A Coffee Table Built for the Lounge — J. London Collab

This one was a blast from start to finish. J. London Cigars reached out about a custom coffee table for one of their lounges, and we were absolutely on board. When you get a commission that lets you combine woodworking, metalwork, and epoxy all in one build — and the client makes great cigars — it's a pretty good day in the shop.

The tabletop is built from locally sourced walnut and oak, both harvested right here in Perkiomenville, PA. There's something satisfying about using wood that came from close to home, especially for a piece that's going to live in a lounge where people will sit with it for years. The walnut has that gorgeous dark, chocolatey grain and the oak stripe running through the center gives the top a real contrast that you can appreciate even through the epoxy.

And about that epoxy — the whole top is encased under a deep clear tabletop pour, with four J. London Luxury Collection cigar box lids set right into the surface. They're not sitting on top, they're in there, sealed under the pour and polished out to a mirror finish. It's part conversation piece, part brand showcase, and it looks incredible in person. The Makita polisher got a real workout bringing this top to gloss.

The frame supporting it all was welded right here in the shop from steel tubing and angle iron, painted gold — which honestly ties the whole piece together better than we anticipated. The walnut legs are finished with spar urethane, giving them that deep, warm look that holds up in a lounge environment. The contrast between the raw, textured steel apron and the polished wood and epoxy top is one of those happy accidents that makes a piece.

This table is now sitting in a J. London lounge. Next time you're in, keep an eye out for it. Pull up a chair, light one up, and enjoy it — that's exactly what it was built for.

Big thanks to J. London for the commission and for sending along a few sticks to smoke while we worked. That's our kind of payment.