Slabs for Roubo style workbenches

[scsmith42]

Would anybody be interested in a slab top to build a Roubo style workbench from? I have a massive red oak slab that I milled a couple of years ago - it is 14" thick, 4' wide and 6' long, and fellow NCWW member David Keller and I have been discussing milliing it into some smaller, Roubo sized slabs.

It has been ammonia fumed to kill any little critters that resided in it (since it it too thick to go into the kiln). The subsequent slab dimensions would be around 4" thick, 20" wide (or thereabouts), and a little under 6' long. There would not be any pith wood in any any of the new slabs, and several would have vertical (quartersawn) grain.

The big slab is a fairly course grain, and undoubtedly there would be some checks in the slabs due to the thickness.

I'll probably yield 5 or 6 slabs from it; David has spoken for one so up to 4 or 5 would be available at $150.00 per slab.

Please PM me if interested.

Thx.

Scott

 

[Mt. Gomer]

PM Sent!

 

[scsmith42]

Two are now spoken for; that leaves at least 3 more still available. At least two of these available slabs will be quartersawn; the third (and potentially fourth) will be rift sawn.

 

[wayne]

PM sent

 

[eyekode]

Woah be still my beating heart! I plugged it into a calculator and came out with ~140lbs. Sound about right? Are you thinking about cutting it up and kiln drying the pieces?

Anyway sounds really cool. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) I have ~150bd ft of 8/4 WO scheduled for this duty. But that sure would save a bunch of time and effort. Especially if you are planning to S4S it! Where are the pics .
Salem

 

[scsmith42]

Woah be still my beating heart! I plugged it into a calculator and came out with ~140lbs. Sound about right? Are you thinking about cutting it up and kiln drying the pieces?

Anyway sounds really cool. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) I have ~150bd ft of 8/4 WO scheduled for this duty. But that sure would save a bunch of time and effort. Especially if you are planning to S4S it! Where are the pics .
Salem

Salem, 4" oak would take over a year in my kiln! The only practical way to dry thick oak slabs is to air dry them (or use a vacuum kiln - very expensive though!). I've been drying the 14" slab for two years.

140 lbs sounds about right. Yes, I can S4S it too! Better hurry though, it looks like 4 of the slabs are spoken for. At least one, if not two are still available.

As to pix, here is one of the raw slab: To put things into proportion, the item that you see behind the slab (on the back, right side of the photo) is a full sized upright piano...

View image in gallery​

 

[eyekode]

Wow, that is an awesome hunk of wood. It would be neat to do a bench like Roy's: http://www.pbs.org/woodwrightsshop/video/2700/2705.html

Why do you want to cut it up? It looks perfect for a Scott sized workbench. Just throw some legs on it and call it done .

I think I am going to have to pass though. I really want about a foot longer. But I know I will regret it . I hope to see some cool bench pictures come out of that wood!

Salem

 

[scsmith42]

Wow, that is an awesome hunk of wood.

Why do you want to cut it up? It looks perfect for a Scott sized workbench. Just throw some legs on it and call it done .

Salem

That was my original plan. However, I need to get more serious about selling wood instead of hoarding it! :gar-La;

Besides, I have about 30,000 bd ft of large oak still in the log that nees to be milled, and I need to move it and make room for more.

 

[Kyle]

For a second my mind thought the title said.: "Rambo style workbenches" Heck I didn't even know Rambo was a wood worker

 

[scsmith42]

For a second my mind thought the title said.: "Rambo style workbenches" Heck I didn't even know Rambo was a wood worker

<grin> Well, maybe we could turn them into a Rambo Style if we painted them camoflauge or something...

 

[toolman]

Reopened per Scott Smith

 

[scsmith42]

I just wanted to update this thread... fellow NCWW member David Keller and I are planning to mill up the large slab into smaller slabs next Saturday (Feb 5), weather and equipment permitting.

We will probably set the slab up on my mill and use mine to do the vertical cuts, while using David's chainsaw mill to do the horizontal cuts.

Here is the list of NCWW members that have requested a slab (in order of reservation):

David Keller
Mt. Gomer (Travis)
Wayne from Mocksville
Jonathan Dees
Jobelenus
Woodlaker2
JimmyC

I'm debating about placing one of my large red oak logs into my mill, and milling up some more workbench slabs at the same time. The only thing is that they would be green instead of seasoned (and ammonia sterilized) like the original slab, so you would need to air dry it or be prepared for some wood movement as your bench dries. I have some nice 40 - 50" red oak logs that could yield some incredible QSRO workbench slabs.

If there is interest from others for some green slabs we may be able to make several more at the same time (quartersawning as many as possible. I'll need to check with David to see if he would be willing to make his mill available for some additional slabs, but this probably would not be a problem.

If anyone would be interested in attending or purchasing a green slab, please let me know.

Thx.

Scott

 

[kooshball]

OMG, I just milled and glued up SYP from the BORG for my new bench this past week:BangHead:.... dang it; I wish I had procrastinated a bit longer.

If you cut into that 50" RO, I would love to see some pics!!!

 

[scsmith42]

This is the log that I am considering quartersawing into slabs for Roubo style benches. It weighs 20,000 lbs.

 

[eyekode]

Scott,
If you end up with some narrower but long boards (say 12"x4"x8'?) in the process of milling this lumber I would be interested in two of them. I have settled on a split top bench so this would work great and save me a bunch of effort. Actually if one of them is even as narrow as 8" or so that would still work as I want square dog holes and will laminate a thick front rail to help make the building process easier.

No big deal if you don't end up with these scraps. I have the wood to build it already but that involves effort and would not be as cool as single QS slabs.

Salem

 

[scsmith42]

Scott,
If you end up with some narrower but long boards (say 12"x4"x8'?) in the process of milling this lumber I would be interested in two of them. I have settled on a split top bench so this would work great and save me a bunch of effort. Actually if one of them is even as narrow as 8" or so that would still work as I want square dog holes and will laminate a thick front rail to help make the building process easier.

No big deal if you don't end up with these scraps. I have the wood to build it already but that involves effort and would not be as cool as single QS slabs.

Salem

Salem, we can definitely get you taken care of. One question, would a bookmatched pair of 4" x 10" x 8' be acceptable? If so, I can pull those off of the top portion of the log as we're milling it down to the larger slabs.

12" wide is still doable - I just have to use a different portion of the log.

Thx.

Scott

 

[Bas]

I might just come out to the farm to see this milling operation....that should be a spectacular sight! I think Scott should change his NCWW name to "Tex"...everything is oversized... :rolf:

 

[ErnieM]

Scott,

Pardon what is probably a stupid question - how do you weigh a tree?

Ernie

 

[McRabbet]

Scott,

Pardon what is probably a stupid question - how do you weigh a tree?

Ernie

I'd gues you'd need to use a big scale... or on a truck scale on a tared trailer... or use a calculator. :wwink:

 

[eyekode]

That would probably work. I am aiming for 24" total width which includes a strip on the front for dog holes and a strip in the center for the split. 10 inches after surfacing would be great but a little under would probably work. Shoot me a PM with estimated price please.
Thanks!
Salem