Cherry cookie

[BigOakAdot]

I just got a really nice cherry cookie flattened on my router sled. It took way longer than anticipated because it had warped so severely.

I'm kicking myself for not just re sawing it now that it's fairly dry. After getting the top completely flat it left some parts of the cookie thicker due to the warping on the underside.

If you were to resaw the bottom to give it and even thickness would you use regular cross cutting chain? Would ripping chain leave a smoother surface? I'm not too concerned with the bottom because the coffe table will sit low. Just want it finished already!!

Thanks!

BOA

 

[Quietfly]

If it's going to be a coffee table, don't re cut it, mount the legs to wooden inserts you inset into the bottom, and level it by trimming the inserts.

 

[Quietfly]

Here's a pic of a cherry cookie im making into a serving tray.

 

[buzz sawyer]

How long has it dried? I've had cherry slabs stored for 25 years that still cracked more after I finished them. Are you sure the last photo is cherry? I've never seen rays like that in cherry. Looks nice but looks more like white oak.

 

[BigOakAdot]

Quietfly I would normally do that but the thickness varies a whole lot. Anywhere from 2" to 3" because it was free handed and cupped big time. I'm going to resaw the bottom so that it has a consistent thickness.

And yes I expect it to crack more than it has. I'm hoping an oil finish will help it from continuing to crack worse. Shouldn't end grain dry faster than slabs? Seems to me since wood dries out of the end grain that a cookie would dry way faster. These were cut over two years ago.

And yes that doesn't look like cherry to me either. Did you put a stain on that cookie quitefly?

Andrew

 

[Gixxerjoe04]

Gonna guess quitefly's cookie is oak with that cherry watco oil on it that's in the background.

Quietfly I would normally do that but the thickness varies a whole lot. Anywhere from 2" to 3" because it was free handed and cupped big time. I'm going to resaw the bottom so that it has a consistent thickness.

And yes I expect it to crack more than it has. I'm hoping an oil finish will help it from continuing to crack worse. Shouldn't end grain dry faster than slabs? Seems to me since wood dries out of the end grain that a cookie would dry way faster. These were cut over two years ago.

Andrew

I would think it's dry quicker if it weren't sealed since that's where moisture escapes the quickest which causes the cracks. Just curious, why aren't you just flipping the slab over and flattening the bottom to make it a consistant thickness with your router sled?

 

[BigOakAdot]

Because I could only do a half inch at a time and I'm beating the piss out of
My router. I had to do multiple passes and it took me pretty long and a lot of mess. Like I said it was free handed and the warping caused some serious high and low spots. Not to mention bits aren't too cheap either.

 

[Quietfly]

It's definitely cherry with cherry watco. I have the rest of the log sitting here. This is a another picture of it, and the log is came from.

 

[rarefish383]

Sorry but it looks like a Red Oak to me, Joe.

 

[rarefish383]

https://www.extension.iastate.edu/forestry/tri_state/tristate_2015/Talks/PDFs/hayektree ID.pdf

 

[Gixxerjoe04]

Red oak end grain courtesy wood-database.com

Cherry end grain

 

[Quietfly]

I stand corrected. Sorry about that.

 

[buzz sawyer]

Based on the bark, I can see how it would be confused with Cherry. Then I found a reference to Cherry Bark Oak, a variety of Southern Red Oak/Spanish Oak/Swamp Red Oak. It has Cherry-like bark. Maybe that's what this is?

 

[buzz sawyer]

Red oak end grain courtesy wood-database.com
Cherry end grain

btw, Gixxerjoe04, nice link! http://www.wood-database.com/

 

[BigOakAdot]

Yeah it sure does look like an ornamental cherry. I could see getting the two confused. That's where the smell test should come into play.

 

[BigOakAdot]

Alright so I finally got the cherry cookie flattened on both sides. It's approximately 43" long 27" wide and 2" thick.

I finished it with one coat of pure tung oil so far. I read on some wood forums that guys start with 75 poly to 25 tung for first coat. They work there way down until the final coat is pure tung oil.

Does anyone think I should try a poly blend even though I did pure tung for the first coat? Not sure what the protocol is given I already did pure tung.

Unfortunately the one ring is pretty punky because the tree had some ant issues and that's why it was taken down. It is what it is though.
Thanks guys.

 

[buzz sawyer]

Looks great! Where did you get the steel legs?
I've used super glue to harden up punky wood, especially with spalted wood on the lathe. You don't see any color difference once the finish is applied. Just be careful, because of the moisture in the wood, you can get some nasty fumes. I also use it to fill cracks - fill the crack with sawdust from the piece, then flow some superglue into the crack and sprinkle a little sawdust on top, let it harden, then sand down remove any around the crack.

 

[Quietfly]

Looks fantastic!!!! Great job.

 

[rarefish383]

I like it. I like the cracks, ant holes, decayed areas. I've heard that the Super Glue works super. My neighbor asked if they could buy one of my Redwood planks to make a bench between two trees, I may have a pic of that later, Joe.

 

[BigOakAdot]

Yeah I have used epoxy on past projects with great results. I wanted to see how this looked natural without using epoxy and honestly I just wanted to be able to have a decent coffee table in a timely manny.

One thing I noticed about the soft spot is it sands down insanely fast and is slightly recessed even though I barely sanded it. If I used epoxy I would really need to sand that spot and I get nervous I would open up a can of worms.