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> Making a coffee table out of a solid slab of walnut, for example, will last a lifetime compared to the cheap MDF table at IKEA.

It probably costs roughly the same as those cheap tables in terms of materials costs and time/labor/skill. I doubt many if any people are doing it if they hate woodworking; meaning the cost/quality does not justify it.

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A hardwood table does not cost remotely the same in terms of materials or labor as a cheap table that you can buy at the likes of IKEA and crowd. Hardwood, especially nice hardwood, costs FAR more than MDF. For example, a slab of black walnut sized for a coffee table can be hundreds or thousands of dollars and must be custom sourced from specialty locations or local individuals whereas a 4x8' sheet of MDF can bought at any lumber yard for under $100. And that's not even getting into the difficulty of working with rough cut wood as opposed to S4S wood that you buy at a lumber yard.

Sorry, I meant over a lifetime of ownership+replacement. You'd have to replace the IKEA table more often but it's a lot cheaper. Also, I don't deny that a hardwood table may even cost more over a lifetime, hence why very few people have/buy/make them now given the overall cost/value proposition

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