I had planned.

I think it's quite a unique piece of furniture with a great story.

Commit your activities to the Lord

and your plans will be achieved.

Proverbs 16:3