Choosing Your Root.
Good oak roots are out there, you just need to know where to look. Over the years I've build up a list of suppliers from farmers to timber sawmills and even landowners who sometimes clear roots from fallen trees. A number of my oak roots (including the first ones I ever bought) have come from old WW2 airfields where the trees had been cleared to make way for the runways. The wood was used to either burn or make fittings for the base but the roots were less use than a parrot with a spanner and so were left unloved for the 80 odd years until I find them.
Ads from facebook marketplace, gumtree and even ebay yield a good source of oak roots too and can often be picked up quite cheaply since the owners really just want to clear them as soon as possible.
So what do I look for when choosing which ones I'm going to buy?
Firstly I'll look at the shape of the tree root itself. I imagine the size of the glass lid I want to place on top of it and see where the support in 4 corners lies. Most of my tables are 140cm x 90cm in glass lid size. If you're unsure, take with you a ply board the same size as the glass you have in mind to fit your space but always take a tape measure with you.
The support areas for the glass are crucial so then I'll look at how tall these supports are but bear in mind you're going to be slicing a bit from the bottom to level it out and provide flat fixing points for the feet you'll ne using. The lowest support will be the determining factor in how high the lid will sit and it's no good to have a table too low or below 40cm total height (most coffee tables will sit between 40cm - 50cm tall). although there are things you can do and I'll write about these tips and tricks in a future post. The support areas will need to support the glass once the oak root has been levelled so it's good to have these support areas well spaced near to the 4 corners of the finished table.
Often the root will have been sat in a field for years if not decades and so the side face down to the ground will be infested with all kinds of wood boring insects including hornets. Don't worry about the bugs, they can be removed easily but do check out the level of decay. The integrity of the wood can be compromised if there are large areas of soft wood, give it a good prod and make sure it doesn't feel spongy. Personally if I feel there is any softness to the wood then I'll leave the root to the bugs, since there's often much more sponge wood than you can see or feel. The underside will sometimes be pitted from having being eaten but as long as the root remaining is sound, the root will be good to use for your project.
Find out from the owner any history to the tree it cane from (it's the only chance you'll get), often there's a story behind it and it'll add to pleasure you'll get from your finished table.
Oak will grow in good conditions at a diameter of 3.8 - 5cm per year for their first 60 - 80 years and then at a rate of 2.5cm per year until they have a girth of 6.5m. Thereafter growth will slow depending on the loss of the leafing crown.
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