Oak Slab Table Build - Hand Power Only (so far)

Jeff Bower

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5,762
Location
DSM, IA
So, I didn't try to get to the lathe this past weekend...to much going on. Last night I went out to the shop, but realized I didn't have any blanks ready to turn....bummmer. Didn't have time to cut some up and turn, but I did remember where a slab of wood that I have been saving for about 2 years.

It's from my parents house in KS. My dad and I cut it up about 9 months before they moved here to Iowa. I wanted to get some wood from there to make a table or bench out of. I had thoughts of building a router sled to flatten it, but with my new found addiction to hand planes, I decided I should use grandpa KP's planes to do the flattening...(who wants to take the time to build a router sled anyway?) Plus, the sound of the plane cutting the wood is almost as satifying as watching curlies fly off the lathe! :rolleyes:

The results from about an hour of work are below. The first pic is what I started with. The next pic is the underside after a little work. The third pic is what will be the top of the table after just starting and the last pic is where I stopped for the night. :zzz:

The plan is to work on this a little here and there until done. I don't have a design set in stone yet either...let's see if I can get the slab flat first! The biggest problem I see is if I take the time to cut up some bowl blanks will I ever get back to it...who knows. :dunno::D
 

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yeah we have a convert!!! its all over but the shooting now:) great story and the old planes will make this table one to remember and your kids will cherish it very much too:):thumb::thumb:well done jeff keep up the good work
 
Thanks guys...I'm not a full convert yet for sure...still needing a fix at the lathe soon.

Got about a half hour in last night on it...then my no. 7 kept clogging where the chip breaker and iron meet...spent another half hour fixing that...hope to get back to it tonight.

BTW, I should have done this in the winter...spring is here and you can really work up a sweat doing this when its almost 80. :eek: Not complaining about the weather though! :thumb:
 
hey jeff did you use a scrub plane to get it roughed out then the smoother to finish it or a jack? a scrub plane would have got you threw to almost flat faster,, then the final flattening would have been less work,, kinda like a using 60 grit paper then going to the higher grits in the sanding process
 
Larry, I should have asked for the quickest way to do it before I started. :doh: I don't have a scrub plane....yet....I do have a cheap no name smoother that I think I might turn into a scrub. Plus, I need to see what all my dad has available...I know he has a couple dozen planes, just don't know what all they are. Will be at his shop this weekend...maybe I'll come home with a few "loaners" ;)
 
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