Oak Slabs for Resin River Tables: How to Choose

Resin river tables start with the slab, and the slab makes or breaks the piece. Here is what to look for when you are choosing oak for a river table, and how we cut it.

Pick the figure first

The whole point of a river table is the natural edge and the grain running alongside the resin. Burr and character oak, with knots, colour change and a strong waney edge, gives you the drama. Plain, straight-grained boards look flat once the resin goes in. We keep the figured and burr oak back for exactly this.

Mind the moisture

Resin does not bond well to wet timber, and a slab that is still giving up moisture will move and can cloud or crack the pour. Our oak is air dried in stick, settling at around 16 to 20 percent. For a table you want it acclimatised indoors first, and many makers take it lower again before pouring. Ask us the moisture content of any slab before you plan a pour.

Think about thickness and waste

A river table is usually planed flat both sides, so order thicker than the finished top to allow for flattening and any cupping. For a dining top, 50mm or more roughsawn is sensible. Tell us the finished size and we will cut from a log that gives you the length and width in one piece where we can.

Bookmatched or single

A single wide slab with a live edge each side gives a natural river down the middle. A bookmatched pair, cut from the same log and opened like a book, mirrors the grain across the join for a wider top. We sell both.

How we cut it

The oak is locally sourced here in the Exe Valley, most of it wind-blown, storm-damaged or taken down for safety on tree-surgery work, then milled through and through so the boards stay in order. Every slab is one of one.

Tell us the finished size you are planning, the look you are after and whether you want a single slab or a matched pair, and we will come back with what we can cut and a price.