Thread: Waterfall live edge table

Suggestions welcome.
I have a red gum slab that is not very wide, which I want to make into a side table to sit beside the couch.

I want to make it a waterfall table with 2 live edges. This means there is no edge to use to align it widthwise - yet any misalignment is going to stick out like a sore thumb.

I am yet to decide if it will have one side and the top (2 parts waterfall) or have a foot, a side and a top (3 parts waterfall).
I have an offcut of clear acrylic I'm thinking is using to partly support the top. (might change my mind/design tho).

I'm obsessing about how to do this waterfall joint without screwing it up.

Pretty much everyone on YouTube uses a Festool Domino. I've got about as much chance of going on a space tourism jaunt as I have of acquiring one of those.
Some guys show how to make your own machine with a trim router - which I'm not ruling out.

What I am thinking is that;
1. first I'll check for flatness. If it is not flat enough to fix with sanding, I don't have a suitable hand plane so I might get stuck there. The only flat surface I have is the table saw anyway so I'm not going for perfection. I'll manage.
2. I'll route a groove lengthwise along the middle, on the inside face with some kind of jig to keep it in a straight line.
3. I'll cut the slab at 45 bevel and then use this groove from step 2 to align the parts back up width wise. I don't have a decent hand plane so I'm not entirely sure how this fitting is going to go but I'll just sand and fluff around until it fits. It is the alignment of the 2 live edges that worries me most. I'm going to rely on this groove.

4. I'll use a router with some kind of jig to cut a slot most of the width on each bevelled part. Then I'll make some floating tenons out of something and glue a series of these floating tenons into the slot. So that I will end up with a hidden spline.
I suppose I should make sure these floating tenons take up the whole slot width?

I'll be relying on this jig to make sure the slots align.

I imagine I might need to hot glue some cauls to help me clamp the joint together for glue up.
I'll slot the clear acrylic into the groove made in step 2 during assembly. Not sure what to use to glue that in with.

So although it's going to be quite business, I have tried to think it all through. I think i just lack confidence because I can see there is plenty of scope for a screw up.

I can think of several ways to make the 45 degree cut.
I have been thinking this part through and I can see I'll need a sacrificial sled to somehow hold it via that groove in step 2. Then use the edge of the sled as a reference for the cross cuts.

I have a cheapy track saw. I originally thought I might use that, but since there is no reference I'm not sure how that would work out.
Or possibly I could even build a huge sled to cut it on the table saw. - not sure about the size and weight for that, but maybe.
I also have a SCMS which is plenty big enough and has a sweet blade. This would be the easiest way to get a nice cut by far, but I worry that might cut ever so slightly off angle. If I could be confident this was going to cut perfectly this would definitely be the easiest so I might see if I can dial that right in.

So anyway, reading this you probably think I have to all figured out but in reality I'm certainly not feeling at all confident about any of it.
I'm hoping you guys can offer some advice.

This small slab didn't cost me much so I'm not sure why I'm overthinking it so obsessively. If I screw it up I could just resaw the timber for something else.

Only plus is I'm in no rush. I'm still working on my current project and also finishing off the last kitchen cabinet. Plus there is the 3 other more urgent things that I've put off. (When I can be bothered to go into the shed at all in this heat.)