Thread: Teak slabs

I am living in Indonesia and have recently come across a furniture factory that has a dozen or so desks made from teak. The tops are one piece slabs of teak approx 2.2m x 1.2m and vary from 7 to 10cm thick. They were all made about 4 yrs ago, but the foreman says the wood is very old. Most have some cracks from the ends which run from 20cm to 50cm long. My questions which I hope you experts may be able to help me with are:

Can such cracks be hidden?
Are the cracks likely to keep getting bigger.

What is the best way to seal the timber to help prevent movement when it is bought into an air conditioned house?

I want to make a dining table with the desk tops, will they need some form of bracing underneath to stop warping or will the thickness of the slab be enough on its own.

Slabs this size are rare, even here. Any idea what sort of value in Austrlais these slabs might have? Is it worth bring them home and having an expert make up some tables.

A lot of questions I know, but I would be grateful for any input.

Cheers,

Danny.

I've been tinkering with woodwork for a while bu only small stuff like little boxes and picture frames. This would be a major undertaking for me.