How to Flatten a Slab Several Ways | Dining Room Table
Flattening two Oak slabs for a Dining table. this will be an 11 foot long and 50-inch wide dining room table build. In this video, we look at how to flatten slabs. we will go over a couple methods. Flattening with a hand plane or power plane is much the same, but flattening with a router sled is a lot faster.
VIdeo on flattening with hand tools: • How to Flatten a bench...
Table build series: • Live Edge Slab Top Din...
Power plane used: amzn.to/2FCwsRU
Power plane VS hand Plane. • Power Tool Vs Hand Too...
--Tools I Use--
www.woodbywright.com/tool-sugg...
Shop apron I use - amzn.to/2xuzxTm
--Book I am Listening to in the video--
Fight or flight (Magic 2.0 Book 4) (8 out of 10) - amzn.to/2DuTWqX
Audible membership I use - amzn.to/2nPw0rs
Top Patreon Supporters:
Erich Keane - github.com/erichkeane
Kyle Prince -
Travis Reese -
William Fleming -
////Help this channel grow\\\\
www.woodbywright.com/support/
////You Can find me:\\\\
www.woodbywright.com/contact-me/
////Creators Colective Live\\\\
/ @creatorscollective6591
Music By. Tim Sway timsway.net/
Nothing wrong with being a purist, or a hybrid or a purely power tool wood worker. Just as long as your working with wood and loving every minute of it ! I think this is going to be an amazing table when completed !
So true! thanks!
Hah You had me cracking up with the Stanley router plane in the sled. Too funny.
Lol thanks. I could not resist.
Looking forward to watching the project progress. Loved the hand router sled :-)
LOL thanks Barry!
WOW! Love the Blue throughout the wood! It is a REAL tree! AND you made your Daddy HAPPY to see you use POWER TOOLS again! That is how you was raised, boy! Love it! and you!
LOL I thought he would like that sled!
Finally found someone who can help us newbies. Nice.
glad i could help out. let me know if you ever have questions. you may want to check out the second channel Wood By Wright How 2. that is where all the teaching is now.
@@WoodByWright thanks so much man!
This is absolutely fantastic! Great job James.
thanks man!
That’s going to be a great looking table, can’t wait to see the rest!
You and me both man.
James, you are a Gem, the "who am I kidding" part, put a smile on my face. Thank you for showing this, amazing and huge task. God bless.
Thanks sam. Glad that step is done!
Nice!! I look forward to the whole series. Cheers!!!!
Thanks man. Me too.
Thankyou, this was exactly what i have been looking for in reference to power planer, and manual planing as well. The segment on “reading” the twist was very helpful as well. I have subscribed and look forward to seeing more of your videos.
Thanks. My pleasure.
Thank you! I was looking for ways to plane a large size at one time abd this gave me multiple options!!! Will be following you for woodworkibg now.
Amazing lesson of planning and strategy. THANKS !!! 📌📌📌
Some times it just makes sense
Great work, especially liked the winding stick camera angle and board twist analysis.
Thanks Richard. It is one of those parts that is hard to see but once you do it is easy to visualize
This is immense!!! Gonna be one heck of an awesome table, James!!
I am looking forward to eating at it!
Looks big enough to seat at least half your entire subscriber base round it!! :-D
Practical over pure. Hybrid wood working. I prefer that. Best of both worlds
so true. If I did not have a hand tool channel I would so be that way.
thnx James.......I am extremely excited for this build.......On a different note,I finished that keepsake box and gave it away already......if you would like to see it I could email you a couple pics so you can see what I do....(or try to do sometimes)......let me know
Extremely helpful! Got me a router
The backdrop you have, that wall of hand planers. You, sir, are a gentleman. As Jerry Seinfeld said when asked how many Porche's he owns, he responded, more than a reasonable person would say is okay... But, he's Jerry Seinfeld. And you, are the Hand Plane King.
Lol thanks man.
Good info man. Thank you
Great job!! Sometimes the power tools are necessary, I think that most of the time the hand tools are just so much more fun ☺Can't wait to see the epoxy pour
I am so in the same boat
I think it is a smart move on a project this big to bring a few power tools in. Well done!
Yup there is a time and a place for every tool.
Fantastique projet de bonne complexité! Hâte de voir la suite :) Bravo !
Merci mec. toi et moi tous les deux!
