Howdy
I’ve been getting such good feedback here I figured I’d run this one by ya.
So I’m about to take on the (in)famous Chris Schwarz’s American Trestle Table that he wrote about in Anarchist’s Tool Chest and published plans for with Pop Wood. I find myself in a similar place he was. I made a dining table for my wife and I 5 years ago before I started really understanding working with wood. It’s a doug fir and hairpin leg atrocity. It’s served us well but its time for it to go. I have a 7 month old girl and she needs a proper table to grow up with. Chris’s design seems perfect. I live in Brooklyn, NY and the size is about perfect for our apt. I’ll even be shrinking it down to around 30″x60″.
Southern yellow pine is $13/lf right now around here so I’ll likely opt for ash which is around $4.5/bf.
Here’s where I need advice. I really want to learn to work with slab material for a number of reasons.
I don’t want live edge on this particularly, but I do want minimal boards on the table top.
I’ve found a pretty good looking sweet gum slab that’s 20-25″ x 125″. I have zero experience working a slab this size… and my only experience with sweet gum is slipping on their pods.
Buying this slab would make the table about $250 more to build.
My other option is to just buy the widest ash boards I can score and glue up.
I really like the idea of an old time-y table top with minimal boards glued up.
I’d probably route a channel and throw some steel in there.
Anyone have slab tabletop experience or familiar with sweet gum?
I know slabs can be tricky so I’m a bit apprehensive. Would you go with the SG or ash?
I have a tracksaw and 24″ powermatic planer to aid in the milling. Big jointer too although I don’t think that’s gonna help me much.
Any thoughts? What should I look out for?
Replies
I like your plan to use as few boards as possible. I cringe at seeing too many narrow boards glued together. Good stock selection, along with matching grain and color are a hallmark of good work. Depending on species, I might end up with three boards for a 30 inch top.
The number one thing you should avoid is pith. Look at the end grain. If your board comes to close to the center of the tree, it is going to end up cupping. I'd also reject anything with twist. At the length you want, twist can be an issue. If it's twisting at the lumberyard, it can twist down the road.
Can't help with construction, however can with finish.
Children wipe stuff under tables.
Make sure you finish the underside with something robust. Teflon coated titanium is ideal, but failing that a few good layers of polyurethane.
Try also to keep a good wide overhang so that little fingers cannot smear stuff into joinery. Cleaning it out is no fun.
Don't ask how I know.
Ha. Yes, and every day table should not get finished the way you might an 18th century tea table. Tough finish for tough use.
Since you're in Brooklyn and have the milling equipment stop by M Fine lumber on Morgan Ave (pretty sure it's Morgan). They are a reclaimed wood yard. Old, wide, and thick is what they do. Park outside if you can find a spot, their denailing operation makes it to the parking lot in the forklift tires. A nice place to visit.
From your numbers you may not have enough slab to get to 60" if there is any checking in the ends. Do you think there will be enough leftover stock to make the rest of the table? Since your plan is flat and square, going with the more predictable stock seems the prudent choice.
If the only thing left of the slab is going to be telling guests it started as a slab it might not be the best way to use the slab or the $250.
Since I have no personal experience with Sweet Gum I was curious and looked it up on Wood-database.com, always a good place to start when trying to find information on a new species. Here is a bit of what they say that might cause me to hesitate to use it for your intended purpose. At the very least you would need to make sure it is thoroughly acclimated and to allow for movement in your joinery.
The wood database is right. Be careful and selective with sweet gum. Because of the irregular grain it's hard to tell where it will warp and twist. A slab will take longer to dry out. Grain direction can change often, and it is best to begin planing diagonally to figure out the changes. A card scraper is invaluable with sweet gum. Still, it is beautiful and can be worked.
Thanks for the advice friends.
I believe I'll leave the sweet gum alone for now.
I went to Singh Lumber and got 30bf of ash for the base and its all rough milled slightly oversize and stickered for next week. I'm gonna use the time to contemplate the best decision for a top. I found some 12-13" 6/4 ash, which will most likely be the direction I go in.
MJ, thanks for the reminder on M Fine Lumber. I bought some reclaimed stock from them like 10 years ago for shelves, long before I had an interest in wood working.
So I take it you wouldn't recommend a soap finish? JK! and point taken! I'll think hard about it before I reach for the can of Osmo.
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