Stump projects

There are several craftsman here at LJs that produce this type of furniture. Try a search to locate their work.

Tell me a bit more about what it is you’re wanting to do. I work with stumps and logs almost exclusively and by no means am I an expert but I have gotten a few chains worn out cutting them.

Dragon,
I have two projects that I’d like to work on.
FIRST PROJECT I would like to make a table out of a tree stump. I have stumps from an oak tree and lace bark elm. I’m trying to find out if I should take the bark off the elm – read somewhere that that’s better but another site said I can spray it with water based polyurethane. Is water based polyurethane the best to use on tree stumps.

Second Project
I have a 3 1/2 inch slab of a tree – the diameter is approximately 3 1/2 feet and I’d like to make a small table for my patio out of this piece. Unfortunately the slab has separated into three pieces. Can this be put back together and it so – how and what is the best way to do it.

I thank you greatly in advance for my obviously amateur questions. My sincere thanks

PM sent…......

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Hey zaby. I’ve cut a few logs so far. I know that if you want to keep the bark on, it is best to find a log that was from a tree that was cut while it was dormant. example winter time. The cambium has less water during this time and the bark seems to stay stuck naturally. No varnish needed.

Next project. If the slab has already broken, most of the stress should be gone now. Basically you could just biscuit joint it back together. You will have to sand quite a bit though.

-- "Safe woodworking isn't just about avoiding injury, it is also about avoiding extinction." CKG

Zaby,

I cut slabs from logs, and I would recommend that, as far as possible, you should remove the bark before cutting. There is often a load of dust and sand integrated into the bark, and that dulls your cutting blade quite quickly. Note also, that Palm trees generally have sand embedded all the way to the heart of the trunk. A friend of mine charges for a new chain in every job they quote to fell a palm. As for keeping the bark on the slab after finishing, I haven’t personally found a way that works for me. My slabs have always shed their bark some months after I thought they’d be fine.

Technically speaking, there is no finish better than the other for slabs vs boards. What you’d like to use on a board, you use on a slab.

Your split slab – For joining the parts back together, you would need to treat a crosscut slab differently than a slab along the grain. You will almost definitely not be able to rejoin a crosscut disk invisibly due to the difference in shrinkage around the rings vs across the rings. When you place the pieces against each other, you’ll find that their seems to be a “slice of pie” missing. You cannot recover that.

-- I may be schizophrenic, but at least I have each other.

I don’t think that biscuits are really strong enough to tie these pieces back together, large ( 1/2 ” or more set deeply in each side would be necessary. As ZAC noted you may well have unclosable cracks but these could be filled in any number of ways but will be very visible. You should consider Gorilla glue or tightbond III and spar varnish if you want this for out side use.

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Hows it going?

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It’s going…........hot as you know what here and not much in the way of rain to cool things down. Honestly, I’ve been working in the garden pretty much and haven’t had any free time to get down to any serious woodcrafting lately.