Hi John,
Thank you and the other galoots that replied (on and off list) with advice and
suggestions.  I think designing is one of my favorite parts of a project.  So
many possibilities.  Perhaps this is why so many projects stall part way in?
I've had such good luck with aniline dye that I hesitate to try steel wool.  I
tried it once on oak and it turned out ok, but not as good as the dye.  That
said, the seed has been planted and the idea of adding Quebracho could make it
of more interest to my son.  He's a budding chemist and wants to be a chemical
engineer, so this just might be a hook to get him more actively involved.
Based on some good points from others, I'm now back to considering more local
woods (Myrtle, walnut, etc.)  Looks like it'll just require a trip or two to
lumber yards/saw mills.  I know there's an old mill up near Santa Rosa (~  1
hour north) so this may be a good excuse (pretense - Jeff) to visit.
Thanks for the ideas on metal legs.  I hadn't thought of rails and they could be
mounted with out having to first weld on end plates.
You guys are awesome!Joe  
      From: John Leyden 
 To: oldtools@s... 
 Sent: Thursday, May 14, 2015 2:14 PM
 Subject: Re: [OldTools] Wood advice/pointer
   
Hey Joe,

Living as I do in a big city such as your own, albeit on the opposite side of
the continent, it is all but certain that you have at least one lumber yard not
too far away that will supply flitch sawn planks from basically anywhere on
earth. You have to look in the burbs though, outside of center city, for a place
that does not spend its money on advertising. Go cruising and when you hit pay
dirt, return with a credit card, a truck and a helper.

We build slab top desks here on the East Coast all the time. Beware, you want
well dried wood. (It oughta be obvious, but just saying.) If you are going to
plane it by hand then you had better expect a helluva workout. Yea verily will
you will plane and scrub!

The undercarriage frame (if any) and legs are most cheaply made from square or
tubular mild steel a la Big Box store. If you make a frame, which will help a
lot to keep a less than ideal top flat, then weld it. If you’re just looking for
legs, then black iron pipe and flanges are had the most cheaply. Some of that
material is made in Canada, some of it halfway around the globe. I have been
known to highlight the “Made in Canada” on the angle iron that I come across,
and in one case painted the raised lettering a contrasting color for a young
lady who let on in conversation that she was born in Toronto and just happened
to be working in NYC. She was thrilled!

Depending on the weight of the slab you could get by with aluminum fence poles
for legs. However, they won’t stand sideways stress on the table too well. If
you really want aluminum then look up “speed rail.” It’s expensive but worth
every penny in terms of solidity and ease of assembly/disassembly. It is a huge
asset to the film/theater industry.

As for the black coloration, dye works. But in honor of the late Mr. Thompson
and others who have gone before him you might consider ebonization. (Heck, if
you’re gonna do a family project you might as well pull out all the stops,
right?) I recall Jim having written that his experience with steel wool
dissolved in white vinegar, as a stain for wood of most types, produced a hue
that was a bit bluish for his eye. I never doubted him on that and went looking
for a curative for it, and came upon something called “quebracho,” which is a
bark powder/extract that is mostly used for tanning hides. When used in
conjunction with steel wool and vinegar, the result is as black as coal. It
needs a topcoat of course, but the nice thing is that the grain of woods such as
white ash show right through. If that’s the look and feel you’re after you might
want to do a little research.

Regards from the East Cost,

JL