From slab to fab

[Bas]

Chris, a friend of mine is redoing his stairs. After installing a few Oak treads from Lowe's, he decided he didn't like them very much, especially not at that price. So he asked if I could help him fabricate some. First "external" project, whoohoo!

Jeff was going to get me some 5/4 lumber a couple of wood runs ago, but he accidentally brought 4/4. Which turned out to be a blessing in disguise! After learning I wanted to make treads, he offered up some BIG, MASSIVE Oak slabs. I had planned to just glue up boards to get the right width, but I couldn't pass this one up.

These boards were 10' long, 2' wide, with a thickness varying from 5/4 to 6/4. Big boys. Good thing Scott (NCScroller) was around with his truck. Here are a couple of pictures of the rough material:


The first thing I did was trim them down by cutting some of the sapwood and bark off the sides. Anything to get them more manageable. I also figured it would help with acclimating. Hot and dusty work!


After a few weeks of acclimating in the shop, it was time to turn lumber into stair treads. Now, my shop is pretty small. With all the stuff I have in there, handling a 4x4 sheet of plywood is a challenge, let alone 10' slabs. Even after I cut the boards to rough length using a circular saw, it was still tight.

First step was ripping the sides parallel. Cutting the bark and sapwood had left the boards extremely wavy, so jointing was not an option. I attached each board to a piece of MDF (letting the crooked edge hang over the MDF edge a bit) with some hot melt glue, and ripped one edge straight. Then popped off the board and ripped the other side. With boards this size, a helper is handy (still gotta build that outfeed table...).

(BTW, my little saw ripped through the 6/4 oak like it was hot butter! It's all about the blade... )

Since my jointer can't handle anything wider than 6", I used a planer sled. It's nothing more than a bunch of laminated sheets of MDF, and a stop. I shimmed each board with playing cards to make sure it wouldn't rock, then attached it with more hot melt glue. A few passes through the planer and one side was flat. Well, quite a few passes actually. You can only take off a VERY small amount with 12" wide boards! After that, pop off the board, and plane the other side parallel. Again, a helper is invaluable, that planer sled is HEAVY. And with an oak slab on top, it's HEAVIER.


After getting everything straight and flat, I let the boards acclimate further, and brought it down to 1" in stages. I did not want any warping at this point!


The next step was putting a bullnose on the boards. I set up my little router table, even added an auxiliary fence, but it wasn't working. The board was simply too wide for such a small table, it kept shifting. So instead I set up a jig on my workbench. The extra rail provided solid support for the router.



And yes, occasionally, I do have sawdust on the floor! Actually, this was after the first board, the place looked like a disaster area after the last one, dust EVERYWHERE. A router table would have done a better job managing the dust...yet another reason to build one. But the finished treads look great, a little sanding and they'll be ready for installation. I plan to do the final trimming on-site.



Working with slabs is not easy. You waste a lot of wood getting it flat and straight, but the result is very pretty. And you don't have to worry about matching the grain

The whole ripping and planing process took an entire afternoon. With larger equipment, it probably would have taken an hour. But, this is a hobby...no rush. The same goes for the routing, with a decent table I could have put the bullnoses on in no time. But it was cool figuring out how to build a jig for this. Certainly very satisfying, tackling large projects with small tools. I feel sorry for Travis, he'll never be able to appreciate this.

Woodworking is typically a lonely business, it was a lot of fun working on this together with my buddy Chris. Also a lot safer.

[Bas]

Originally Posted by Travis Porter

This reads like a documentary. What's gotten into you?

Originally Posted by newtowood

Great looking stair treads and awesome narrative with pics. Is this recent run of long narratives becoming your internet resume'?

Just trying out different writing styles. At work, everything is a PowerPoint presentation, and I noticed I started to think & write everything in bullet-point style . So this is a nice way to stop going insane (well, insaner at least)

[Bas]

Originally Posted by RandyJ

How did you get ol' Darth to help out in the shop?

Originally Posted by WoodWrangler

Is that Darth helping you?