Always great videos
I would have invited 4-5 woodworkers with hand planes and went at it as a team. This is going to be awesome when it’s done. Can’t wait to see next video.
lol that sounds like a fun time.
These slabs are beyond beautiful 😊
thanks!
Love it James!
thanks Ian
Killer job so far!
Thanks man!
I thought about getting on your case for using power tools but I used my table saw yesterday. I did it to save time just like you.
Lol some times it is just smart!
do all the youtube woodworkers live on the same block o O . have watched this a few times. love it
Ça donne faim de vidéo... vivement que l’on passe à table 😉 Bon courage pour la suite car il semble que beaucoup de travail t’attend
Il y a beaucoup de travail à venir. Je suis impatient de voir cela fait.
Nice work as usual. Btw, I remember that No.8 Bench Plane take gold in an Olympic bobsled competition.
Lol nice!
Thank you for the video. I'm planning something very similar, only I'll be butting the two bookmatched slabs on the ends to make the table top longer, rather than butterflying them to make it wider. One slab is already relatively flat, but the other one has a lot of checking and warped by quite a bit. I need a good way to flatten it so they're both consistent thicknesses without losing too much thickness, and this video helped me visualize the process a lot better. Thank you!
I guess Im asking randomly but does any of you know a method to get back into an Instagram account?? I stupidly forgot the account password. I would love any help you can offer me
@Phillip Darwin Instablaster =)
Just as we're flying out the door! Will watch later...cheers...rr
LOL perfect timing!
Epic!
Very nice work. I mostly use hand tools but do use a few power tools to reduce some prep time. I have a Shop Smith Mark 7 with all of the accessories. I use it when cutting compound miters on geodesic dome struts. Cutting that many struts by hand would be an exercise in ignorance. When I build furniture my tools are human powered and even he post and beam buildings are genuinely hand built. My collection of planes are both wooden and iron. My chisels are hand forged Japanese except for a set I forged when learning blacksmithing.
Sounds like a nice collection fo tools!
Great job showing us the different ways we can flatten big slabs, and for putting in the power tools you used 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 I do have a question after seeing you move them big beasts. Is there a way you can join them with out glue? That way you can move them up stairs one at a time and not break anyone’s back?
I thought about that but then there will always be a floating joint for water and other junk to get into. Though it sounds like a lot it really is not that dificult to move the whlow thing as one pece
Wow, those are massive. The table is going to be spectacular. Love the hand router sled, that was awesome!! DOn't feel like you have to apologize for breaking otu the power tools, they are appropriate for the job. Even Paul Sellers goes to the band saw sometimes ;)
LOL thanks man. really looking forward to taking this upstairs.
Once I saw that cough in the beginning I was like oh yeah he made this video pre-covid when a cough was a cough lol. Never would have kept that in today haha. Thanks for the info!
Lol yup
Looking forward to the epoxy portion. I am also building a massive dining room table and have never used epoxy...but need to
It is a lot of fun. As long as you don't have to leak. Said it's not as much fun.
Holy moly, I thought you were going to die at :28. You couldn't edit that out? Dude.
Love the videos, can't wait to see the shooting boards for that end grain!!
lol just the hand plane for that.
Every power tool saves a lot of time. That's what they were designed to do (along with improving accuracy, as far as they go). We even have a tool to do the woodworking part (CNC) so you don't actually have to work very hard to end up with great projects. Time saving is a slippery slope, man. But, it's absolutely no substitute for feel. Keep crafting and making great videos.
At a certain point you also have to respect your time (which ties into cost, especially if you’re doing work for a client) and recognize that the other side of the coin is getting caught up in the ideal at the expense of all else. I think the questions we need to ask ourselves are 1. Does this make the difference between me doing this vs not even attempting it (in terms of time and money)? 2. Will sticking to only hand tools detract from my enjoyment of woodworking here? And 3. Will using a power tool allow me to do a *better* job here? Better job is very subjective, of course, and it’s certainly not synonymous with having “perfect” surfaces (we generally see a craftsperson’s marks as a positive), but I think you know what I mean. For instance, a heat gun is very much a power tool with no good analog option. And from recent personal experience, I can say that an impact driver allowed me to free some seized bolts that otherwise would have been too awkward to get at with a brace (or may have stripped out without the jarring action allowing less power to free it).
Beautifully explained James. I have the exact big honking Triton planer. It sure does do the job quickly. I use it for hogging off the big stuff before using a router sled. Unfortunately, it requires a snow shovel for clean-up if not connected to dust collection. I am liking this build.
