Recommendation to Repair Slab Top – Seattle

[Frank Drackman]

Sometime in the last eighteen months a friend from Seattle purchased a slab top table while on vacation in Ireland. It is really checking. He has no idea to the species of wood. Looking for recommendations for someone in the Seattle area to repair.




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[Jamie Buxton]

I’d start with the shop that built the table. They might be embarrassed enough to fix it for free.

[Frank Pratt]

I’d start with the shop that built the table. They might be embarrassed enough to fix it for free.

I agree, but the shipping would be a killer. If that top is in Seattle & it's checking that badly, it must have been sopping wet when it was built

[Ken Fitzgerald]

If he bought it while on vacation in Ireland, it's probably too expensive to return to the maker for repair.

I'd check around with some local shops in Seattle. If it was mine, I would consider filling the cracks with thinned epoxy, leveling it and repairing if necessary the finish. They could probably contact the maker to find out what the finish is so repairs to the finish would be compatible.

[Frank Drackman]

I agree Ken, it had to have an extremely high moisture content. I lived in Seattle for twenty five years and there wasn't a lot of wood movement in the pieces I built.

Living in Maine is very different.

[Ray Newman]

There is a Woodcraft store in Seattle. Give it a call and ask for a recommendation or maybe one of their class instructors would be able to fix it.

[John TenEyck]

Celebrate the defect! Cracks like that are why bowties were invented. I would fill the crack with dark epoxy and then mortise in one or two bowties in whatever wood appeals to the owner. If your friend can't do it have them call a local custom furniture maker. Plenty of them in Seattle.

John

[Jim Becker]

I agree with John...and if breaking up the top surface with bow-ties is undesirable, they can go on the bottom where they are not seen so only the tinted epoxy filler in the cracks shows. Obviously, the top will need to be refinished after the repair so it doesn't look like a repair.

[Frank Drackman]

He already agreed to celebrating the defect with tinted epoxy & bowties.

I'm looking for recommendations for a furniture maker in the Seattle area who has the ability to fix it.

I contacted the guy in Ireland who made it and he gave me his finishing schedule.

[John C Bush]

I live in the Seattle area and have built several slab tables with "decorative" cracks using bowties and epoxy. I am a hobbiest and would be glad to help if he is interested. Please PM as needed. If he didn't want a bowtie you could cut in a spline on the endgrain to mitigate more splitting, then epoxy the crack.
We are traveling to Ireland next week for a canal barge trip--I'll just carry it on and return to the guy there that made it!!

[Frank Drackman]

Thanks John, I will PM you.