Single Slab Workbench Top


tim0625

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I am threatening to build my workbench again.  For the top, I have an opportunity to get a one piece slab cut from a huge Live Oak log that's about a year old.  I wanted my top to be 30x60.  It looks like this will be about 28x55 which is ok.  What I'm wondering is if we cut a 3 or 4 or 5 inch slab from the middle of the log, what problems am I looking at?  Live Oak is beautiful wood and would make a rock hard top but I'm thinking about cupping and having enough skills to hand plane it to flatness. What say ye?

Thanks

Tim

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If the log is really that big, you should be able to get a slab cut out of it that doesn't include the pith.  Pith almost always cracks.  We have some walnut slabs right now that approach 44" in width, and they contain no pith.

 

The problem you face is that for a workbench, the thicker the slab, the better.  I wouldn't want anything less than 3"...but that's going to take forever to dry...and we're not talking a year or two, we're talking at least three and probably more since you're in SC, which if memory serves is fairly humid a good part of the year?

 

I understand the lure of the slab.  Benches made with them look super cool.  But unless you have access to a nice, stable slab that's either been kiln dried or has been sitting in a barn for a decade, they can be more trouble than they're worth.  You could get that slab cut up and set somewhere to dry for a few years...and once you get to it after all that waiting, find that it's checked and cracked beyond use or that it just won't stay still.

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Do you have any other big chunks of Live Oak you would want to sell?  I've been looking for some to make window and door sills out of for an old house.  Janka is about three times as dense as White Oak, if I'm remembering correctly.

 

That slab will probably be about right for making a bench top in twenty years or so, but it will also be VERY hard.

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A sweet idea, begin your journey here http://benchcrafted.blogspot.co.uk/p/the-french-oak-roubo-project.html . If you want this bench to be a super flat surface for high end fine work this might not be the best way. If you want a gritty honest sob of a bench this could be for you. I'd love to do a slab top like the BC boys. Reality is I have no need for it now and it's not something that motivates me enough yet to build one.

 

Like the guys said, try and avoid the middle of the log.

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You could find a place to have the slab kiln dried so any warping would take place during the drying process. After it has been dried and acclimated to your shop than flatten it than stabilize any checking that may have occurred with some butterfly's.

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You could find a place to have the slab kiln dried so any warping would take place during the drying process. After it has been dried and acclimated to your shop than flatten it than stabilize any checking that may have occurred with some butterfly's.

 

I know a few places that won't kiln dry lumber that thick. One mill owner I talked to said he won't dry anything over 12/4 unless you're purchasing a few thousand board feet. he said that to do it properly you had to dry it slowly and thus tie up the kiln for a long period of time.

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there's the other half of the argument as well, that says this is a WORKbench.  Not to detract from the beauty and awe of a full slab bench, but if you spent all that time to stabilize the slab, do you really want to turn it into something that you know is going to get beat up and bloodied?

 

Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather leave the slab for a table top or "quasi-decorative" functional piece that needs a large surface and will not be the focus of years of pounding and chipping.  (Maybe a toddler's play desk would be a safer use... maybe not.)

 

(then again, I'm using plywood stacked on top of a rolling dunk tub base for a workbench.  Anything is a step up from that.)

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there's the other half of the argument as well, that says this is a WORKbench.  Not to detract from the beauty and awe of a full slab bench, but if you spent all that time to stabilize the slab, do you really want to turn it into something that you know is going to get beat up and bloodied?

 

Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather leave the slab for a table top or "quasi-decorative" functional piece that needs a large surface and will not be the focus of years of pounding and chipping.  (Maybe a toddler's play desk would be a safer use... maybe not.)

 

Nah...I watch Tommy Mac and he makes no bones about the fact that he's real protective over his bench.  I want mine beautiful but functional.  Beating on it is fine - to me that's just character marks but as far as " beat up and bloodied"...live oak is maybe a lot tougher than you may be thinking.  It doesn't dent easily so as far as durability, I think it will be ok. As to what Eric said, if it starts checking as it dries, I'll just add maple butterflies.  More character. 

Question...with it not being completely dry, would I paint the ends of the slab?

Another question....flattening. I'm not a hand tool guy.  Is this the moment I purchase and learn to use a jack plane or would the flattening by router method be easier?   My thoughts are to cut the slab thick...4 or 5 inches to allow for flattening...more drying...cupping...re-flattening..and still ending up with about 3 or 4 inches when dry and stable. Thoughts?  "Years to dry"....I don't mind...I prefer dead flat but that's where either the jack plane or router can be used multiple times through the years if necessary....not unless it will go like a banana on me..that's not cool but I expect some warping.

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Planes aren't hard to learn. Get a decent one, sharpen the blade and push :) there's more to it, but that's close to the truth.

A jack by itself is no good for flattening such a large piece. You'll need a jointer plane too.

I used a jack and jointer plane to flatten my bench. And although I wouldn't call it fun, it didn't take long.

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Having working with small pieces of live oak, I'd recommend using any power method available to get it at least mostly flat. That is seriously hard wood. My planes/spokeshaves (which work fine on jatoba, hickory and black locust) bounce off it. Flattening a big slab by hand will be torture on you and your tools.

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