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Michigan Chocolate Slab

After reading a little about why wood cracks, I guess that we should wait long enough to make sure it is acclimated to our region (very dry) before working with it, all the while following suggestions to keep it from cracking further.

And whoever said a crack in a table (or whatever it becomes) is a bad thing...it could just be part of the design.

Toni, I love your encouragement about alternative uses...I'm already starting to ponder what I would do with one of the smaller pieces. Seems a shame to waste them on table legs.
 
What ever you do, keep it flat while it is storage. Other wise you may end up with a really warped board. I cant wait for mine to get here from the ambassador.:D
 
On a horse's hoof crack, I would cut a horizontal with the edge of the rasp at the top of the crack to keep it from going higher into the coronet band.
I love the idea of the butterfly.
 
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I am going to back up Toni here 100%.

If we all recognise the beauty in the wood and like one of the spinny guys great turnings want to ve able to view it and derive the pleasure from the image it presents, then we should be considering a piece like that to be the beginning of a piece of art rather than a utilitarian piece of furniture.

I am thinking in terms of a floating platform suspended from the ceiling maybe as part of 3 tiers including the other pieces if they flow with it.

Platform could he high up and act as a screen to a lights mounted on the ceiling behind it. Then have a light shine up at it from below.

I think this is one time there is a need to get crazy and get out the box to do that piece justice.

There has to be more "art and design" come into it rather than a piece of beautiful lumber and useful furniture thinking come into it.

But hey we all different and its your slab.:eek: I wish you luck, a piece of wood like that even if i was given it is way above my woodworking paygrade to be able to touch.

I would ship it to Spain.:rofl::rofl: and commission a designer and carver to do something with it.;):D
 
Yeah but how do you get to enjoy it. for the 5 minutes before you get into bed then you cannot see it behind you with your head against it.:huh: looks Good in a picture but do we spend majority of our awake time in our bedrooms looking at our beds.???
 
Steve Southwood said:
After reading Toni's last few posts, I feel as I have just been to a psychiatrist or something like that. Mellow, I feel mellow.
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Gosh Steve, I've been compared to many things in my life but never to a psychiatrist.
If a post of mine can do that to you maybe I should wonder about changing career.;) Sometimes I get carried away and I may sound pedant specially with the language barrier.


Sharon Korn said:
Toni, I love your encouragement about alternative uses...I'm already starting to ponder what I would do with one of the smaller pieces. Seems a shame to waste them on table legs.
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Sharon, I'm glad I've been able to stir up your creatitivity, and wasting or not wasting them will depend on the legs made with them. You are surrounded by a very speciall and wild nature find your inspiration on it.
BTW talking about legs, there are many ways to hold a flat surface with legs that do not look like legs. Check this http://familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?t=10180&highlight=Draped or this one http://familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?t=4571&highlight=Coffe&page=3 and you'll see what I mean.

Rob Keeble said:
I am going to back up Toni here 100%.

I would ship it to Spain.:rofl::rofl: and commission a designer and carver to do something with it.;):D
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I like your line of thought Rob and overall I appreciate your confidence in me. Thanks:rofl::rofl:
 
Rob Keeble said:
Yeah but how do you get to enjoy it. for the 5 minutes before you get into bed then you cannot see it behind you with your head against it.:huh: looks Good in a picture but do we spend majority of our awake time in our bedrooms looking at our beds.???
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Cynthia White said:
Speak for yourself, Rob-Man. :D I fold laundry in there, I read in there, and otherwise go there for some peace and quiet. It's my sanctuary. I would thoroughly enjoy having something so beautiful in there. :thumb: Everybody takes a big slab and makes a table out of it. Why not do something different?
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These comments made me think that maybe beds should be made the other way around, that is the fancy and pretty side at the feet and facing you so that you can enjoy them while laying. Hmmmm... my brain is starting to tickle

Thanks Cynthia, thanks Rob!
 
