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Drying an oak slab for coffee table

4/12/18       
Mike C Member

I’m new to this site, and new to working with live edge slabs. So I’m hoping I can gather some knowledge from you fine folks.

I have a cross grain “cookie” style oak slab that was just recently cut 2 weeks ago. Roughly 4 ft diameter and 4 1/2" thick.

My concern is cracking as it dries. I know that cracking in these slices in inevitable due to shrinkage. Is there a way I can minimize a complete crack from the center to the outer edge?

Other then soaking this 210 pound behemoth in alcohol or PEG, are there any methods I can follow to try to minimize this? Also how low do I need the moisture content to be before I can safely finish the table and seal it with polyurethane?


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4/13/18       #2: Drying an oak slab for coffee table ...
David R Sochar Member

You are correct - the 'cookie' will crack.

PEG treatment is the only method that will work short of preserving the moisture that is in the wood now.

When the wood reaches the EMC for your area, then it will stop moving and cracking. That may take a few years.

4/13/18       #3: Drying an oak slab for coffee table ...
Mark B Member

I will echo Davids response and can only comment from personal experience sawing from our own woodlot and having processed several "cookies" for peopel (including one recently in the image).

In my experience unless you have a species with deep lobes in the bark (redwood, often times some cedar) that allow for a lot of contraction there is simply no way your going to be left with anything other than a cookie full of checks, cracks, and splits along the rings, that may or may not remain stable.

You have to think of your cookie like an outer ring that is going to shrink very little as compared to the core of the cookie. As the interior heart wood shrinks there is no other outcome than for it to develop splits and cracks anywhere and everywhere.

I dont even think a shop built tank filled with PEG could save a large round. It would seem to me your option is to let it do what its going to do and deal with it at that point.

As far as what MC, thats no different than any other wood product. If there is water in the piece, it will push anything other than a breathable oil finish off the face. So your looking at sub 10% for a film finish.

Not sure if It will work but this was a pin oak crotch recently brought to us to surface on the CNC that was a nostalgic tree. Didnt seem worth fooling with and had been dried slow and inside for years. I was shocked it didnt fall apart.

Picture

4/13/18       #4: Drying an oak slab for coffee table ...
rich c.

One possible option is to cut it into two pieces through the biggest crack in the center. Let it dry for a couple years, then joint the two edges and glue it back together. You'll probably loose an inch in width, and have a seam on the show face, but not that major big split.

4/15/18       #5: Drying an oak slab for coffee table ...
Dale Lenz

Website: http://www.beautifulwoodworks.com

The oak cookie appears to be a white oak? It is my understanding that PEG won't work well in white oak species. White oak pores are plugged with a waxy type substance called tyloses.

4/16/18       #6: Drying an oak slab for coffee table ...
Mike C Member

Mark, Rich & Dale,

Much appreciated. Thanks for the reply’s. I am 90% certain it’s white oak. But I wasn’t present during the cut to confirm. As far as lots of cracks along the rings I am perfectly okay and am prepared for that. I just would like to avoid the “big one”.

I have heard that typical WO can take a year per inch of thickness to air dry. I’m hoping I could cut the time down to 6 months by using pentacryl. I purchased a 1 gallon jug and will apply as much as it will take. The density and tyloses does have me concerned that it wont soak up much of it. But I figure I don’t have tons of options. So I will apply the gallon until its gone, then let it air dry until the fall while regularly checking the MC over the summer. If it still ends up cracking from the center to the edge I will just have to deal with it at that point.

Have any of you guys ever used Pentacryl? From what I’ve read it can reduce the drying time by 90% by displacing the water in the fibers. Whether that would even be close to the case with a slab of this size, I am not sure.

4/16/18       #7: Drying an oak slab for coffee table ...
Dale Lenz

Since your drying a few inches of end grain, the cookie will dry pretty fast.

4/17/18       #8: Drying an oak slab for coffee table ...
Gary Gossling

I agree with Dale.


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