Flattening the Neanderthal way….

[Rob Luter]

….is good cardio.

I’ve been sitting on this 6/4 live edge Walnut slab for years. At 58” long and almost 29” at the crotch end it’s just perfect for a desktop for my bride. She likes a compact desk for a laptop and a couple desktop accessories. Once finished this will be a beaut. I spent about an hour in the shop this morning with my #5 Jack and #7 jointer truing the top up. I still have a little bit to go. What a workout!

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53310720952_3077199e0a_b.jpg

[Tony Wilkins]

Be looking for how it turns out.

[Jim Koepke]

Looks great.

jtk

[Mark Rainey]

Yes Rob, no need for an exercise walk today!

[Rob Luter]

Yes Rob, no need for an exercise walk today!

Actually we did that right before lunch. I got my upper body workout and got my steps in.

[Andrew Hughes]

That’s a nice piece of walnut.
You almost needed a bigger bench or a bench stretcher :)

Good Luck

[mike stenson]

That is a beautiful piece of walnut. Every time I do that, my watch claims I've gone for a bike ride.

[Eric Brown]

Good start. How do you plan on doing the support? Legs or drawers?

[Reed Gray]

Well, for sure, you used up a lot of elbow grease! am not close to ready for some thing like this...

robo hippy

[Doug Trembath]

My desk is much the same, beautiful Black Walnut slab feather crotch with a live edge carved conservatively to provide a little interest in front, and a straight edge on the back to complement it. Lots of cardio involved, more than folks realize until they see you do it. Been many years, but it still wow's 'em, lol...
Gonna have a side table of a similar Black Cherry slab I recently acquired with a remarkably similar feather feature which is intended to hold my printer, in/out box, etc. That will free up a lot of desk space, and add significant visual appeal, I hope...

[Richard Hutchings]

I decided to open the laptop this morning instead of my phone. That board needs to be seen in larger format. I couldn't stop looking and my imagination ran wild. My SIL and I just finished a bar from a much bigger slab like that and boy does it look awesome. Outside of finishing, there's not much more to do but try to build a beautiful support for it. Can't wait to see how this comes out.

[Rob Luter]

I decided to open the laptop this morning instead of my phone. That board needs to be seen in larger format. I couldn't stop looking and my imagination ran wild. My SIL and I just finished a bar from a much bigger slab like that and boy does it look awesome. Outside of finishing, there's not much more to do but try to build a beautiful support for it. Can't wait to see how this comes out.

Larger format?

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53310720952_0ad52da95c_k.jpg

[Rob Luter]

Good start. How do you plan on doing the support? Legs or drawers?

Probably some metal hairpin legs. SWMBO wants to pick them out though.

https://i.etsystatic.com/13558360/r/il/997988/2315161063/il_570xN.2315161063_2j9e.jpg

[Richard Hutchings]

Bigger screen

[Rob Luter]

Well the top side is pretty much finished. I'm going to work the edges prior to truing up the bottom. I was hoping to find a large spokeshave to speed up the process but am managing with my Boggs shaves. Card scrapers are working too. Slow and steady wins the race.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53352791432_1d54d4953e_b.jpg

[Wes Grass]

A friend does some BIG slab tables. AFAIK, he uses nothing but card scrapers on the edges. I spent an hour or so playing on one of them. A ton of work, but remarkably relaxing.

[Christopher Charles]

Looks great! I agree that's a stunning slab. FWIW, as an alternative approach, I use a stiff wire brush on live edges to smooth out while leaving some texture and the natural contours on live edges. Will look forward to seeing it on legs.

[Rob Luter]

Well, she's all flat and smooth now. After a whole bunch of planing on both sides to true things up it was time to start sanding. While I wanted to adhere to a Neander approach and stick with Hand Work this is a whole bunch of wood. My solution was to carry it by hand, load it into the SUV by hand, drive it down the street to my neighbor's cabinet shop, and hand feed it through his 36" Wide Belt Sander a few times. I was pleased that it didn't take many passes. Some chowderhead had drilled some holes in it at one time and I need to plug those and epoxy fill a few small cracks and knotholes. Even with the warts it looks pretty nice. I'm confident it will hold a laptop, notepad, and lamp off the floor for my bride.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53427141033_26e5d6aacb_h.jpg

[Jim Koepke]

Wow Rob, that is a pretty piece of wood.

jtk

[Derek Cohen]

A couple if days ago Alex, the son of a good friend, arrived with a Jarrah slab he plans to use in a bathroom. It was cupped and needed to be planed coplanar.

Scrub and jack planes ...

https://i.postimg.cc/mrL9P4Vb/Alex.jpg

Made easier by he two if us planing at the same time. Plus, he just wanted it flat.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Rob Luter]

As I recall Jarrah is a pretty tough customer. Good thing you took a team approach.