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273573 Chuck Taylor 2021‑05‑04 Re: flattening a large slab
Andrew,

You wrote:

===========
A friend gave us a large slab of beech to use as the top of the island.  The
slab is is about 36” by 45” by 3-3.5” (it tapers from one end to the other).  It
is also bowed by about 1/2” across the narrow dimension.
...
- I need to remove a lot of wood.  The bow is about 1/2” so to flatten it I have
to remove a total of 1” (1/2 from the top face and 1/2 from the bottom).  In
addition, it tapers by 1/2" from end to end, so that’s another big chunk I have
to remove from the whole width.
....
Any words of advice?  The thought occurs to me that even doing it by hand
perhaps I should rip it into 2-3 strips so that I can alternate the grain when I
glue it back together.  On the other hand, it is kind-of quarter sawn because
the slab went through the middle of the tree.
...
==============

I would recommend ripping it in half lengthwise through the pith (or close to
it), and flatten each half separately. That would cut the amount of wood to
remove essentially in half. Then glue the two halves back together.

Don't forget the winding sticks!

Cheers,
Chuck Taylor
north of Seattle USA

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