Easily the longest build I have ever tackled, the Breaking Bad Coffee Table build. Inspired by a coffee table I saw during the TV series (5 seasons). I needed to re-watch all the episodes (62) AND take picture off the TV, in order to get the grasp of exactly how this table looked.
THEN ... from those pictures, try to reconstruct size, with dimensions and details of the build.
After the first few episodes I decided it would be best to build a model of what I had seen so far ...
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Turns out, that model, though only partially correct, was a great help in showing me what I had correct and what needed more work.
After making the model I knew I needed to watch many more episodes to get a better ideas of what the table actually looked like.
Here is a sampling of the pictures I was working with:
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Finally I had enough info to get started. I wanted to use the "State Wood of New Mexico" which happens to be Pine, but not a variety available to me so I had substitute for another variety. The wood was a bit "wet" when I bought so needed a few weeks in the shop to dry more to get to the equilibrium moisture content (this is where the wood neither shrinks nor expands based on ambient temperature + humidity).
As the wood dried, over a few weeks, wood issues started to emerge. Knots in the wood appeared to be loosening and a couple of cracks appeared in the ends of a couple of pieces of the bare wood (I don't think I missed them when purchasing the wood, but regardless, there they were).
The final dimensions I settled on were
Top 21-1/2" x 40" x 7/8"
Legs 2-1/2" square x 16" plus the 4 inch high 5.6 degree angle
Apron 33-1/2" x 3/4" & 15" x 3/4"
Apron inserts and side "steps: 5/8" x 3/4"
After cutting and gluing up the top I decided to tackle some of the knots to keep them from falling out later on, and no conforming to the top finish. I did this with CA glue, and my long time go to manufacturer Starbond. Filling knots and cracks takes a bit of time but works wonders. After making sure the CA glue will not leak out the bottom, by sealing it with tape, I carefully insert small amounts of CA glue, the spritz with accelerator ... repeat ... until knot or crack is just slightly filled above the surface of the wood. Then with a super fine sanding paper and a HARD flat block carefully sand flush with the top.
Below is a picture of the top of the table so you can see the number of knots and parts of knots that needed attention. This process took about 2 hours to firm up and fill holes in knots.
For quick reference, if you are not familiar with CA glues or 2 part epoxy glues, are what I used for this build, along with a small amount of yellow carpenters glue for the final assembly. The 2 part epoxy worked perfect for creating aprons and aligning the pieces one at a time.
Below is where I am just getting ready to start assembling the pieces for the aprons
After creating the aprons, I moved on to the legs. Pretty easy, 2-1/2" square and 16" high, but they also wanted to be angled at the bottom. With all the pictures I had, there was still some question whether the legs were only angled on the inside or on all sides. I made the executive decision to angle on all sides, which was a good choice as it gave more "life" to the table.
In cutting the angles, my normal angle jig for the table saw was too high so I had make a temporary jig on a thinner piece of plywood in order to cut through the thickness of the legs. For this I again went back to the Medium Starbond CA Glue and put three drops along the angle of the plywood, then Spritz the leg and connect the 2 pieces and instantly I have quick solid table saw jig as shown below.
After us, with a hammer and one good quick "whack" the temporary pieces come right off.
Below is a picture of the finished table. I want to point out one change I made in my version and that is the bottom of the aprons on all 4 corners. If you go back and look the pictures I took, you will see that where my table has "steps" the original table has a rounded piece there.
I woodworking monthly lunch group of mine helped confirm, when I showed them my model, that having a "curved" piece under the apron "didn't really fit" they agreed that in keeping with style of the table, a hard stepped approach would look much better, and so that is what I went with.
Below is the stepped lower apron.
This was easily my longest and maybe my most complicated build but was a lot of fun to do, maybe other woodworkers will create their own versions of the Breaking Bad Coffee Table .. I would love to see them.
Colin Knecht
woodworkweb
