Cutting top joinery

The frame members are each 7" wide and under. They have to support nearly 100 lbs of glass so the joinery must be bullet proof. I cut a 1/2 floating tenon into each mahogany piece and a 1/8" floating tenon into the maple pieces, mostly for alignment, but also to keep the angled glue-up form flexing its way apart over time.

Now they are ready to be glued up.

 Again a two person task.

Just a size comparison on the frame. Imagine the glass.

 Now the edge profile can be routed. Held off on this so I had more surface area for the ratchet straps to hold. Also to keep from damaging the profile.

Ready for finishing.

 Finally.

Detail of the dovetail key. 

An approximation:

Top frame assembley

As usual in this project little begets big and now it is time to tackle the top of the coffee table. I begin by assembling the individual frame components.

 The live edge is fitted to the mahogany with custom cut floating tennons, this is mainly for alignment during glue up.

Gluing up a maple and mahogany bit, that step in the maple is for the glass top to fit into. 

 Tape holds in a small accent strip of Macassar Ebony.

all trimmed up.

still not done. 

 The large open gap in this live edge gets an oversized butterfly key. It hides the edge of the glass, reinforces the frame piece and also serves as the "key" to judge top alignment. This key will correspond with a brass dot on the case side so the top goes on with the right orientation every time.

Bored and half cut. It breaks the ebony accent just slightly. 

 All the angles must then be cut for the frame members. Careful measurement when cutting out the maple pieces allows all the 8 sides to meet within 1/4" of each other allowing for a continuous live edge with minimal carving after glue up.

All pieces are dry fitted. 

Joinery awaits.