Building Furniture with Wood Slabs
Most Woodworkers Don't Know This About Wood Slabs
I love milling logs into wood slabs. However, sometimes turning those slabs into woodworking projects and furniture isn’t nearly as fun. I’ll go a step further. They can limit your project.
How is that possible?
I got this call from a buddy. Someone he knows had a walnut tree removed from their yard. I grabbed the old Stihl 661 chainsaw and my sexy orange milling chaps and took off!
We milled up the most beautiful slabs you’ll ever come across. Just mind blowing! You can see the results yourself by checking out my article on Chainsaw Milling 101.
We often see crazy looking slabs on social media or in YouTube videos. And that becomes what many people expect if they’ve never worked with slabs. Unfortunately that’s not how it normally turns out, and there’s no clearer evidence than when I tried to turn a white oak log to an indoor sitting bench.
I was still riding the high of getting those beautiful walnut slabs when I found someone around the same location who was clearing land to build a house. He had a massive stack of white oak logs. Boom, I was immediately there! I already envisioned how those oak slabs were going to end up as beautiful pieces of furniture.
Logs Can Be Unpredictable
I don’t know what will be inside a tree until I cut it up. Trees can have cracks, knots, bark inclusions, and foreign objects like nails. I’ve found brightly colored plastic ribbons, giant metal hooks, and bullets. The oak log I used for the bench had its own unique challenges. The tree had some pretty nasty rot in the center. That can happen, especially near the pith. But, there were more issues.
Bark Beetles!
The tree was infested with beetles. You would never know from looking at it, but it was clearly visible once the tree was slabbed. For the most part, the beetles stayed in the sap wood towards the outside edge; however, all of that material needed to be removed. On top of this problem, there were a lot of knots and cracks commonly found in slabs.
If they were so rough, why bother using them? Well, these slabs also had BEAUTIFUL, linear riftsawn grain between the rot and bugs. I simply knew it would take a lot of work to extract those areas. I wanted my bench to be about 48” long. This wasn’t possible. It took two full slabs, each one about 24” wide and over 96” long, to get a measly 16” wide x 44” long bench top. I had to cut a third slab to make the base of the bench. I could have bought boards at the lumber yard, saved days of work, and ended up with the size bench I originally envisioned.
The Positive Side
Here’s the thing I hope you take away from this article: When we see someone post mind-bogglingly beautiful slabs on social media, keep in mind those are posted for a reason. They are often the top of the line. The best of the best. Sometimes you luck out and get that quality of wood. A lot of times it’s much messier than that. I’ll take this problem all day, every day! I love being able to pick out the perfect board, with the perfect grain for my project. Sometimes, the materials just won’t allow me to make what I originally planned. In those situations, I do the best with what I have and decide what I’m willing to compromise. The slab may limit by project in some ways. At the same time, it forces me to be flexible and challenges my creativity. Regardless, I’ll keep trying to get more slabs and hope to get lucky. It’s a fun game to play!