I love that beast. really makes things a lot easer.
A hand router on a sled... LOL. This is going to be a beautiful table for sure. Will definitely be keeping an eye out for each video. (Like I don't anyway).
LOL thanks Thomas!
Great video, i just finished a 155” x 43” Claro walnut slab but i was lucky enough to get it after it had been thickness planed. After four months and 18 coats of varnish i finally finished but hated to deliver it to my customer because it had become part of the family! I wanted to ask if your slabs have been air dried or kiln dried? I had been told mine was kiln dried but after four months in the customer s house the boring beetles started to exit the slab. Needless to say say the customer wasn’t incredibly happy but happily we got rid of the beetles (i hope). Thanks again for the video! Jt, Roseville ca
OH NO FUN! This one was air dried. from Matt Cremona's back yard.
When it comes to bull work it’s not bad to have a back up plan with power like say if you have a couple large slabs lol. Awesome video and to my surprise the router sled went quicker than the power planer. And James when you first made the sled and had your hand tool router in I was laughing so hard because for that quick second I was going what the what and then it clicked. Thank you for a great laugh but also a kinda how to on such large pieces, I haven’t crossed that bridge yet but will one day.
LOL thanks Thom. this was a fun one to play with.
Wood By Wright when the Hand Plane Started I told the Wife OMG this is going to take forever THEN CLICK, Too Funny ! Great Job in all !
"but I'm not a purist" - The guy who installed hard wood floors, and counter tops with hand tools only.
LOL I got to draw the line someware!
Come to the dark side!
Exactly my thoughts. I was like, yeah man, definitely not a purist
Didn't he giggle like an insane person when he finally done with it, though. Man's gotta know his limits! :-)
You and Matt need to be careful 😂. You and slabs that look like he cut and him with his big log he finds and try’s to move by himself. We need you guys to be safe so we can continue to learn! Nice job, keep it up.
Yup they are from Matt's stash. I draw the line at 300lb
Hi James. Like the slab, can I make a suggestion, get Sarah to help you turn large item. Second hernia is a killer.
How did you make sure that the frame for your router produced a flat surface, both the non-moving part and the sliding box? How did you make sure that it didn't sag, just a bit, as you worked? I haven't been woodworking that long, and these are problems I've run into. The making of that jig and addressing the issues of making sure it stayed flat and cut a flat surface would be helpful to users of either a hand router or a power router.
The wood is stiffenough that it won't sag much. All you have to do is make sure the outside rails are coplanar to each other.
Awesome James.Don't be ashamed of the power planer.It is called saving the body. Great Job. I can't wait to see the table.Is this for the wife or for a customer ?
the table is for me. my wife likes it but it is my table.
Those are some giant slabs. I would (am) use power tools too.
Lol yup some projects are just not worth it
Great video with a lot of helpful information. If I could I have one little helpful tip. Rather than using a pencil try a piece of chalk. It comes off easily and you can color code to identify different aspects of the project.
interesting idea might have to experiment with it! thanks!
Wood By Wright. It has been helpful for me. I use kids sidewalk chalk to get a couple colors. For me the color red points out areas not to touch at this time, yellow is areas that need attention and green are areas that a good.
thank you
Any time Walter!
Im glad there was a warning at the start hehe :P That Triton planer is a beast tho man, you should call it the 8 1/2 hahaha Could you imagine how long it woulda took to level that with your Stanley 71 router sled :P 13mm wide by 0.4mm deep per pass.....youd still be there today flattening with it :/
This man went from mostly non power tool saint to full blown power sinner 😂, i don’t care how you do it as long as it’s real wood and not just mass produced
For my one uses a hand tool for enjoy the work, but sometimes it's better used power tools for grind work, that work that anybody enjoy. So pretty cool table gonna be a challenge assembly of that many pounds, for my anything that weigh more than a 1/4 of my body it's a hell to move.
it will be fun for sure to put together.
Love this video, I just my electric hand planer to flatten a slab and got these lines either side, I sanded from 60-400 so it's completely smooth and flat but the lines still show ever so slightly, can anyone advise how to make them disappear?? Thanks
You need to take off about another 100th of an inch. I would probably say a card scraper would be the fastest way. And then go back through the sanding.
