Hello,
Apologies as I know the topic has been thoroughly discussed but all of my research leads to conflicting opinions and wanted to get thoughts in this forum.
I am a newbie and not expecting to make something amazing but recently picked up a 2′ x 6′ live edge redwood slab for a dinner table. This slab has 2 spots where there are mill marks still present, so my plan is to sand those out into a small valley and fill with epoxy to level it out.
We are hoping for a flatter or satin finish so my plan was to use Rubio monocoat to top off the table. I am aware and I am okay (I think) that this will result in scratches/dents and that I’ll have to refinish again and again until I settle on a harder epoxy down the line.
My questions are:
1) How does my sanding plan for the mill marks sound with the epoxy fill?
2) Will the Rubio Monocoat be fine with the transition from the wood to the epoxy?
3) Do I need to finish the bottom at all? I have some cheaper indoor poly I was going to use.
I have watched a billion YT videos, so I think (or at least I think) I know what I need to do to sand, apply, etc. but I wouldn’t hate another step-by-step guide. Again, I am not looking to make a masterpiece, more just looking to make a dinner table good enough that my wife doesn’t divorce me.
Thanks!
Replies
That's a nice slab.
A few thoughts:
- I don't think the epoxy option will look good. If you are happy with the very narrow table then I would make a slab flattening jig to use with a router. With CAREFUL setup, you will get a really nice flat surface which will sand well.
- Rubio is fine on top of and transitioning to epoxy.
- Ask three woodworkers and you will get four answers about finishing the underside. I would, if only because kids will leave smears of food there, and it's hard enough to get it off finished wood. Many antiques did not have the underside finished. If the slab is properly dry and properly fixed down then it probably makes no difference. Received wisdom is that you should.
As far as the durability of Rubio goes, it's not. It's water resistance can be improved by using a nano coat, but they are expensive and not easy to do well. I'd also check re pfas content. Redwood does not mind water based poly - if you plan to sand and flatten, you could actually finish a small area of the underside with each of your chosen options and see which you like best. You will need to sand them away so don't go mad.
All finishes are a compromise between easy to fix but needing fixing often and hard to fix but rarely needing it. Rubio, shellac and lacquer belong to the first group, polyurethane and epoxy in the latter.
If you like natural finishes and have 6 months to apply 5 coats, you could use tung oil like Nakashima did.
Unless you are child free, I'd use water based poly or lacquer as the finish.
Finally, that slab is a bit too narrow to be a dining table. Side table maybe, but 3' is a sensible minimum width to allow diners to sit on both sides of the table and 3'6" is better but still compact.
I face a similar problem, with a really beautiful slab that will make a magnificent table, but is just too narrow. Mine is a bit thicker so I'll be able to slice it into 6" wide billets, re-saw them and end up with a table just over an inch thick, which is ample. Extra width will come from book matching the heartwood. I'll make the trestle from the sapwood. When glued up, you'll have to look very hard to see the joints.
The 'slab and metal legs' look has been popular. In part this is because it is really simple. The skill involved in finishing the slab is not inconsiderable of course, but just because it's a slab does not mean that it has to stay as a slab. There is nothing wrong with buying the next slab in the stack and grafting the heartwood into the middle, or slicing and dicing it to make it what you need - you can still keep the contrast between the heart and sap woods but get the piece you need.
Even the Nakishimas gave up on raw tung oil ages ago, and moved to a partially polymerized* tung oil. Sutherland-Wells (https://www.sutherlandwelles.com/) has a wide assortments of partially polymerized tung oils in a with the best customer service in the world. I've used their basic product for years, then asked about what I needed for a kitchen table that would receive predictable abuse - hot plates, spills, everything, and what they recommended worked perfectly. It was still 4 coats, but well worth it.
*The "partially polymerized" part of the product is that it is cooked at 400F in an oxygen free environment for several hours to get the polymerization started, resulting with a product that will cure in 24hrs, more or less. This is what Boiled Linseed Oil should be, but instead is just raw linseed oils with chemical hardeners.
As Rob said, it’s only missing one pass through the planer to remove the mill marks then you can go to finishing .
+1, find a shop with a wide belt sander and you'll walk out in 20 min with what you really want... how thick is the slab?
Agree that it is too narrow for proper dining, may work as a counter with stools for "one-sided" dining. Lay out a couple of plates and you'll see it immediately.
I agree with all the comments above...another option is to "embrace" the mill marks a part of the history of the wood slab. This is really just a matter of taste.
Thanks for the responses! I misspoke when I said it was 2' wide and I'm away from home for the next week to get the true measurement but it is closer to 3'. It's not perfect and can be used as a dining room table but it will be a little tight.
That being said, narrowing the table will not be an option for it's intended purpose. The mill I bought it from said they didn't want to thin it out anymore because its in the 4" range and they said I shouldn't go thinner. I probably should have asked more questions but it was my first slab.
