4 Tips For Buying WOOD SLABS! (Wood Slab Furniture / Tables -- Urbn Timber, Columbus, Ohio)

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URBN TIMBER--Columbus, Ohio

For surfaced and sanded slabs, finishing epoxies, and custom slab woodworking pieces, contact Urbn Timber at their website. Their work and products are extraordinary!

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Choosing wood slabs, and using them for projects, is not as simple as it seems. Every step involved in the process of finding a wood slab and turning it into a custom piece of furniture (such as tables, desks and countertops) is fraught with possible failures.

This week, I teamed up with URBN TIMBER in Columbus, Ohio to discuss 4 tips for buying wood slabs. These pointers will help you avoid mistakes when developing your wood slab furniture.

4 Tips For Buying WOOD SLABS! (Wood Slab Furniture / Tables -- Urbn Timber, Columbus, Ohio)

#1. Plan Around Durability: Different wood species have different grain densities. Hardwoods such as Red Oak, White Oak, Hickory and Hard Maple are extremely resistant to scarring, so they make for good slab surfaces. Softwoods such as Pine and Cedar can still be used, as well as Soft Hardwoods like Elm, Walnut and Soft Maple--but they will often need thicker epoxy finishes to make them durable.

#2. Know Your Moisture Content: Acceptable moisture content for a newly purchased slab is about 8-12%. In order to achieve this MC throughout a slab, a mill must sticker stack slab sections for up to 12-24 months, then kiln dry for several weeks at temperatures ranging from 90 degrees to 145 degrees. Check the moisture content of your purchase slabs with a pinless moisture meter to find out their moisture content at the surface and core.

#3: Evaluate Flatness: Wide slabs are prone to cupping and warpage. In order to achieve a very flat slab, Urbn Timber will route/plane slabs down in shallow passes, flipping the piece between passes and giving it time to constantly adjust to its new shape. This is called "Surfacing," and it can't be rushed.

#4: Consider Outsourcing: If you would like to purchase and use a slab for a project, consider outsourcing various steps in the process to a professional. These steps include: felling the tree and cutting layered sections; drying and kiln-drying; surfacing and sanding; and finishing, often with epoxy chemicals.

Thanks for watching!

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[Indowwindows]

Thanks for such a detailed explanation of how wood slab furniture is made!

[clayswenson]

Our daughter lives in Columbus. This is on my bucket list for our next visit.

[mosusumedikenneth]

This channel has really inspired me to start my own YouTube channel all the way from South Africa..great job

[eligebrown]

Glad I found your video. Had no idea about the drying time.

[ivisbohlen]

Gorgeous...a showstopping centerpiece. I'll check out their shop online just for fun.

[shawnupdegraff]

I’ve been wanting to make a bench for the front porch, coffee table, mantle and hearth for electric fireplace. Very helpful video for me as I’ve been checking slabs out for awhile! New subscriber and enjoying what I’ve seen, thanks again.

[ronmack]

Enjoyed the video Ethan. That's interesting information and important to know. Thanks for taking the time to produce the video. Y'all take care and God bless.

[js]

I’ve always harbored a distaste for slab furniture. I don’t know why. The only thing worse to me is the slab door table thing people nail together.

[pthsdo]

Shocked at the prices on the slabs... That's probably 1/3 compared to Southern California... Beautiful slabs

[RajaUbhi]

Thanks dude!

Love and Respect from Canada.

[tinatipps]

On my list to try one day. Thanks for sharing

[praveenpm]

Hi bro....u r videos and work awesome 👌... I'm Praveen from tamilnadu, india

[sturdyboneswoodworking]

I know Roy personally! He’s coming to mill out a bunch of cedar and ash for me in a few weeks! Are you NC based?

[williamwilson]

Where is the best place to find 1x6x6 cedar for flower pot

[ForestHealth]

For me slabs are beautiful because i can`t stand 90 degrees. But before buying i would like to know why the hell that huge majestic tree was cut down? If it was recently fallen by itself, then yes - i will buy.

[heystarfish]

Locally available slabs near me are all ridiculously overpriced for the amount of work you need to do for furniture making. This s whole epoxy river table crap ran up the cost too high for low cost lumber. They can keep it.

[frankmckie]

What these guys are up to is amazing... but it's no me. Wood furniture should be natural and that means for me a wee bit rougher, if you want smooth clean finished furniture well there's plenty of shops selling that stuff, Gid show none the less. Scotland

[monkeygraborange]

While I certainly appreciate the level of work and craftsmanship that goes into creating slab furniture, I think river tables are just uniformly hideous. Sorry, you asked!

[WHATAGIRLWANTS]

I like you channel, but this was simply a commercial for urbn timber.