HUGE piece of bubinga

I have been eying this giant piece of bubinga on Bell Forest Products (http://www.bellforestproducts.com/hand-picked/2396/).

I have never worked with Bubinga or a piece this large. One of my concerns is flattening the piece as I have never had to flatten a board without the use of a jointer or planer. The other concern is just the over-all size.

I have been looking for a nice board for a table top that is wide enough itself or could be resawn and used as book matched panels. This piece is obviously large enough and would probably use 7 to 8 feet of length for the table top.

I was also considering keeping the live edges on the table which I think would look very cool.

Is there anything I should be careful about with a piece this large? Any suggestions on flattening this board?

Thanks.

Tags: bubinga, edge, huge, live

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Permalink Reply by Philip Sharpe on November 2, 2009 at 11:20am: That's a lot of bubucks for bubinga but then, that's a lot of bubinga I wouldn't let the size scare me away. If nothing else you can have a commercial shop flatten it for you. If it were mine, I'd build a jig and use a router to flatten it. Has it been kiln dried? if not, leave it alone until it's air dried to 5-6% and hope that split doesn't get any longer. You may have to have someone dry it for you because it can be hard to reach 5% in some environments.

Good luck!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Andrew Schaeffer on November 2, 2009 at 12:00pm: It is kiln dried and I've been told that it has been on the racks in the warehouse for quite some time.

It is somewhat pricey but the Guild discount and free shipping make up for it.

I have read about the router method for flattening a wide board and it is probably a safer bet than having this be the first project that I attempt using hand planes for flattening.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Kenneth on November 2, 2009 at 1:26pm: I think it looks kinda generic for bubinga, and wonder if you could get a piece that large of a different species so it's not so expensive.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Carolynne on November 3, 2009 at 5:40pm: I love live edge pieces -yessssss very cool; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Steven on November 12, 2009 at 3:19pm: Kenneth said:
I think it looks kinda generic for bubinga, and wonder if you could get a piece that large of a different species so it's not so expensive.

I agree, dont you guys think a table top would look realy good if you could get a black walnut flitch (live edged) that size with the great contrast in heart wood and sap wood..............; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Vic Hubbard on November 12, 2009 at 6:21pm: Wow..they do free shipping? That's incredible for a piece that big!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Doug McKirdy on November 12, 2009 at 8:35pm: If they are getting $2000 for a single stick of wood, they should ship it for free! Bell Forest Products says they are a full service wood mill, so they should be able to flatten it on one or both sides for a nominal fee.

I don't think they normally do free shipping.

I think it would be an awesome table. Good luck.

Doug; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Lazy Larry on November 23, 2009 at 3:37am: You could possibly take a look at the Torque Work Centre
This machine will be able to handle surfacing that slab.
And it is also an over head router, radial arm saw and radial arm drill... check it out and see what you think.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Michael Greenwood on November 28, 2009 at 7:18pm: I'm new and I would have to agree. Owl lumber by me in Des Plaines IL has a stack of similar size live edge bubinga and it's highly figured. Don't know anything about price MHO only

Kenneth said:
I think it looks kinda generic for bubinga, and wonder if you could get a piece that large of a different species so it's not so expensive.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Tom Buhl on November 28, 2009 at 7:39pm: Do you know how much that piece weighs? Bubinga is incredibly heavy. The one major piece I made with some showy bubinga had board narrow enough that I was able to use jointer/planer with some tricks for initial dimensioning. After that I was afraid to take a hand plane to it. Lots of hand scraping for the important elements. Keep in mind that Bubinga is very tough on tool edges. Keep us posted should you go ahead with this project. Could be a great story.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jim Lewis on December 7, 2009 at 10:05pm: I'm surprised it's that thin for that money. I agree with Kenneth about the plainness.

It doesn't look particularly warped, but you could always ask them. They will certainly describe it on the phone for you.

If they can't plane it, consider a power plane. You could get it substantially flat in an hour, and you'd just be getting started milling with a router. If you had already made the setup, that is.

When working a difficult wood (and plain grain bubinga shouldn't be) go at angles to the length to avoid chipout. It also helps to flatten it if you work the angles. Then a belt sander at 60x, yadda yadda. If it takes you a day to sand it you are still ahead of the game, considering the time you saved by not having to match or glue the wood. Uh, except for needing three helpers every time you try to move it.

Good luck whatever you decide.

JIm; ▶ Reply to This