slab coffee table, rotten wood?

[selman dinler]

Hi everyone, this is my first post here, new to forum and i'm new to woodworking. I'm from Turkey and woodworking sites like yours make me thankful that i learned English at school:) This is a great source for me.

Now i have a problem. I bought a slab from a local mill and it was raining that day, the slab was stored outside and all wet. i paid something like 45 dollars to a, i think a fir slab. it was cheap, more decent looking parts, more central slabs were 118 dollar. the seller probably knew this was rotten.

after a week i saw the slab is mostly dry but some parts were still wet, and unfortunately, soft. 291215

i stabbed the wood in soft places with a screw driver, imagining the seller :)

then calmed down and cut the slab in three291216 291217291218

Dark areas are mostly soft. probably rotten? What should i do? Is this wood still salvagable or should i make it fire wood? i read a lot of threads about epoxy filling but i'm confused. Should i carve out those soft parts, wait it to dry completely, then fill with epoxy? this wood looks like a sponge to me, i might have to dip it in epoxy. by the way sizes are like: 70 cm(27,5 inch) and 90 cm (35,5 inch) and 8 cm (3 inch) thick.

Any suggestions are appreciated. Greetings from Turkey.

[Mike Heidrick]

A simpe rain storm does not do that to dry wood. It was rotten long before you ordered it.

[Mike Wilkins]

I don't remember the name of the product, but there is a product used on bar tops that looks like a thick polyurethane. It can be used to fill in the soft areas of the boards and all over the board as well.

[Steve Menendez]

There are some penetrating epoxies that can be used to save the piece if you wish.

http://www.westmarine.com/boatlife--git-rot-penetrating-epoxy--P004_120_001_009

This may be a path that you would want to take in order to salvage the wood. Obviously, it's not the same as having sound wood to begin with, but may allow you to save your investment.

Steve.

[Lee Schierer]

MinWax makes a wood hardener (http://www.minwax.com/wood-products/maintenance-repair/minwax-high-performance-wood-hardener?gclid=CJ6J9-zd974CFaE7OgodTA8A2g) that will soak into the rotted are and make it hard and stronger.291244 I have no idea if it is available in Turkey.

[Frank Martin]

My recommendation is to take the loss, use this slab for another purpose and start with a nicer one. I say this because I would think a lot of the products mentioned in this thread are likely not locally available to you or very expensive, making the alternative of getting a good slab a cheaper and painless one.

[Ken Platt]

The minwax wood hardener works great for this sort of thing, but you'll use a lot and I'm not sure that wood is worth it - and I generally will save nearly anything to use.

Ken

[selman dinler]

I thank everyone who answered me. I found an epoxy resin in Turkey mainly used by boat owners or fixers, similiar to the one Steve has suggested, boat life git rot epoxy. http://www.teknomarin.com.tr/epoksi%20yap/teknopox%20epoks%20res-en.html
It is not very expensive, maybe i will try it, still couldn't decide. I will also check for a similiar wood hardener. Even the result won't be very good, i am learning a lot of things by the way. I will post any future progress. Thank you again.

[Steve Menendez]

Please post results if you use the marine epoxy. I have used it when repairing rot in a door, but the repaired finish was not visible (the door was painted). It would be valuable to see how the cosmetic appearance works for an unpainted surface.

Steve.

[Prashun Patel]

Personally - and I don't mean this to sound glib - I would try to return the slab or I would just buy another. The epoxy will be pricey and the effort to apply it (possibly) multiple times, and then sand it flat will be more work than just sourcing a new slab.

Unless there's something remarkable about the slab that is not coming across in the pictures, I would just get another. You're already gained the important experience from this (to choose wisely).

Now that I've rained on your parade I will say this: when this happens to me - and it has happened to me - I have been able to salvage the wood by cutting it into smaller pieces and using the parts for smaller objects like bowls or boxes.

[selman dinler]

I can't give the slab back because i have already cut it Prashun.
Today i looked at the woods again and they looked dryer and so, firmer. I will use them somehow, make them coffee tables. They don't have to be super durable, if they break down after a couple years, well no problem. (sound of defeat?) Besides if the coffee tables will be bad, i thought i might give them to my friends as present :) These are clumsy first steps and good to remember.
I will post the photos Steve.

[selman dinler]

Hi everyone,
After a very long pause i finally finished this project. I found a marine product, a two part epoxy used for repairing boats. It is not expensive, app. 15 dollars a kg. One half of the slab was useless so i threw it away, the other part looked salvagable. I put epoxy on to the crusty parts, it went in to the wood nicely. When dried, wood was very hard and color changed to a darker tone. I made the legs from pine. I put on one coat of cellulose varnish and two or three coats of spar varnish. Actually the varnish ended up a little too thick. Any way. One friend of my wife saw the table yesterday and liked it. So i sold it to her for a very little price :) Here are the pictures.
305323305324305325305326
And one question: i used this marine type epoxy for gluing legs to a three legged stool. Since the branch legs didn't fit tightly in the holes, i thought epoxy would fill the voids and make very strong bonds. The stool seems very sturdy now but do you think it is allright? Using epoxy for glue?

[selman dinler]

And this is the other coffee table i made from the extra piece that miller gave. This was not rotten but very irregular in shape.305327305328305330

[Ted Calver]

Tekrar hoşgeldin, Selman! It looks like you made the best use of that punky wood slab and now your wife's friend has a nice table. I suspect your stool will be OK, although there are different formulas of epoxy. Once it has dried, it's pretty strong. What will you make next?

[selman dinler]

Thank you Ted. A few weeks ago i was driving past some place where they sell fire wood. One log larger than usual branches struck my eye, i went there and ask what was that. The man working there said, it was a walnut, which was going to be fire wood. I bought it, picked it up with a firends van and went to a wood mill. I made it cut to slices 4 cm (app. 1,5 inch) thick slabs. Then they told me it was good to put the wood in steam oven. I said ok, but i really don't know what is steam oven for. Anyway, now i have 8 decent looking, really dark colored slabs of walnut in the basement drying. I put thin straps of wood between slabs and coated the ends with varnish. They are something like 120 cm x 65 cm (47x25 inch). The men told me it is good enough to wait a few months then use it, but i read here and there one year per inch is better. I don't know how long will i resist the temptation :)

And i have some other little projects done. Like: 305371305372305373305374305375

The first desk is allright but the second desk's table top is split unfortunately. Probably because the 45 degree frame didn't let the wood to move and i screwed the base to top. I made a lot of those clocks. Some split, some stayed ok. I like to make them and give as present.
Anyway this is my abstract of wood working. Thank you for reading it :)

[Ted Calver]

Selman,
You were lucky to find the walnut. Some people don't like the look of the light colored walnut sapwood and the steaming process turns that sapwood a darker color and makes the board uniformly brown. Over time, though most walnut turns a light brown color.