How to make oak burl slab tables cheap?

[schmauster]

Hi guys, im going to post this in the wood working area too, not too sure where to put this post.


I cut a big slab off a burled oak that ive been turning into firewood, the family is artsy and crafty so they saw the instant potential. We have made tables with resin before but it was from already finished tables.

The question is... What has to be done to an oak burl slab to be ready to seal? Worried about cleaning up the chainsaw texture and the drying process. The tree had rotted in areas and fell over, the wood is wet and splitting in exposed areas. I think its a black oak.

As i know the process I will be cutting slabs off, using an electric planer and then a sanding belt in progressively lighter stages and finishing up with hand sanding. I dont mind buying the electric hand planer and a belt sander but what else am I missing?


Thank you

 

[Brian72]

That's a nice piece! Hopefully @SeMoTony sees this. He seems very knowledgeable about this type of milling. I'm very new to milling myself and I've only milled lengthwise so far. The milling forums are a good source of information also.

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[SeMoTony]

Hi guys, im going to post this in the wood working area too, not too sure where to put this post.


I cut a big slab off a burled oak that ive been turning into firewood, the family is artsy and crafty so they saw the instant potential. We have made tables with resin before but it was from already finished tables.

The question is... What has to be done to an oak burl slab to be ready to seal? Worried about cleaning up the chainsaw texture and the drying process. The tree had rotted in areas and fell over, the wood is wet and splitting in exposed areas. I think its a black oak.

As i know the process I will be cutting slabs off, using an electric planer and then a sanding belt in progressively lighter stages and finishing up with hand sanding. I dont mind buying the electric hand planer and a belt sander but what else am I missing?


Thank you

View attachment 611962

That an electric hand plane will be a good help. IME it will not work as well as I thought. Better is a router planing setup which is found by using search on this site. Replacing the sap can be done a number of ways to minimize splitting. One of the means I have not tried is submersion in water that is supposed to wash the sap out and soften the wood so that when it dries the shrinkage won't cause the usual splitting. I have not been satisfied with any of what my exper ence has been. Stay safe & enjoy

 

[Brian72]

Thanks for the reply Tony.

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[Ted Jenkins]

My stupid neighbor solved this problem a few years ago and it worked quite well. He has a pretty nice table in his kitchen as a result. He cut some interesting Oak trees about 50'' in dia. When he got a couple of slabs at home he noticed how they were concave so he weighted them down and drug them behind his pickup for about 5 miles. HA HA Step one is to dry your slabs out and this can be tricky. I have always wrapped them in a damp blanket and monitored them so they dry slowly. Then set up a router sled larger then you slab and plane it to your specs. You can set up a sled for a hand planer, but the router is easier Then belt sand it to perfection. Hand sanding is not a good idea. Start with heavy grit ending with some thing about #200. Then seal it with what you think is the best. Thanks

 

[macstrange]

Using a power planer on end grain will tear up the planer. I've tried a couple different models with little success. Power planers are just not designed for that kind of abuse for extended periods of time. Poor tool design, really. A router sled with a spoilboard cutter works best. You can find the cutter at Amana tool. Router should be at least 2 hp. As far as the wood, keep it out of the sun and let it dry. If it cracks, it cracks. You can fill cracks with resin and add colorant or decorative fill to add character. Look at copper powder or turquois etc.

 

[Ax-man]

Good luck with that piece of wood, it will be challenging will probably split as it dries , the slower it dries the better , if it splits bad check out making those butterfly inlays to add character and keep the splits from splitting any further.

I am going to go against the grain of the thread about using a router sled for just doing just one slab. They are a pain to get setup, it is slow tedious work trying to get a good finish and the work piece will still need more finishing work. This has just been my experience trying to do the same thing the OP is trying to do. If your doing multiple slabs and have a nice engineered set-up for the router then I can see it would work but for a novice to do just one slab it isn't worth the effort .

Get a 3 foot level, not only will the bubble tell you the piece is level but it will also show you where the high and low spots are when you look under the level where you see light showing through. Just make sure your work station is also level . You don't have to plane or belt sand the work piece all at once, start by knocking down the high spots first , circle or color that area with a magic marker , then plane or belt sand that area first till the magic marker marks are gone , just keep doing that till the piece is truly level. Then finish it as desired. Do both sides also a little at a time till it is level on both sides so that it doesn't throw off the other work that is to follow like the legs.

A good quality power planer should work for just knocking down high spots as long as your not taking a big a bite it will be a little faster than a belt sander. I wouldn't try planning that whole slab with it though . A hefty belt sander with a course grit belt will do a lot of work quick as long as the wood isn't wet clogging up the belt . After the slab is flat and level just keep working down to the finer grits and checking it with the level as you go. This is the route I would go if it were my project because these are the tools that have worked out the best for me . But like all discussions on this site there are many different opinions with no real definitive answer . Just have to work with what is best for you and what you have to work with is all.

Good luck on your project.

 

[schmauster]

Sounds like solid advice. Ill give the belt sander a try... trying to make a few of these but it depends on how well it sells vs the work. Just testing the waters since I have occasional (black?) oak burls.

 

[Brian72]

I've also had good results with hand planes. I'm a novice and this type of work is just a hobby for me but used hand tools can be gotten fairly cheap. Not to mention less mess, much quieter and they work really well.

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[Ax-man]

Good luck trying to sell slab tables. Yes there is a market out there but buyers with money are scarce. I haven't found that market . I have tried but considering the time and effort it takes to make a piece of wood look sharp, attractive and unique just isn't worth it.

Most people don't have room for a big table or it doesn't go with the décor of the house unless they are into that rustic , log home type of furniture.

 

[schmauster]

Good to keep in mind... I live around hippies with lots of rustic stuff but ill see what happens.


Great info about the coloring and other things. Ill be referring back to this when it comes time.