I can see the back muscles straining from Oz. I'm making / flattening a 16ft, 16inch x 2 1/2 hardwood top (Murray Red Gum), for a guys outdoor Patio. I think it competes quite well with your slab weight. Ok I'm using power tools, but I have had my No6 out to do some small fineness ing
oh ya. still got to come in with the hand tools to do a lot of clean up.
17.45 in you talk about time, having to do x in a given time, you have all the time in the world to do stuff. As for mechanical means to do something, go for it. For those that complain don't stress they would complain about everything anyway. Cheers
I have a 30” x 50” maple slab I’m using for a dining room table. It slopes off up to 1/4” in two opposite corners. The reverse side has a cup up to 1/8”. Do recommend planing it down to the lowest point? Does it matter if the cup or the crown faces up?
It all depends on how much material you have to work with. And a perfect world you would plan everything down to the lowest point on both sides and that would give you your final thickness but in reality a lot of times people want something that's a little bit thicker than that and so they live with a table top that isn't quite perfectly flat. On my top there's actually a bit of a twist from corner to corner making it a quarter inch different from one corner all the way to the other corner but over such a large distance no one can tell.
The coughing in the beginning... Covid-19: this video did'nt age well did it? Seriously, those are some nice slabs. I'm a beginner handtool woodworker and appreciate the transition from power to hand tools. I want to build up to being able to do a nice farmhouse kitchen table with just hand tools. Have learned a lot from your videos, paul sellars, and cosman.
Lol. Thanks man. If there is ever anything I can help with let me know
would it be possible to build a two by four with a groove down the length of the short side, that will fit art charcoal pencils (the long rectangluar ones you have to slide out of the paper to use), that way you can drag it along a piece and it would show you all the high spots and low spot in one go? then all youd have to do is sand the high spots until they matched the low spots. (while occasionally re marking for visual reference)
You could but it would probably be easier to just use winding sticks and a straightedge to find the highspots. And I don't know if you would want to use a sander as most slabs are out of flat by more than a quarter inch.
Should make a little model lake with a boat to put in that pit before epoxy. Or waterfall. Those look awesome under epoxy
Lol I thought about it. We will see.
Wood By Wright hey, you never know. That table could go on for hundreds of years with a story built into it.
I absolutely agree with TheMayflowerPilgrim -- everything from objets d'art to a kid's first favorite toy (uh, maybe not the drool stained SpongeBob SquarePants...) could be the genesis of family stories and memories. Go for it! Clyde
Your electric planer has tapped hole on each side. So you could mount it on a sled to use it on your flattening jig. The motor is 1500W so it can make serious material removal and leave a good surface finish if leveled properly.
Thx 4 the smile.
LOL my pleasure
Power tools just let you get yourself in trouble faster. If you're careful they can really save you time. If you're NOT careful you get to start over, and over, and over.... Great project here. This table will be stunning.
SO true. most of them do not sense flesh like hand tools do too.
Exactly. He would never had had his tools gouge out a huge chunk like the router did either. With hand tools you can see your mistakes before they become major problems.
Or, you could just tighten the bit properly to start with.
Jason Bye lol in this case I did, but the cheap collit worked lose twice on it.
Cheap power tools let you make mistakes even faster. They really cut down on time wasted on perfection.
Hi After some advice, I'm attempting my first river table and have brought an 7ft walnut slab, its cupped and when I flatten down 1 half with the cupped side down the other half of the slab is about 1 1/4 inch higher, and its a just over 2 inch in thickness, am I best to split it in half to save more depth? or shall I use my router sled and try to keep it in one piece? kind regards
it all depends on you and what you want. splitting in half saves wood but then you may have to live with that seam when it is done.
Really good video. Call me silly but how will you get it your basement or workshop once done as it’s really big
it is a fairly straight shot up the stairs to the dining room. with a few friends, it will go smoothly.
Very good information. But where the hell is your hearing protection?!?!? Love these kinds of tops, can't wait to see how it comes out.
Thanks. Is it your plugs are in my ears.
What about doing with the eletric plane the same that you did with the eletric router?
That would be a pain to rase the slab that often. It takes almost as long to shim up the slab as it does to run it
Couldn't we shim the board to the final position by setting the rails there? The plane could go freehand over the rails, what would matter is that it does not go under the rails.
There might be a way to sling the plane under neeth, but it would be an interesting rig. And you do not always know where finished is tell you get close. It would be interesting to figure out.
