Recently, received (2) 40 inch wooden rounds (perp. cuts thru a tree
trunk). I would like to work these into table tops, but I am not a
wood craftsman. As a result, I'm turning to the group for guidance and
advice.

The Story is that some 30 years ago, a 165 year old tree was killed by
a steampipe break. As the men started to cut down this mighty white
oak, my father had them cut him some 4 inch thick slabs. Once safely
in our garage, he periordically poured ethylene glycol over the slabs -
I can still remember the smell and sight of this process as a kid.
Still in the first year or two, some checking began. So he put some
epoxy into the emerging cracks, which I am sure helped arrest the
process. In the last 20 years, the pieces have completely dried in the
arid West. Today, the slabs have some surprisingly minor cracks, but
none that threaten the stability.

My questions/concerns:

1) How can I end up with a nice table-flat surface?

At the moment, the surfaces are chainsaw-rough. I am planning to use
my belt sander to get to ultimate smoothness, but am worried that it
may result in a "wavy" surface.

2) Suggestions on any cracks/voids - fill with... or leave'm alone?
My father mentions something about using the sawdust for fill...

Thanks in advance,
Stumper

On 2 Jul 2005 18:46:30 -0700, "Stumper"
wrote:

Recently, received (2) 40 inch wooden rounds (perp. cuts thru a tree
trunk). I would like to work these into table tops, but I am not a
wood craftsman. As a result, I'm turning to the group for guidance and
advice.

The Story is that some 30 years ago, a 165 year old tree was killed by
a steampipe break. As the men started to cut down this mighty white
oak, my father had them cut him some 4 inch thick slabs. Once safely
in our garage, he periordically poured ethylene glycol over the slabs -
I can still remember the smell and sight of this process as a kid.
Still in the first year or two, some checking began. So he put some
epoxy into the emerging cracks, which I am sure helped arrest the
process. In the last 20 years, the pieces have completely dried in the
arid West. Today, the slabs have some surprisingly minor cracks, but
none that threaten the stability.

My questions/concerns:

1) How can I end up with a nice table-flat surface?

At the moment, the surfaces are chainsaw-rough. I am planning to use
my belt sander to get to ultimate smoothness, but am worried that it
may result in a "wavy" surface.

2) Suggestions on any cracks/voids - fill with... or leave'm alone?
My father mentions something about using the sawdust for fill...

Thanks in advance,
Stumper



get a router with some balls. one of the 10amp+ models should do the
trick. make a base for it that positions the bit at the center of an
8' sled. set the slab up with some nice straight 2x6 rails on a sturdy
base and plane off the high points until you get a flat face. flip and
repeat, then sand for finish.

Stumper (in )
said:

| 1) How can I end up with a nice table-flat surface?
|
| At the moment, the surfaces are chainsaw-rough. I am planning to
| use my belt sander to get to ultimate smoothness, but am worried
| that it may result in a "wavy" surface.

You could use a router to cut the surfaces flat, parallel, and smooth.

| 2) Suggestions on any cracks/voids - fill with... or leave'm alone?
| My father mentions something about using the sawdust for fill...

Sand the surfaces twice. Use the dust from the first sanding to make a
filler to be smoothed by the second sanding. The pieces might even be
more interesting if you accentuate the cracks rather than trying to
hide 'em. How you go about this will probably be governed by intended
use and desired finish...

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/solar.html

Stumper wrote:
snip of wood acquisition
My questions/concerns:
1) How can I end up with a nice table-flat surface?
At the moment, the surfaces are chainsaw-rough. I am planning to use
my belt sander to get to ultimate smoothness, but am worried that it
may result in a "wavy" surface.
2) Suggestions on any cracks/voids - fill with... or leave'm alone?
My father mentions something about using the sawdust for fill...

Use a large hand plane set for a fairly fine cut from the edges toward
the center to avoid tearout. DON'T sand. Finish with self-leveling
epoxy table finish. That'll take care of the cracks, and give you a
waterproof finish.

Dave in Fairfax
--
reply-to doesn't work
use:
daveldr at att dot net
American Association of Woodturners
http://www.woodturner.org
Capital Area Woodturners
http://www.capwoodturners.org/
PATINA
http://www.patinatools.org

They're talking about sawdust mixed with glue, finish, epoxy, etc.,
which is a legitimate technique for filling cracks and holes. You could
also buy or mix up some black epoxy for the cracks, makes a dramatic
look. If there are any cracks possibly threatening the structure, you
could rout out one of those hourglass shaped holes and fill it
cross-grained with a matching plug.
Routing with a sled running on rails will work great. Belt sander with
coarse grit will too, if you use a straight edge to monitor your work.
Once you get close, you could also take it to a cabinet shop or a mill
and rent their wide belt sander, you should be able to flatten and
smooth it in less than an hour, should cost less than $35.
Have fun, and post a link to pics when you're done!

