Two slab river table
The story for this new table build begins a few years ago when we cut down a some trees including large Tallowwood and Bloodwood tree to make our house pad.
I couldn’t bear to throw away or chip this great Australian hardwood, so I contracted Russell to bring his Lucas mill on site to process the logs in slabs, posts and floorboards.
Since milling we’ve been able to use the trees felled to build a deck, timber entrance, two dining tables, coffee tables and benches.
All of these projects were mostly done with the tallowwood tree timber. However, I’ve been itching to give our bloodwood slabs a go and do something with them.
Bloodwood is an interesting Australian hardwood that's reddish/pink in colour and gets its name from the distinctive red sap that it produces when the outer layer is disturbed. I’ve been told in previous times the sap was used as an antiseptic.
After ‘drying’ for the better part of 4 years it’s time to take these slabs to get dressed.
Air drying hardwood takes years and should not be rushed. There’s not point in tying to dress ‘wet’ hardwood.
You can see some extensive sap lines as well as cracks from where the tree split into two large branches as well as where the ants made their way in.
Usually this would result in this type of timber being deemed as unusable but… a bit of creativity and a bit of epoxy will make turn this into something.
Post thicknessing the Bloodwood slab is ready for some sanding and carving. I need to remove the area in marked in red. Time to bring out my carving disc.
Post thicknessing the Bloodwood slab is ready for some sanding and carving. I need to remove the area in marked in red. Time to bring out my carving disc.
My wood carving disc I affectionately call the ‘tickler’. You put your finger in the wrong spot and it’ll give you a tickle you won’t forget in a hurry… speaking from experience :(
Once I’ve roughly dressed the slabs it’s time to size them up for how they’ll sit. Then it’s time to start constructing the epoxy mold.
I couldn’t find a melamine sheet long enough so I’m going to have to extend this sheet.
A bit of trimming and after plenty of silicone being laid and I have the two slabs in the mould. Time to start measuring and calculating the epoxy that will be needed for this table.
Crucial step to seal the slabs or the epoxy will find it’s way out. It needs to be firmly clamped in place or the curing epoxy can cause the slabs to warp.
I used about 16 litres of low clear bubble epoxy mixed with a metallic blue pigment for this table.
Time for the pour…
You have to pour epoxy in batches as pouring too much at a time will cause to much heat in the curing process and could crack.
The epoxy curing causing bubbles even with a low bubble variant and taking precautions. I heat gun or flame can be used to release the bubbles.
After pouring the epoxy it needs about a week to cure. It looks a bit messy but a final thicknessing and sanding will fix that.
It’s back to Jeff Cash to do a final thicknessing. At this point it doesn’t look great but it will soon.
After bringing the table top back it’s time to do the final sanding and shaping. But first I need to fill in any insect holes or sap lines that have appeared after the final thicknessing.
At this point I add attach the metal legs as it will be easier for me to work on it. I also build a simple apron to increase the overall strength.
The finished table
After a couple weeks or so of work it’s finally done.
I’ve left the longs sides of the table as live edge and I’ve not masked the insect holes as they and the sap lines tell the story of the tree. The final colour is the natural look of the wood which I think is quite stunning.
I think the the blue of the epoxy river contrasts yet compliments the timber.
I learned a lot in this process and even though I promised myself I would be patient and methodical I could do better next time and improve the outcome.
It’s taken 4.5 years to take this tree to a final finished table but I think the outcome is worth it.
