live edge trestle table part 1

during the 2012 holiday dad and i went wood shopping. here's a picture of our bounty. four of those slabs will become a trestle style table/desk for me.

i've been fascinated with the "natural edge" aka "live edge" solid wood slabs for some time. i always admire when a restaurant has a huge slab for tables or a bar, and have wanted something of my own in that style. there's something amazing about a 2" thick slab of tree that's flat and perfectly smooth at the table top, but rough and still reminiscent of the tree that it came from around the edges.

working with slabs like this is very different than working with squared lumber like my other projects. some of the fundamental tricks and techniques of woodworking are no longer useable. this wood comes with tons of imperfections that would normally be unsightly or discarded, and instead is now coveted and showcased. these slabs are about 5 1/2 feet long and 1 1/2 feet wide each.

initially i'll be using this piece of furniture for my computer desk, which is just slightly smaller than this will finish out at. but the table will be big enough to function as a kitchen table in the future.

these two slabs of black oak will be the table top. they are book matched, meaning the two faces you see is where these two slabs used to be connected, thus the slightly mirrored image look. these weigh over 50 lbs. each

is it time for my closeup?

two of these walnut crotches will make the legs of the table. each one weighs about 45 lbs.

here's dad doing som rough calculations on the walnut crotches. this is the part of the tree that goes from trunk to branches

think think think...

link to part 2