Slab master

[madbopper]

Anybody use one or know who has one.i have used one a couple of times but it was over in oz,just curious thinking of future projects.

[madbopper]

So if nobody uses one how are you all getting your slabs flat and true ?

[bobh]

Give us a photo so we know what you're talking about.

I think the answer to your question is... a ladder

[Goaty]

A quick google tells me its a kind of parallel arm that fits a sander. I think the general answer is we slab as accurate as we can, then smaller slabs can go through a planer thickenser. Larger pieces are not a major problem when not true, part of the rustic character.

[treequip]

Well here's the thing, this machine isn't the only way to get a board true, its been going on for decades, you can use a surface planer or a thicknesser

 

Can you even buy one of those on this side of the globe?

[bobh]

In that case please ignore the ladder comment, was a wild guess and was also wildly wrong

[Goaty]

In that case please ignore the ladder comment, was a wild guess and was also wildly wrong

 

It was a good shot though. I thought Paving Slabs:laugh1:

[madbopper]

Well here's the thing, this machine isn't the only way to get a board true, its been going on for decades, you can use a surface planer or a thicknesser

 

Can you even buy one of those on this side of the globe?

 

Of course there's many ways to skin a cat, but are you saying you would try to take out a 10 mm discrepancy in level over say a slab 2m long and 750mm wide with a hand plane?

And what sort of thicknesser can you put a 750mm slab through.

 

My mate has one in oz and it has a number of uses. He can put a rough cup on it and rip of a couple of mm in one pass, he then changes the cup for a sanding pad 150mm dia and just changes grit size until the finish is reached.

He also does a lot of tree stump art and the slab master allows him to do two cuts exactly parallel to each other so every point of contact with the floor is touching perfectly and the glass table top touches every point of contact also.

Hope that makes sense.

[treequip]

Of course there's many ways to skin a cat, but are you saying you would try to take out a 10 mm discrepancy in level over say a slab 2m long and 750mm wide with a hand plane?

And what sort of thicknesser can you put a 750mm slab through.

My mate has one in oz and it has a number of uses. He can put a rough cup on it and rip of a couple of mm in one pass, he then changes the cup for a sanding pad 150mm dia and just changes grit size until the finish is reached.

He also does a lot of tree stump art and the slab master allows him to do two cuts exactly parallel to each other so every point of contact with the floor is touching perfectly and the glass table top touches every point of contact also.

Hope that makes sense.

 

You said hand plane I said surface planer.

 

The thicknesser for 750mm would have Wadkin somewhere in one of its castings

 

My question to you is, why would you want a slab like that? Ok the occasional bar top but its a specialised bit of kit with limited use to the average UK arb.

 

Have you seen the finish you can get from a bandsaw or a chainsaw mill? Not that shabby if its set well

[Ian Leach]

A lot of the timber I get in is done on a bandsaw mill and the finish on that is fantastic, all I need to do is go over with it with my belt sander or by hand.