Slab Furniture

[jdc123]

Please note it's not finished, and the image I originally posted was simply to show the joint style that I think might work well on slab furniture.

Here's a shot of the sub-top assembled, showing the stringer:

In case anyone was wondering, here's the top. Again, not finished yet:

The wood is a New Zealand Native called Rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum). It was pulled out of an old farm building that was otherwise going to be razed (Dear Timber [insert the deity of your choice here], forgive them farmers, for they know not what they do).

If I think of it, I'll grab a few photos of some big outdoor bench-type seats that could be a great hybrid slab/post option if you guys are slabbing and able/patient enough to cut some fat (maybe 16"x16" or so) posts/cants with your saws also. I did some slightly more formal variations out of Macrocarpa (Cupressus macrocarpa), you lot might know it as Monterey Cypress, a while go but am sure they'd look good with a slab and post combo.

View attachment 251952
View attachment 251951

Beautiful wood!

 

[KiwiBro]

To tighten them up, if needed, I use a wedge in the natural checks in the tenons.

Good Idea. I've seen it done that way and made a feature out of by using a darker coloured wood for the wedges. This was on a slab table with four posts as the legs. Wanted the look very simple but wanted some strength to the leg/top joins so drilled the tops right through with a hole saw, did a matching tenon on the posts and drove darker coloured wedges into the end grain of the leg tenon, in a cross-hair pattern. Looked good and a solid join. Had solid wood to begin with though and no chance of making an existing crack bigger under stress.