black walnut kitchen table project

[Ben Urso]

I picked up 2 slabs of black walnut and I'm planning to make a kitchen table out of 1. not sure what i'll be doing with the second slab yet. the slabs are 40"wide by 9'long and 4" thick. they were cut 3.5 years ago and have been air drying since. I would like just a clear natural finish when done. Any suggestions and help is greatly appreciated. as far as the base for the table I'm not sure what I will do yet. I'm thinking a mixture of wood and metal. again any thought and sugestions are welcome.

thanks
Ben

[kevin nee]

I would go with a trestle style. Fairly simple to do & extremely strong. With that material it would be fabulous.
(And heavy) Where did you find the walnut?
Find someone with a wide belt sander. Good luck keep us posted.

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[Mike Null]

Ben

Welcome to SMC. I built a kitchen table about 20 years ago and finished it with polyurethane. It has served us well through the years and is now ready for refinishing. In our house nothing takes a beating more than the kitchen table so I think that speaks well for the finish.

There are many who refuse to use poly saying it doesn't reveal the real beauty of the wood. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder so they say.

[Marty Schlosser]

I really like some of the work that is being done making the base of dissimilar materials, such as you've described. Kevin's suggestion about a trestle style base is something else to think of, too. If your heart is set on incorporating metal into it, then there's no reason why you couldn't bring Kevin's trestle style and your idea to use metal together. After all, isn't that how most new ideas come about?

Lovely grain on the photos you've provided! There are so many different ways this project could go, as you've really got yourself a lot of material there. I'll be following this one with interest.

Welcome to the forum.

[Prashun Patel]

You have some choices for finish. Consider Waterlox Original Sealer finish. It's a wipe-on varnish that is durable. Where it excels vis-a-vis other oil-based varnishes is that it has a dark amber color that does nice aesthetic things to black walnut.

That being said, another good choice is Arm R Seal.

I choose these two because they are relatively easy to apply.

The hardest part of this slab table will be making sure it's flat and stays flat. So, your leg base design should take that into consideration.

Do you have a picture of the end grain? Is that slab close to the pith?

4" is massive! Good luck.

[Yonak Hawkins]

There are two things that I would be concerned about with a slab like that. At 4" thick, I would want to be sure it's good and dry before I started working on it so it doesn't deform while working on it or after. Second, that's quite a cross-grain distance. Be sure to design for movement due to atmospheric conditions.

[Ben Urso]

Hi guys thanks for the insite. I'm new to wood working so I appreciate any advice. I'm an electrician by trade. I enjoy building my own stuff instead of buying. A good customer of mine bought out a cabinet making factory I haven't been there to check it out yet but it is a full shop with spray booth and everything imaginable. He says he has a plainer that will except upto 44" and a drum sander that is just as big. I hope he's right lol.

You will have to bear with me I don't know all the terminology yet. I will def post a ton of pictures along the way.

[Ben Urso]

this is how I found the slabs

[Mike Null]

Good for you in rescuing them.

[Bill McNiel]

Ben, welcome to the Creek.
I have, and continue to, do a fair amount of large/live edge, air dried, slab work. My initial suggestions;
- Get a good quality moisture meter - Lignomat or equal. My slabs have been drying for 20 to 30 years in fully covered but open air. They are typically about 14% moisture content when moved into the shop. After 2-4 weeks in the heated shop the MC is about 9-10%, not as low as 6-7% from the kiln but much better grain pattern IMHO.
- Unless you have solid hand plane skills build a router sled set-up. Doing your own "milling" allows you maximize the material. Magnate has great router bits for this process.
- Remove material from both faces as equally as possible.
- Mill to rough thickness and allow the slab to rest before final milling and sizing.
- Use a belt sander, jack plane, smoother, card scraper to remove milling marks to whatever degree is consistent with your design.
- Waterlox is a great finish choice for all the reasons put forth by Prashun. I am a big fan of Waterlox.

You don't say where you are located but, if by chance, you are in the great NW you are welcome to come by the Barn and observe my process, discuss and ask questions. If not, don't hesitate to PM me or just ask more detailed questions here on SMC. This is a great forum with a lot of good folks who are happy to share their experience.

[Ben Urso]

Ben, welcome to the Creek.
I have, and continue to, do a fair amount of large/live edge, air dried, slab work. My initial suggestions;
- Get a good quality moisture meter - Lignomat or equal. My slabs have been drying for 20 to 30 years in fully covered but open air. They are typically about 14% moisture content when moved into the shop. After 2-4 weeks in the heated shop the MC is about 9-10%, not as low as 6-7% from the kiln but much better grain pattern IMHO.
- Unless you have solid hand plane skills build a router sled set-up. Doing your own "milling" allows you maximize the material. Magnate has great router bits for this process.
- Remove material from both faces as equally as possible.
- Mill to rough thickness and allow the slab to rest before final milling and sizing.
- Use a belt sander, jack plane, smoother, card scraper to remove milling marks to whatever degree is consistent with your design.
- Waterlox is a great finish choice for all the reasons put forth by Prashun. I am a big fan of Waterlox.

You don't say where you are located but, if by chance, you are in the great NW you are welcome to come by the Barn and observe my process, discuss and ask questions. If not, don't hesitate to PM me or just ask more detailed questions here on SMC. This is a great forum with a lot of good folks who are happy to share their experience.

Thanks Bill Im sure I will be asking a ton of questions. I'm going to wait a while before I start this project. 1 to make sure the wood is dry enough and 2 to learn as much as I can before I dive right in. I would hate to jump the gun and ruin these slabs. Im located in CT

[Ben Urso]

So my table will fit in this wide belt machine. Do you think it's a good idea or not to run it through? Thanks ben

[Matt Day]

Why wouldn't you run it through? That's exactly what I'd be looking for if I had that wonderful hunk of wood. Go for it.

[Mel Fulks]

Well, since the question is asking for opinions... I think the base has to be wood with that top thickness. Too much mass to use spindly metal (looks, not engineering). I would lose the sap edges. Would consider two matching trestle style tables that could be used together side by side or end to end. Maybe metal could be used for latches to hold both tables together.

[Bill McNiel]

Ben - Assuming you have "rough" milled the slab to a flat plane, then go for it, absolutely .

Regards - Bill