biting off more than I can chew? Mother-of-all pecan slabs...

[Charlie Fox]

so my son decided on this 53" x 13'+ x 2.25" slab of kiln-dried pecan for his "statement" dining room table - to counter the "Mother-of-all farmhouse tables i made his sister 3 years ago. the difference is i put $500 of my cash in for their housewarming gift- that covered most of hers but only a fraction of his. no worries - he has a good job and can afford the surplus. ;-)

but holy cow this is a behemoth. we lopped off 5 feet, that will be end tables or such to match in his open-air home design leaving the 8'6" x 53" main slab for the dining room table. took 3 strong men to move it from my truck bed to the work table. the final shape will somewhat mirror the left side as seen on the forklift. the 3rd image is the slab in a full size pickup bed minus the 5' section that was lopped off enable planing.

at least we got it to the work table!

First order is to install some 1x1.5" pecan strips across the bottom, about 2' apart, to strengthen the spine as you can see some axial cracks that need some support. then a little poly to seal the bottom. then a ONE TIME flip to give the final shape (~350 lbs), add a couple of bow-ties, then fill cracks and the larger void with black epoxy (small cracks) and casting resin and polished river-rock from the same river bed where it has spent its 350-some odd years of life near San Marcos, TX.

aiming for a lot of hours of hand rubbing raw tung oil for the finish, trying to avoid poly but may add a spray-on top coat for water-ring resistance as this is going to see a few drinks on it in its days. . when i get to that point i may be asking for some sage advice... ;-)




wholeslabmed.jpg slabforklift.jpg slabtruckbed.jpg slab worktable.jpg

[Matt Day]

Wow, awesome project! Looking forward to following along and seeing what kind of base you put under that slab.

[Nick Decker]

Man, I wouldn't know where to start!

[Brian Holcombe]

Make yourself some long winding sticks and straight edges then start flattening the bottom of that slab before you join anything to it.

[David Eisenhauer]

Charlie: Are you located in San Marcos (or nearby)? If so, I can probably assist with slab moving/flipping from time to time as I live just outside SW Austin and make a run down through Wimberly as required if the need arises. Looking forward to the build thread as I am working my way through the leftovers of approx. 1,000 BF of pecan I bought several years ago and am noticing that hand tool working on pecan is different than power tool working. Hard stuff, grain switching, lots of opportunity for tear-out, etc.

[Charlie Fox]

David: No, i am in Houston - the table's final home is near you though - Oak Hill area. Bought the slab from Troy Swift - if you dont know him go pay a visit. Two metal buildings the size of gymnasiums and 2 full-time operating kilns. lots of wood but all retail, i get most of my stuff on my own but something this big just had to be sourced from someone with far more capabilities than I.

[Charlie Fox]

Make yourself some long winding sticks and straight edges then start flattening the bottom of that slab before you join anything to it.

the top was fully planed, the bottom about 75% to give a majority flat surface and retain as much thickness as possible.

[Charlie Fox]

The base will be something along this design, i also got a 4.25 x 3.25 pecan beam for the trestle. The metalwork is his responsibility. ;-)
the tops of the frames will be broad, planning on letting the weight of the tabletop provide its own stability with minimal fastening if any at all to avoid any shrink/expansion issues. like my farmhouse tables - i make a free-fitting loose mortise and tenon base-to-table connection, the weight of the tabletop provides all the stability needed. My daughter has actually given hog-butchering seminars on hers - seriously. ;-)

[Brian Holcombe]

Unless this was face jointed, then it is not flat. You can run a board or slab through a thickness planer and it will be consistent thickness but it won't make it flat. If bow, twist or cup are present before thickness planing, they will again be present after thickness planing.

The big effort of making slab tables is making them flat first. The trouble with slabs is that they have great influence over their bases, and so the base must be built to help maintain flatness (against cupping and bowing) and the original jointing removes twist.

The second purpose of flattening the slab is so that you can finish it evenly.

[Andrew Hughes]

That's a beauty.

[Charlie Fox]

Unless this was face jointed, then it is not flat. You can run a board or slab through a thickness planer and it will be consistent thickness but it won't make it flat. If bow, twist or cup are present before thickness planing, they will again be present after thickness planing.

The big effort of making slab tables is making them flat first. The trouble with slabs is that they have great influence over their bases, and so the base must be built to help maintain flatness (against cupping and bowing) and the original jointing removes twist.

The second purpose of flattening the slab is so that you can finish it evenly.

i follow you and your input is appreciated - but this was certainly not planed with a thickness planer. i cant even imagine a 56" or bigger planer. I have probably made about 50 slab tables and bar tops, coffee tables and such to 30" wide but nothing on this grand of a scale.

pretty sure we are on the right track with this slab, being step-kiln dried to 8% immediately after milling then acclimated several months to the ambient environment. below is the planing system used.





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpM8urbBZ40

[David Eisenhauer]

Thanks for the Troy swift contact, I will check it out. I call Oak Hill home, though it has been effectively swallowed up by Austin.

[Brian Holcombe]

i follow you and your input is appreciated - but this was certainly not planed with a thickness planer. i cant even imagine a 56" or bigger planer. I have probably made about 50 slab tables and bar tops, coffee tables and such to 30" wide but nothing on this grand of a scale.

pretty sure we are on the right track with this slab, being step-kiln dried to 8% immediately after milling then acclimated several months to the ambient environment. below is the planing system used.





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpM8urbBZ40

I should not give advice before having my coffee, Wide belt sander is what I mean to say.

Ah, very cool planing process. I misunderstood the title of this post and expected that you were seeking advice.

Still, I will play devils advocate and suggest the best course of action is to at least check for wind. That is a big slab and so even a minor twist will be a lot.

[Charlie Fox]

I should not give advice before having my coffee, Wide belt sander is what I mean to say.

Ah, very cool planing process. I misunderstood the title of this post and expected that you were seeking advice.

Still, I will play devils advocate and suggest the best course of action is to at least check for wind. That is a big slab and so even a minor twist will be a lot.

will take any advice into consideration always! that said i am good pretty much with construction,not a lot to do really but shore up the bottom and put in some butterfies and inlay, cut to final shape and of course sand. .

the finish is another story. must hold up to water rings and other dining use. i have 1'2 gallon of tung oil i need to use up, so will definitely do that - just wondering if a top coat of anything would be bad or good...

[Brian Holcombe]

I've not found tung oil to resist rings, even over hand planed tops. I just live with the rings and ask people to use coasters, which is something they do so long as I am in the room. That said, you're likely best bet is a poly finish.