Darth is pretty useful in the shop. He keeps the dust off the well pump, and whenever I drop a large board, he does the Force thing and catches it before it hits the ground. He also does the Jedi mind trick on my wife when I need to buy new tools!

Plus, by keeping him busy, I avoid being seduced by the Dark Side of wood turning

[Will Goodwin]

Originally Posted by Mike Callihan

Bas

Way to go, "where there is a will there is a way". Thanks for sharing.


Mike

I wasn't there....but good job Bas

Will

[sapwood]

Bas, your time in NC is paying off. Now you can add "get 'er done" to cheap frugal.

Travis, thanks for pointing out the change in style to narrative. I hadn't noticed and I like it. Just hope Bas didn't leave out any steps

Roger

[sawduster]

It is fascinating to see how these things are done
Good job and excellent ( as always ) WIP presentation

[DavidF]

although a power point presentation would have been pretty cool!! Nice job Bas, that shop of yours looks pretty well appointed....

Bas - I'm glad those slabs worked out for you and you were able to finish them up all heart wood and at 1" thick with no glue joints . You did them a lot of justice...

If you subtract all the planing, jointing and edge gluing time you would have had to do for laminated treads - you may have came out a little ahead of the game

I know those things were heavy to move around - I drug them out of the shop and loaded them in the back of my pickup by myself - glad you had a helper it made it a lot easier, I'm sure.

[Bas]

Originally Posted by jeff...

If you subtract all the planing, jointing and edge gluing time you would have had to do for laminated treads - you may have came out a little ahead of the game

Using the planer sled was time consuming. It takes quite a bit of time to shim each board, apply the glue, and run it through 6-8 times (per side). If I had ripped them into 6" boards, I would have had one glue line, and been able to use the jointer.

But who cares how long it took! Having SOLID treads is pretty darn cool. Also taught me a lot about laying out stock, as opposed to just cuttin' away. And no glue to scrape.

I know those things were heavy to move around - I drug them out of the shop and loaded them in the back of my pickup by myself - glad you had a helper it made it a lot easier, I'm sure.

Easier, and definitely safer. Ripping and planing odd-shaped boards is tricky, and requires just a bit more attention.

Originally Posted by Bas

Using the planer sled was time consuming. It takes quite a bit of time to shim each board, apply the glue, and run it through 6-8 times (per side). If I had ripped them into 6" boards, I would have had one glue line, and been able to use the jointer.

But who cares how long it took! Having SOLID treads is pretty darn cool. Also taught me a lot about laying out stock, as opposed to just cuttin' away. And no glue to scrape.

Easier, and definitely safer. Ripping and planing odd-shaped boards is tricky, and requires just a bit more attention.

Right I see what your saying - but this is were Earl has got us all licked - he's perfected the "drag your board behind your pickup - up and down the street till flat" technique Earl has yet to give us technique details - but I "think" he starts off in gravel, then on to blacktop and finished it off on cement - I'm sure speed and length of drag per board width has something to do with it too .

[nelsone]

Cool write up Bas! Nice job on the treads!

[junquecol]

Bas, do you have a stair tread gauge? It is jig used to measure the treads, so they fit on the first time. Measures both length and any end angle. Put where the tread is to go, adjust it to fit, then place on tread, mark and cut to size. If not, after I get back from IWF, maybe I can show you how to make one.

[Rod]

Man you did a great job with those Bas!

[JimmyC]

So Bas, how much did you get paid for that job. I guess you're just another one like the rest of us, doing it for the love of it, and to see if you can do it. Nice job.

Jimmy

[Gofor]

Great job and great write-up!! I am going through the same process of turning big ol' crooked boards (okay, so mine were only 8" wide) into square flat boards for a table. Still have to get everything the same thickness.
I used the same techniques as you, however my sled is more primitive, and for getting the straight edge, I was able to use a steel bed rail attached with carpet tape.

I do have one question: Did you also use the sled to get the twist out of the boards? (providing you had any). I used a hand plane to get the worst of it off the cupped side and then used the sled for the remainder.
When using your power jointer for narrower boards, do you remove the twist first, or do you have an extension table?

Go

PS, it has taken me most of a week to get to the same place you were the first day!!