Live edge tabletop: have you worked with slabs?

[Willin]

I want to do a Nakashima-design table, with his classic live edge detail at the two long edges, and the spaced bowtie straight-line center, all bookmatched.  See the pics, attached, for what we have in mind.

 

I can get thick slabs from a local source, but I don't want to have to remove all that wood to get down to my finished thickness target of 1-1/4".  My source saws and dries at thicknesses in the 10- to 14-quarter range.

 

Seeing an article in which a guy did one of these by ripping, resawing, jointing, planing, regluing, etc., I thought I might try it too.  I don't own the big equipment needed to do the work, but can pay a local shop to do it for me.

 

What problems might I encounter doing this?  I am looking for some heads-up details from someone with experience with these materials.

[Shane Jimerfield]

Cool project.

 

I've resawn quite a few boards. Expect some movement. After the resawing you'll want to let the boards sit for a while to stabilize before you bring them to final thickness. After the resaw there could be some twisting and cupping - hopefully very little to none. You'll want to wait and see if the board flattens out after it has had time to acclimate to its new dimension. So make sure you store the resawn boards flat and stickered so that they get plenty of air circulation. Boards that thick, I'd wait a good week or two after the resaw to see what happens.

[Willin]

Thanks.   I had planned to sticker and stack and wait a while.

 

The right slab is the first big thing.  We want one as fault-free and as flat as possible.

[wdwerker]

Buy a moisture meter! Check the surface and interior levels . Wait for it to stabilize after resawing. Keep a chart.