Fashionable modern material for the manufacture of various furniture and interior items are wood slabs. Such environmentally friendly products made of natural wood with a unique pattern and texture fit well into rooms in loft, country and Scandinavian minimalism.
What is wood slabs?
In fact, slabs are longitudinal woods of wood. The name comes from the English word “Slab” which translates as a plate. At first, the term was used in the processing of stone to designate raw materials for countertops and other products, and then migrated to the sphere of woodworking. The fundamental differences between slabs and other wood materials are:
- The thickness of the finished plate is from 5 to 15 cm.
- SLEB is made from the lower, thicker, part of the barrel.
- Such material is a whole plate without any connection.
- All edges are left either unprocessed or emphasized their natural relief.
- The material is made for the subsequent creation of unique furniture or interior items with a unique line of lines and natural defects. Doors from the slabs of wood are a fashion trend in modern design.
What kind of tree are slabs make from?
Most wooden slabs are made on professional mobile sawmills with special lifting mechanisms, because many trees have an impressive weight. The wood can be used the most different:
- For the production of window sills, racks and countertops, oak, larch, karagach, walnut, maple are used.
- More expensive furniture can be made of valuable breeds – tick, boxwood and beech.
- Theoretically, any tree, regardless of its value and density, can be cut into slabs and used in the production of exclusive furniture.
Production of wood slabs – technology
High -quality woods are produced according to a certain technology, which allows you to preserve the unique wood texture and pattern, all natural knots and irregularities. On an industrial scale, this process consists of the following stages:
- The selection of a tree by a specialist. The quality of the spill depends on the wood breed, growing conditions and the individual characteristics of the culture.
- Transportation of raw materials to a sawmill, since very long and powerful saws are needed to saw some logs.
- Directly sawing raw materials on slabs made of wood.
- Drying of workpieces by a natural or artificial method.
- Processing workpieces with special compounds.
- Transportation of finished products for the manufacture of furniture, doors and interior decor.
How to make wood slaves?
To make wood slabs with your own hands, it is important to choose the right raw material. For these purposes, in the spring-summer period, trees with a large number of branches, branches and growths that will look spectacular in the saw are chosen. After choosing a suitable option, you need to decide on the method of the cut:
- The log can be attributed to a professional sawmill, where it will be divided into the required number of parts. However, this method involves the transportation of raw materials, which is not always possible.
- It is quite realistic to cut wood on the slabs on SLEB with a manual sawmill. The power of such an unit is much lower than industrial, but it is enough for episodic use.
With independent work. We’ll have to choose from two technologies:
- The classic method involves dividing the log into equal parts with the exception of the core. The middle segment is left thicker due to the tendency to the formation of cracks.
- The dissolution of gluing somewhat contradicts the traditional definition of slab, but is also used by some masters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpq9uy-cib8
How to dry a wood slab with your own hands?
After the question was studied, how to make a slab made of wood with your own hands, it is necessary to understand the intricacies of drying the raw materials, because most of the success of the entire production depends on it. Technologically, drying can be carried out:
- naturally;
- In specialized drying chambers.
On their own, it is much easier to ensure natural drying. For this you need:
- Choose a suitable place. It should not be too sunny or raw.
- Build a canopy and put with stacks each workpiece so that there are necessarily air gaps.
- The wood dries about 2-2.5 cm per year, so to obtain a harvesting of medium thickness, you need to wait at least two years. The degree of moisture is measured by a special device – wood moisture.
DIY slab processing
In the manufacture of wood slabs with your own hands, processing with a finish coating depends on what purposes the finished product will be used. You can give special strength and wear resistance using:
- polyurethane varnish;
- epoxy resin;
- specialized oil for working surfaces.
If you need to create products from the slabs of wood with the preservation of a unique structure that can be felt, then it is better to use:
- oils with a high percentage of dry residue;
- Furniture wax.
Blood slabs in the interior
The popularity of wood slabs as a material for furniture and interior items is constantly growing because of:
- Fashion for environmentally friendly materials. The tree is one of the cleanest and hypoallergenic natural resources. The final processing in most cases is carried out by components based on natural components.
- The uniqueness and uniqueness of each product. After all, the creator of this beauty is nature itself.
- Connoisseurs of natural materials believe that a window sill from a slab wood, a countertop or a coffee table have a special energy.
- Using combination with other materials, you can create unusual expressive furniture with special decorative qualities.
Furniture from slabs of wood
With proper inclusion in the interior of natural materials, slabs can be used in a variety of styles from loft to classicism. However, such a decor requires very careful handling. Do not get involved in a large number of such products. It is better to limit yourself to one bright and large accent. Popular and relatively expensive pieces of furniture from longitudinal cuts:
- chairs and stools;
- head of beds;
- A written, dining table from a slab of a tree or a coffee table;
- Decorative shelves and panels.