Judging by your cough and sniffles I think you're allergic to power tools! Also protip: if you get a short enough straight edge then you'll never have a cupped board! Works every time! :P
LOL I like it!
Question: Would putting the electric planner on the sled rather than the router not be faster? Seems like the you could hog much more material than the router bit.
It is actually slower. I tried that. You have to spend more time ajusting up and down.
I feel like I've been issued a challenge!
Have you thought of flipping the table over and sort of spooning the table tops into each other with straight edges on the side
it crossed my mind but I really like the live edge. It makes everything that much more fun.
I don't know how to search on a phone but do you have any videos on flattening twisted boards with hand planes?
sure. here is flattening a twisted bench. kzhead.info/sun/aJeglp2bpqVjqWg/bejne.html and here is flattening lumber. kzhead.info/sun/pp2IYNiQoX2LbJE/bejne.html
@@WoodByWright thanks so much!
As long as it feels like wood “working” and not wood “holding and eating a sandwich at the same time,” I’m down with what you choose to use :)
LOL I like that definition!
The dark blue epoxy covered by the clear just *begs* for little ships and islands in-between!
LOL that would be fun!
Instead of flattening the thicker slab after joining them I would shim up the thinner one for the joining. It will preserve a much closer book match.
I will be doing a bit of both. the underside will be left fairly uneven but will be flattened where the table connects.
Are you Dutch? Because you wear wooden shoes! I wear them every day (i am Dutch) Great video.
not Dutch. just love them for the shop. I wear them every day.
Just a thought... In the large voids you have... You could add keepsakes from your family inside of the epoxy if it is going to be clear. Not tinted
thanks man. I thought about that. it would be fun. I also thought about encasing some old tool. I think my wife just wants clear though.
So, you were routed by the slab?
LOL yup!
Ай ноу , ок вэры бэг , оф чилдрэн оурай
What kind of router did you get for$20 and where I can get that?
It was the cheapest one at Menards. But you can get them at Harbor freight.
@@WoodByWright thank you very much
I don't blame you, there's a reason why power tools exist.
...and your wife probably doesn't want to wait 6 months for her dining table.
Lol I yup.
Wouldn't the power plane on the sled more efficient?
it would seam that way but do to how little it takes off it is actually not. plus it would take a lot more to make a sled to fit the power plane and keep it flat. I have made those in the past and they generally take far more time if you are taking off more then 1/8"
💣
I picked up the triton power planer for $80 like new
Nice! Now that is a deal?
Why don't you make a diagonal release cut under the slab leaving only let say 1/4" uncut on top, clamp it down, and fill the release cut with epoxy.
that is a possibility, but often takes more work then just flattening it as you still have to flatten it. if you are really worried about thickness that would be a great option though.
@@WoodByWright With and hand saw yes. But since you have some cracks to fill with epoxy that would only be on more. Also, the slab would remain thicker this way.
Waiting for epoxy tho 😍
you and me both. it will be fun!
Easy to see you are not in Canada....talking about a $20 router, you could hardly get the plug in on the end of the cord for that here.
Editing is super easy once you get the hang of it.
you should use power tools more often
I eventually want to start a second channel for hybrid woodworking we will see.
2.8 x 1 m
Just do it God!
You should move to Ohio and be my neighbor. We could send it over the jointer to start 😉
LOL that sounds like fun!
If they[re upset I guess the "purists" could bring a tree trunk into their own basements and have at it with nothing but hand tools. I think what you're doing is awesome...
LOL thnaks Bill!
First! Fourth time!
LOL nice man!
I actually didn't think you had electricity in your shop lol.
Lol I need to find a hand crank camera.
AAAAAAAARRRRGH POWER TOOOLS????!!!! No problem. For Donkey work I also use power tools. Nobody is a purist or else you would be chopping down a tree and then...
lol sounds about right!
Don't forget the biggest power tool of all-Matt's band saw. I forgive you man. I saw men(barefooted) in Kenya using a two man saw to slab eucalyptus trees for a church. No electricity. Men in the 1700's who used bench planes would have gladly used a power planer. For my age and health I have to use both.
yup. I had a blast the couple times I got to help Matt build that beast. so cool. this slab was actually cut before that. But still a chain saw. I do have some lumber I have milled with a pit saw. that is a ton of fun!
Impressive. Is a pit saw what I saw in Kenya with a man above and man below?
yup. it can be surprisingly fast, but no way near a band saw or even a chain saw.