Even More Ash

The weights and water made a slight difference to the ash slab, but nowhere near the amount of destressing I was after, so I think I'm going to have to perform relief cuts in the slab on the underside in the hope it relieves a bit more of the twist.

The gurus recommend cutting half way through the depth, widthways, with 50mm gaps along the length, not going closer than 80mm to any edges. This allegedly stabilises the slab. Even if the result is only minimal, it won't necessarily be off-putting - it adds to the quirkiness and it's not as if I'm going to be playing crown green bowls on it. I think I will only take the cuts to 1/3rd of the depth though.

Spent the best part of yesterday sanding the top side with the belt sander and 60 grit.

The 2nd photo is the slab with a bit of water on it after the initial sanding, just to show the grain and what it might look like when finished and oiled, although it will be far more lustrous. It needs a lot more sanding before the sawmill striations disappear completely. Will probably spend another couple of days sanding it down to absolute smoothness.

Been looking at various options for table legs.

What I want is a setup that doesn't increase stresses within the slab. Legs that are independent at each end need to be fixed into the slab, invariably with screws. This can introduce rigidity which can split the slab if it moves with humidity and temperature.

Far better is a subframe that goes end-to-end and allows the slab to be simply placed on it, with the slab's weight keeping it in place. Any movement within the slab is thereby facilitated by friction.

I'm thinking of getting a couple of cheap, small tables on which to put the slab in the house for the summer, allowing it to thoroughly dry before committing to any further manipulation or chopping 50cm off it to get the required size.

An idea I've had is to commission a local forge to make a frame, designing it such that the twist is compensated for, it it's still there at the end of 3 or 4 months. We have a forge in Almondsbury that I've used previously for a commission, but they're not cheap.

I particularly like the legs that look like a tree bole at the point the branches start to spread. A competent blacksmith could fabricate something like this, with the branches attached to a cradle on which the slab sits.