{"id":2459,"date":"2026-10-10T19:00:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T19:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deadgoodwood.co.uk\/?p=2459"},"modified":"2026-10-10T19:12:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T19:12:18","slug":"building-a-rustic-circular-oak-dining-table-with-a-black-steel-base","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deadgoodwood.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/10\/10\/building-a-rustic-circular-oak-dining-table-with-a-black-steel-base\/","title":{"rendered":"Building a Rustic Circular Oak Dining Table with a Black Steel Base"},"content":{"rendered":"
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From Solid Oak Slabs to a Bespoke Dining Table<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Every bespoke woodworking project starts somewhere, and sometimes all a customer needs is a simple idea. For this project, a customer got in touch asking if I could make her a rustic circular oak dining table with a black steel base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Her specifications were straightforward: a 55-inch circular tabletop made from oak, paired with a black steel base. As I work in metric measurements, the first job was converting 55 inches into millimetres, which works out at 1397mm.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

With the dimensions established, it was time to get into the workshop and turn the idea into reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Selecting and Preparing the Oak<\/h2>\n\n\n
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I started with some substantial oak slabs, approximately 70mm thick and measuring around 2,000mm long by 600mm wide. I cut them down to approximately 1,500mm long, leaving myself plenty of material to work with when it came to creating the circular tabletop.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Before I could start joining the timber together, the oak slabs needed to be surfaced flat. Unfortunately, my own CNC machine bed wasn’t quite big enough to handle these slabs, so I took them over to a friend who has a larger machine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He ran each slab through his CNC machine, removing the uneven sections and creating a flat, level surface ready for the next stage of the build. This was an important step in the process, ensuring the slabs would fit together neatly and provide a solid foundation for the finished tabletop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once I got the oak back to my workshop, I could start preparing the individual boards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using my Makita DSP600ZJ track saw https:\/\/www.makitauk.com\/product\/dsp600<\/a>, I cut the slabs into four strips, each approximately 300mm wide. These would form the main sections of the tabletop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To join everything together, I used my Festool Domino DF500 https:\/\/www.festool.co.uk\/products\/domino-jointing-system\/jointing-machines\/578464—df-500-rq-plus-gb-230v<\/a>, cutting slots for four 50mm Dominos along each joint. This helped with alignment and created strong, accurate joints when gluing the tabletop together.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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There was just one small problem: I didn’t quite have enough width to achieve the full 55-inch diameter I was aiming for.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Luckily, I found a suitable oak offcut that would do the job. I put this through my Ooznest CNC machine https:\/\/ooznest.co.uk\/<\/a> to flatten it to the same thickness as the other boards, giving me the extra width I needed.<\/p>\n\n\n

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With all the timber prepared, it was time to glue everything together and create the solid oak tabletop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cutting the Perfect Circle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Once the glue had cured, I had a substantial solid oak panel ready to be transformed into a circular dining table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I used my Makita laminate trimmer https:\/\/www.makita.co.nz\/products\/model\/DRT50Z<\/a> to cut the circular shape. Although it did the job, it took a few more passes than I would have liked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n