Thread: slab joining

Hi tablelander,

Sounds like nice wood. A lot will depend on what you are trying to achieve.... If you want a nice flat polished top, you will need to get them put over a jointer and get the edges really flat and straight then you can glue them together.

rubbed joint, large dowells, even splines or lots of biscuits (if really thick, sugest double row from top and bottom). An epoxy or other highstress glue would be better than pva.


If you just want to push them up together and not be so fussed with any gaps well that is another story.

See what others think too,

Chipman

hi chipman,the slabs are 50mm thick and i want to join the 2xrosewood with a different timber in the centre more than likely blackwood or blackbean.it will be natural edged and i just want it to be stable ,the join doesnt matter to me to much it will be used as an every day dining table.They are smaller slabs so hopefully wont get too much movement.Thanks for the info.

I've done a large computer desk where I joined 2 slabs together to get the width I needed.

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...d.php?p=337677

The trick is to be able to joint the edge of the slabs so they are straight and square. I use a router mounted on my mill frame, but a simpler router bridge would work too. Then I cut some slots in the faces and join them using splines. Much easier to keep lined up and should make for a stronger joint, especially if the surfaces aren't totally perfect. Dowels or biscuits would work too.

Cheers

Ian

I nomaly dowel the joints and I normaly hand plane the edges with a No 7 dry fit to check for straighnes. Always comes up good.

Originally Posted by Ianab

I've done a large computer desk where I joined 2 slabs together to get the width I needed.

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...d.php?p=337677

The trick is to be able to joint the edge of the slabs so they are straight and square. I use a router mounted on my mill frame, but a simpler router bridge would work too. Then I cut some slots in the faces and join them using splines. Much easier to keep lined up and should make for a stronger joint, especially if the surfaces aren't totally perfect. Dowels or biscuits would work too.

Cheers

Ian

Ianab when you say spline what do you mean, cheers.

Ianab when you say spline what do you mean, cheers.

Think like a biscuit join, but made out of thin hardwood (crossgrain) or even plywood.

Cut a thin groove in each slab and glue the little splines into each piece.

Dowels are another good option. They are all the same idea, just dowels are round and splines are flat. You could even call them floating tennons I guess.

Ian

I make a number slab tables and use (what I would call a spline) a strip of ply fitted into a slot terminating about 100 ml from each end of the table. I use 6mm ply because it fits neatly into a 6mm slot cutter groove that can be used in a router. Depth of groove is 12 mm on each slab and width of spline is 20mm. Glue is important, use epoxy glue and not pva, otherwise you will get a reaction from anything you use to finish the table with.
If you are thinking of mixing timber species, just be careful, because the expantion and shrink rate may differ and this may cause prolems.

Do you seal the slab ends being joined with paint or you leave it untreated.I just read a paint finish not sure what every one else uses.Paint the slab as normal with gloss varnish.Then abrade the dry surface with 000 steel wool, apply wax , not to much.Leave to dry then burnish with a clean cloth.This sounds good as it will have a hard finish and still retain the grain.

I always seal the ends and yes a spline is also a great way of joining them. It's like a tounge and groove except the tounge is removable (untill you glue it in) sometimes you see double splines also.

I always seal the slab ends with a spray ( 2 pack lacquer, satin) the same stuff as what the entire table is coated with.