I flattened something like this for a friend once. Considered a hand plane
but thought getting it done this year would be an advantage. Ended up making
a sled for the router that rode on rails above the chunk of wood. Minor
smoothing with a belt sander to finish up.
"Stumper" wrote in message
oups.com...
Recently, received (2) 40 inch wooden rounds (perp. cuts thru a tree
trunk). I would like to work these into table tops, but I am not a
wood craftsman. As a result, I'm turning to the group for guidance and
advice.

The Story is that some 30 years ago, a 165 year old tree was killed by
a steampipe break. As the men started to cut down this mighty white
oak, my father had them cut him some 4 inch thick slabs. Once safely
in our garage, he periordically poured ethylene glycol over the slabs -
I can still remember the smell and sight of this process as a kid.
Still in the first year or two, some checking began. So he put some
epoxy into the emerging cracks, which I am sure helped arrest the
process. In the last 20 years, the pieces have completely dried in the
arid West. Today, the slabs have some surprisingly minor cracks, but
none that threaten the stability.

My questions/concerns:

1) How can I end up with a nice table-flat surface?

At the moment, the surfaces are chainsaw-rough. I am planning to use
my belt sander to get to ultimate smoothness, but am worried that it
may result in a "wavy" surface.

2) Suggestions on any cracks/voids - fill with... or leave'm alone?
My father mentions something about using the sawdust for fill...

Thanks in advance,
Stumper

"Stumper" writes:

At the moment, the surfaces are chainsaw-rough. I am planning to use
my belt sander to get to ultimate smoothness, but am worried that it
may result in a "wavy" surface.

Try it, and then use a flat ruler, mark the high spots with pencil.
Repeat.

People use a smoothing plane to make a flat surface as well.

--
Sending unsolicited commercial e-mail to this account incurs a fee of
$500 per message, and acknowledges the legality of this contract.

What I've done is get it roughly flat on both sides using a 7" disk
sander with 16 grit paper, then epoxy fiberglass to the bottom face for
stability. Top gets a smoothing finish with the belt sander, trying to
get fairly flat, but I don't try to get it perfect. Light coat of
epoxy on the top, then my girlfriend paints something on the top (one
is a gorgeous deer in the woods scene). A couple coats of Envirotex
epoxy (slow curing, self-leveling) seals the top, fills the cracks, and
adds dramatically to the contrast and depth of the painting. You have
the advantage of a fully dry piece - I usually start the process when
the wood is partially dry- before it starts checking too badly, and
then spend several months on the above process, putting the final coat
of epoxy on after the wood seems to have finished all it's moving and
checking.

Don

I wrote:
Recently, received (2) 40 inch wooden rounds (perp. cuts thru a tree
trunk). I would like to work these into table tops, but I am not a
wood craftsman. As a result, I'm turning to the group for guidance and
advice.

Thanks for the advice above. I think I understand the Router Strategy
- it's essentially using the router as a milling machine with
flycutter. This is probably the right way to achieve a very flat
surface. However, devising a rail system that you can move the router
with and yet remain level and stable seems a complicated setup. I dont
have the stuff for the sled, so its beyond what I can do at this pt.

The Planing strategy is pretty simple, but has several variations.

So here's my plan: go out an buy a power planer (3.25 inch). Figure
that this has a bigger swath than a hand plane, so it may make
achieving a flat surface easier and will be considerably faster than by
hand. Now, I have never used a power planer. Speaking theoretically:
I'll use a very low setting to slowly shave off the top surface of the
slabs. Ruler technique to hit high areas preferentially.

Once the surfaces are pretty flat, I'll use the belt sander and
progressively finer grits to take it down to smoothness. Before it
gets super smooth, I'll eval the cracks/voids and determine the fill
strategy. Either leave alone, fill with sawdust/epoxy mix, or even a
contrasting fill. Then sand any fill used. Take it down to ultimate
smoothness by misting the slab with water to raise the grain and then
hitting it with the finest grit and a finishing sander.

