camphor laurel cofee table

[david devine]

G,day
Hi guys and girls my name is dave ,i live in W.A.
I have been reading the forum for quite a while, but this is my first post.
Myself and agood mate have been slabbing a lot of timber,marri ,jarrah ,sheoak
and what ever else we can salvage off new development sites.
I recently sanded up a nice camphor laurel slab for a cofee table,but as i am not a very experienced wood worker i was hoping one or two of you kind gentlemen could give me some advice on filling and finishing the slab. The slab still has about 18% moisture is this to soon to finish it.


THANX for any advice
Dave Devine

[artme]

G'day Dave and welcome to the site.

Expect a rush of enquries about that timber.

[david devine]

Thanx for the welcome.
slabs are mostly very big 3to 4meters x 1to 1.2 meters wide and very heavy freight would probably cause some problems, thinking of having an auction down the track.


dave.

[budgieman]

Wish someone would slab my 40ft camphor! Only joking. Love the living but what a table, lounge, bedhead, coffee table, shed, telegraph pole etc it would make! Welcome and come on in.
Cheers
Steve

[Ed Reiss]

Hi Dave and welcome to the forums!

A cabinet-maker friend recommends NOT putting a finish on until the wood has equalized to about 8 to 10 percent. Now, having said that, he finishes with catalyzed lacquer, which if applied at a higher moisture content, in time it will develop a milky looking "bloom", as it traps the moisture.

Don't think this would happen with an oil finish though.

[david devine]

Hi Ed
thanx for the tip, ihave seen the milky look your talking about.
because of the hi oil content in camphor an oil finish is probably the way to go.

cheers
Dave.