Lastly, why do we think the epoxy gap fill won't work? Because it will look exactly like I tried to do the short cut? What's great is he gave me the extra scrap and it has mill marks so I can test out.
I don’t think removing 1/8 from a 4 inches thick slab will make it too thin.
Indeed. 4 inches leaves a lot of wiggle room. If I took off more than 1/8, say 1/4, I'd want to take off the same from the bottom. Take off too much from one face, it might warp.
Most workbenches aren't 4 inches. It's overkill for a dining table.
It might need a flattening jib. But if that is close to 3 feet wide, I think I'd use a handheld belt sander on the top, followed by maybe 80 or 100 grit on a random orbit sander. Just gently fair out that side with the mill marks until they are gone. It may not stand up to a machinists' straight edge, but on something that wide you may not notice it just to look at it. If it looks OK, start with 120 on a random orbit, and go up through however fine you want to go.
I would never go near that with an epoxy finish.
I'd love to hear what questions the ol pros here think should be asked when buying a slab.
I'm also a newbie who will one day buy his first slab.
3 feet is plenty wide. I think the epoxy would eventually delaminate. 4 inches is super thick, too thick IMO to go with a regular apron-leg construction but would be ok for a trestle setup. How was it dried and for how long?
If you brought it back and had them split it you'd have the lumber for the base (or a second tabletop). At 2" thick you'll still be able to dance on it with your wife.
The reason I suggested no epoxy was that a thicker puddle of finish simply looks like a puddle of finish rather than a cool, intentional dip down.
It's a different matter when it is clearly intentional as part of a river table, where it might represent a bay, or shallow part of the river, but unless you plan to encase the whole thing in plastic (ick) you will end up with very different sheen and look in that patch and the dip will look obvious.
Have a squint at Blacktail Studios online - Cam's epoxy work is superb but you can easily tell where the wood finishes and the epoxy begins - he just makes a feature of it.
A 4" slab is far too thick for a dining table. You'll get a hernia looking at it, never mind trying to move it to clean.
3' wide is as you say, narrow, but with that extra thickness, you could easily expand it. I'm going to do that with a 3" thick slab, aiming for a fat inch of finished thickness, and that will still be plenty. I'll leave the sapwood edges thick, but the heartwood will get cut out, booked as wide as my planer can handle at 16" and used to make the slab 4' or so wide. So it's not a full slab. So what? You won't be able to tell unless you look really closely as the colour match will be excellent. If I'm lucky I'll have some of the best stuff left over to make the legs.
+1 on the 4" thickness. For that size table 1 3/4 to 2" would be a more aesthetic thickness.
Another +1 on a router sled. You could also check with the mill and see if they have a wide planer. I'd consider having it resawn to 2 1/4".
I have zero experience with Rubio. I do know in the hardwax/oil arena Osmo is a very durable product. Or any hardwax with a flooring application.
For finishing a table, you have a practice field - the bottom.
Thanks everyone! This is quickly becoming my favorite message board. I misspoke yet again when I said 4" as it is 2.5" but sounds like I can safely go down more (I have been writing while away from home). I have been given all of the tools to make a wise decision, forgive me when I come crawling back for disregarding any of it, and also for when I ask for more assistance.
Sounds like all you really need is a new ruler. Good luck!
My ruler measures in cubits. Do I need a new one?
Not if you're working on a 4 thousand year old project. I took this photo last April and had my cubit ruler in my pocket.
Qbert is oddly similar...
Hello Everybody,
It's me again doing the slowest finishing job known to man. Coming now with 4 questions. As an update I did go back to the mill and had the marks milled down. Now I am practicing on the underside of the table before I go to the top. I've taped the cracks on the top, flipped it over, and started filling cracks with epoxy that has black dye in it. As a reminder, I'm finishing the top with Rubio Monocoat. So my questions are:
1) For this area that was burned in a fire, I was planning to hand brush off whatever char I can and then brush some epoxy on there. The rest of the edges/ends I'm using rubio.
2) As I fill these cracks using black dye and epoxy, I'm getting these big black trails that obviously aren't the most fun to sand out. I think I will chalk this up to not sanding the bottom down as I should have thus making the wood more porous so it soaked through to much. But the greater question I have is - Is the juice worth the squeeze in using black dye to fill small cracks?
3) This is one of two holes on an edge and I was looking for advice on what to do here. It's obviously the under edge but it might be pretty visible because this will be a high top. Is there any tool I could use to clean this out? My other thought was to tilt the table in a way where these holes lay more flat so that I can fill with black epoxy.
4) Same problem as number 3 but slightly different hole.
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Hi @hohnjarper. Did you ever finish this table? I'm doing something similar and found your post through a good old google search or Redwood slab Rubio Monocoat :-)
I'm doing exactly the same thing with a slightly thinner slab and I'm considering finishes. I'm worried Rubio might not be the best option for a softwood.
How did yours come out, and are you in northern CA? How long did you dry your slab for?