Large Bubinga Slab for an island countertop.

[Leo Graywacz]

The owner and I went up to a place called Berkshire Products in Sheffield, MA. We looked around for a few hours as they have hundreds of different slabs. Narrowed things down to 4 slabs, 3 of which were Claro Walnut and the other was Bubinga. The narrowing down started out by size. He wanted something 10' long, at least 1 1/2" thick and wide. After some debate between Myself, him and his wife they decided on the Bubinga slab. They had it shipped to my shop in December '16.

It came in a rather large box. We got it off the truck and onto some horses in the shop


Took about an hour to get the crate open and taken apart.


As you can notice it has a rather large check in it. That was taken into account when we were purchasing it. It was in a good spot. It was about 16-18" off of one side, perfect for an eatery countertop.

Then the fun request came. He wanted me to split the slab using the existing check, not cut it. So to cover my bases I made a video of it in case it went horribly wrong. The video is pretty short, but the actual process took about 2 hours before we found a way to make it happen. Problem was, the check is at a 20º angle. So when we stuck a wedge in there instead of splitting the slab it pushed one side up and the other down and didn't transfer any of the force where we wanted it. We needed the two sides of the slab to go horizontal so the force would be transferred up the check and continue it.

We tried several things. Took the crate material side, which was 6/4x5" Poplar and clamped a pc to the top and bottom so the two sides of the check could only move in a horizontal direction and not up and down like it wanted. Unfortunately it just over powered the Poplar boards. The check only advanced about 1/2" We tried many things, different wedges, lined the check with plastic strips, then wood strips but had the same problem. Finally we came up with some 4" steel C channel. Clamped that on top and bottom and gave a whack to the wedge and it moved 8". Got out the camera and finished it off.

[Leo Graywacz]

After that I sanded and sanded and sanded. They used a hand held angle grinder to smooth the slab and all those marks needed to go. Not fun, as Bubinga is about 85% harder than Hard Maple.

It sat in my shop for a few months while I did interior and exterior trim in the house. But I finally got back to working on the slab.

Almost what it will look like


Had to epoxy a knot and some stress cracks.














Round 2




Test fitting the cabinets, getting ready to cut out the sink hole.

[Leo Graywacz]

Success


After this juncture I focused on the cabinets, getting them completed and then painted and installed.







Into the spray room the slab goes. Here it is with the sealer on it. Going with a 2K polyurethane.






Just sprayed, still wet.


Here's some of the edge




Finally got it into the house.

[David Coburn]

Wow...

Really top notch work.

david

[Frederick Skelly]

It looks great! Nice job!

Leo, I haven't seen a slab that wide used before. How did you "protect" against any further checking, warping, etc as it acclimates to that home? Will the sealer and finish do that for you, or did you mount it in some way that helps reduce it? (Don't mean that to sound as dumb as it does - I just don't know.)
Fred

[Leo Graywacz]

Not a "dumb" question. But I can't answer it. The wood will do what it wants, when it wants. I don't know how long it was sitting in the place we got it from, but it was suppose to be kiln dried, so that should stop a lot of issues right there. Plus it sat in the shop for about 6 months acclimating to this area. All of the smaller checks were filled with epoxy which will prevent them from moving. Both sides of the slab and all edges were covered with finish so that should slow any moisture transfer. I screwed the slab down in the front which will lock it into place. In the rear I did 1/2" slots and didn't screw it down tight so it can expand and contract.

I've done all I can to prevent movement. It's up to Mother Nature now.

[Jim Becker]

Oh. My. That's really beautiful!! (And you're a better man than me...the dust from that bubinga would kill me...)

Kudos to the homeowner on choosing the Thermador range, too. I adore mine!

[Scott Brader]

That is stunning! Great work!

[Leo Graywacz]

Oh. My. That's really beautiful!! (And you're a better man than me...the dust from that bubinga would kill me...)

Kudos to the homeowner on choosing the Thermador range, too. I adore mine!

Thermador refrigerator also. Eventually I'll be making the cabinet surround and the panels for the doors.

[Chris Stephenson]

Leo, great work! I'm loving the outcome

[glenn bradley]

Man Leo, you get to do some of the coolest stuff. Beautifully done.

[Leo Graywacz]

Man Leo, you get to do some of the coolest stuff. Beautifully done.

Or maybe I only show you guys the cool stuff..... whistling2.gif

[Patrick McCarthy]

Leo, great job. Thanks for taking us along with you on this project. Very cool. Patrick

[Jim Becker]

Thermador refrigerator also. Eventually I'll be making the cabinet surround and the panels for the doors.

The start-shaped burners that Thermador uses are superior to round burners, especially when you want the ability to evenly heat very small pots/pans all the way up to very large ones. The unit your client chose is also the larger "pro" version as compared to mine which means is also has full commercial depth in the larger oven.

[Andrew Hughes]

That was a great idea using the split for the upper counter.I have found Bulbinga to be very stable and its color stays bright for a very long time.I havent noticed any fading on a piece I made ten years ago.
Im also highly allergic .
Nice work Leo.