To remove the sap wood, I would just take a draw knife/chisel and split it
off.  For the desk, in keeping with your live edge slab theme, check out
West Coast Woods (part of Jackel in Watsonville):

http://www.westcoastwoods.com
/slabs.html

You might find a suitable plank of elm or black acacia.

Joe P. - tempted by the 8/4 sapele Jackel has on sale

On Thu, Jul 2, 2015 at 1:04 PM, Joe Jerkins  wrote:

> Dear Galoots,
>
> Thanks for all the advice.  I did choose to go with something local and
> made an enjoyable day trip out of it.  After trading emails with Nathan
> Anderson (Anderson's Alternatives) in Mendocino, CA, I made the drive up
> there yesterday to pick out a slab.  SWMBO tagged along for the ride (lots
> of beautiful BIG trees in that part of CA).  While the weather inland was
> an oven-like 101 degrees, Mendocino was a refreshing 64.  Nathan had a
> bunch of slabs pulled for me (Pecan, Claro Walnut, OG Doug Fir and BL
> Maple).  I ended up getting a Claro slab.  It had a bit of a cup to it so
> he flattened it in his 72" wide belt s@n...@r for a very reasonable price.
> Given the slab is 10' by 2' and almost 1/2" had to be removed on the high
> spots, this was money well spent.
>
> With slab hanging out the back of the station wagon, the trip home was
> uneventful.  Every place I stopped (gas station, Ace Hardware - for a red
> flag), I had at least one person come up and ask about the wood.  Everyone
> likes good wood.
>
> Anyway, pictures of the wood freshly off-loaded from the car below.
>
> http://galootcentral.com/component/option,com_copperminevis/Itemid,2/
place,displayimage/album,lastup/cat,0/pos,0/">http://galootcentral.com/component
/option,com_copperminevis/Itemid,2/place,displayimage/album,lastup/cat,0/pos,0/<
/a>
> or http://tinyurl.com/kowj26f
>
>
> http://galootcentral.com/component/option,com_copperminevis/Itemid,2/
place,displayimage/album,208/pos,1/">http://galootcentral.com/component/option,c
om_copperminevis/Itemid,2/place,displayimage/album,208/pos,1/
> or http://tinyurl.com/pykgo29
>
> Next step is to remove the sap wood as it has some signs of bugs yet keep
> the natural edge.  Time to search the internets....  Although hints from
> the galooteratti would be most welcome.
>
> Joe Jerkins - Enjoying another day off in foggy San Francisco
>
>
> 
>
>
> My 16 year old son asked me to build him a desk.  Woo hoo.  An excuse for
> some shop time.  We've settled on the design, but I'm having a tough time
> finding a suitable piece of wood.  Your recommendations of places to
> contact would be most appreciated.
>
> Example of style here
> https://www.urbanhardwoods.com/furniture_listing?id=2072&product=Mapl
e_Table&location=Santa_Monica">https://www.urbanhardwoods.com/furniture_listing?
id=2072&product=Maple_Table&location=Santa_Monica
>
>
>
>
>
>
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