Cynthia White said:
Brent and Sharon,

I've got a different idea:

How about a big rustic bed headboard like this
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I like that first one the best -- it has the best headboard, but the bed + platform itself leave me cold.

From that website you linked to, Cynthia, I really like this desk!! I'll have to file that idea away. And I don't even really like "live edge" stuff.


Toni Ciuraneta said:
These comments made me think that maybe beds should be made the other way around, that is the fancy and pretty side at the feet and facing you so that you can enjoy them while laying. Hmmmm...
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Nahhh, bolt it to the ceiling then. :whistling:
 
Hope this doesn't sound like a 'one up' comment. But, I have a walnut slab very similar to Brent's. I was going to 'let the wood do the work' and make a basic table. Even have the offer of a big belt sander to run it through. Personally, I have trouble seeing the art in Nakashima's work. It mostly looks like slab (puncheon) tables and benches seen on farms all over the country, except for the sanding a shiny finish.
 
With a crack that big and the possibility that it might grow given your dry climate, you might consider installing a temporary dry butterfly closer to the apex of the crack. Then when you go to finish the piece of furniture you would install a larger butterfly near one end of the crack and refit a permanent butterfly where the temp was installed.

I have a friend who builds large architectural pieces and has bought slabs from me that were cracked- he actually likes them. He will often install hammered brass, copper or bronze butterflies in these tables. Some have been a mix of the rustic look with nickel hardware and edges, legs etc.

The point is that feel free to use the artistic license when deciding how many butterflies and so forth.
 
Paul Downes said:
With a crack that big and the possibility that it might grow given your dry climate, you might consider installing a temporary dry butterfly closer to the apex of the crack. Then when you go to finish the piece of furniture you would install a larger butterfly near one end of the crack and refit a permanent butterfly where the temp was installed.

I have a friend who builds large architectural pieces and has bought slabs from me that were cracked- he actually likes them. He will often install hammered brass, copper or bronze butterflies in these tables. Some have been a mix of the rustic look with nickel hardware and edges, legs etc.

The point is that feel free to use the artistic license when deciding how many butterflies and so forth.
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Interesting... I had a hard time picturing how doing anything out at the end of the crack would keep it from cracking further down...
 
In all honesty that a big piece of wood that's still far from dry. There is prolly nothing you can do to stop/prevent it from cracking how ever it feels like.
Best thing I can come up with is to seal the ends lay some bunks out put a row of wast wood on the bottom than stack and stick the slabs. And put a few rows/layers of wast wood on the top. Than forget about it until some time late 2012
They say it can take up to 200 days an inch to dry walnut.
 
Brent Dowell said:
Very good thought chuck. Guess I need to find a flat spot..
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Or make one...

Chocolate Slabs - 07 800.jpg Chocolate Slabs - 06 800.jpg Chocolate Slabs - 05 800.jpg

I wanted to protect the bark edges in storage, and try (perhaps futilely) to keep it from cupping to much. I don't have a place to store it flat, so it's standing upright in a cool, dark storage locker.
 
Vaughn McMillan said:
Or make one...

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I wanted to protect the bark edges in storage, and try (perhaps futilely) to keep it from cupping to much. I don't have a place to store it flat, so it's standing upright in a cool, dark storage locker.
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I like the shrink wrap around the out side.:thumb: Should help force the water out the faces. And the bunking to help it stay flat should help keep it flat. Also it looks like they are with in Travis"s 5" from the end rule. As long as the air can move all the way around it freely, it should come out just fine.:thumb::thumb::thumb:
Did you seal the ends before you wrapped it?
 
The cats out of the bag now, but when I get a fresh slab the first thing I do is band it with metal banding, treating the ends with Anchorseal. The wood only wants to split in most cases because of unequal moisture content. Sometimes it is internal stresses because of the enviroment the tree grew up in, say a leaning tree, but most times it is just moisture. If you keep it banded until it is dry, about 80% of the time it stays together when unbanded.

I stand mine up, mostly for space reasons, but it works fine.
 
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