My wife said she likes the feel the grain of the wood, so probably will
not go with the self-leveling epoxy table finish. Rather an oil or wax
finish at the end.

If there are cautionary points to this strategy, pls continue to give
your opinions.

Thanks again, Stumper

The router setup would be my choice and is not at all hard to make. If you
go with the plane, work from outside toward the middle. If you run off the
side, you will likely tear chunks out.

"Stumper" wrote in message
oups.com...

I wrote:
Recently, received (2) 40 inch wooden rounds (perp. cuts thru a tree
trunk). I would like to work these into table tops, but I am not a
wood craftsman. As a result, I'm turning to the group for guidance and
advice.

Thanks for the advice above. I think I understand the Router Strategy
- it's essentially using the router as a milling machine with
flycutter. This is probably the right way to achieve a very flat
surface. However, devising a rail system that you can move the router
with and yet remain level and stable seems a complicated setup. I dont
have the stuff for the sled, so its beyond what I can do at this pt.

The Planing strategy is pretty simple, but has several variations.

So here's my plan: go out an buy a power planer (3.25 inch). Figure
that this has a bigger swath than a hand plane, so it may make
achieving a flat surface easier and will be considerably faster than by
hand. Now, I have never used a power planer. Speaking theoretically:
I'll use a very low setting to slowly shave off the top surface of the
slabs. Ruler technique to hit high areas preferentially.

Once the surfaces are pretty flat, I'll use the belt sander and
progressively finer grits to take it down to smoothness. Before it
gets super smooth, I'll eval the cracks/voids and determine the fill
strategy. Either leave alone, fill with sawdust/epoxy mix, or even a
contrasting fill. Then sand any fill used. Take it down to ultimate
smoothness by misting the slab with water to raise the grain and then
hitting it with the finest grit and a finishing sander.

My wife said she likes the feel the grain of the wood, so probably will
not go with the self-leveling epoxy table finish. Rather an oil or wax
finish at the end.

If there are cautionary points to this strategy, pls continue to give
your opinions.

Thanks again, Stumper

Before you decide that the router sled is too complicated, take a look
at this:

http://www.leestyron.com/sled.php

On 4 Jul 2005 09:15:12 -0700, "Stumper"
wrote:


I wrote:
Recently, received (2) 40 inch wooden rounds (perp. cuts thru a tree
trunk). I would like to work these into table tops, but I am not a
wood craftsman. As a result, I'm turning to the group for guidance and
advice.

Thanks for the advice above. I think I understand the Router Strategy
- it's essentially using the router as a milling machine with
flycutter. This is probably the right way to achieve a very flat
surface. However, devising a rail system that you can move the router
with and yet remain level and stable seems a complicated setup. I dont
have the stuff for the sled, so its beyond what I can do at this pt.

The Planing strategy is pretty simple, but has several variations.

So here's my plan: go out an buy a power planer (3.25 inch). Figure
that this has a bigger swath than a hand plane, so it may make
achieving a flat surface easier and will be considerably faster than by
hand. Now, I have never used a power planer. Speaking theoretically:
I'll use a very low setting to slowly shave off the top surface of the
slabs. Ruler technique to hit high areas preferentially.

that'll work. watch for dirt in the end grain- it'll kill your blades.




Once the surfaces are pretty flat, I'll use the belt sander and
progressively finer grits to take it down to smoothness. Before it
gets super smooth, I'll eval the cracks/voids and determine the fill
strategy. Either leave alone, fill with sawdust/epoxy mix, or even a
contrasting fill. Then sand any fill used. Take it down to ultimate
smoothness by misting the slab with water to raise the grain


not an issue with an end grain cross section slab. end grain won't
raise.



and then
hitting it with the finest grit and a finishing sander.

My wife said she likes the feel the grain of the wood, so probably will
not go with the self-leveling epoxy table finish. Rather an oil or wax
finish at the end.

you might want something more than oil-n-wax for this table. end
grain is pretty open, and the slab is cut the most vulnerable way-
both in terms of moisture being able to penetrate into it and in terms
of the consequences of moisture penetrating. poured on epoxy is an
ugly thing to do to a nice piece of wood, for sure. consider a
tabletop varnish. apply the first coat or six thinned roughly 50/50
with turps to get it to penetrare down into the wood rather than build
up on the surface. depending on species you may need to use a grain
filler as well. once the wood is well protected you can build a bit,
rub it out and wax if you wish.




If there are cautionary points to this strategy, pls continue to give
your opinions.

Thanks again, Stumper