Slab Dining Table Plans - Which hand tools needed?

[Quesne Ouaques]

Hey, thanks so much to everyone for the input. Very much appreciated!

I suppose I should not be too surprised to find so many folks recommending that I take the power tools on my slab. Especially considering the size and width!

The cost of professional planing may be prohibitive. I have not finished my research in that area, though. I actually ran into a vendor at the Somerset woodworking show over the weekend who said he could give me a quote for doing the job. He said it would likely be in the neighborhood of $800 to $1000 just for the labor.

Based on the comments here, I am leaning toward building a flattening table of my own, and using my router to "plane" it, as some have already suggested. I may be able to have some hand planing fun doing some preliminary flattening, but the bulk of the work would be done with my router and a 3/4 or 1 inch bit.

Please keep the thread going as I am very much interested in your continued comments and ideas.

[Mike Cutler]

Hey, thanks so much to everyone for the input. Very much appreciated!
Based on the comments here, I am leaning toward building a flattening table of my own, and using my router to "plane" it, as some have already suggested. I may be able to have some hand planing fun doing some preliminary flattening, but the bulk of the work would be done with my router and a 3/4 or 1 inch bit..

Quesne

I've found one of these bits to work better in a router on an overhead transom. (Picked it up from Bill Hylton's Router Magic book.)
The radius edge profile, didn't try to catch like a standard straight plunge bit did.

http://www.toolbarn.com/product/amana/45984/

Many router bit companies make a similar, if not exact same, bit.

[Bob Smalser]

Please keep the thread going as I am very much interested in your continued comments and ideas.

Buy Professor Bruce Hoadley's book entitled "Understanding Wood" written for laymen.

Even if you follow my advice on grain orientation, the slightest amount of reaction wood will cause major problems on a solid expanse 50" wide. Learn how to identify it and as much as you can about grain before buying stock.

Frankly, 50" wide is a bridge too far for a live-edge flitch to remain sufficently flat so as to not amuse children with marbles, unless you have several flitches to select from. If I were doing this I'd resaw the flitch and bookmatch two 25" live-edge sections The seam down the middle with matching grain will enhance the looks of relatively plain wood, the table's potential to warp is halved, and you can still have two live edges.