A couple of months ago, a local couple approached me looking for a characterful table top for a metal base they were having made. I invited them to visit my shop and they picked out this slab of elm.
I flattened the top side of the slab and filled the voids with resin. I inlaid a pair of dovetail keys across the void at one end of the table (seen below).
Elm has been one of the more unique woods I’ve used and I really enjoyed working with it. It was even more magical than usual when I applied the first coat of finish and watched all the colours pop. There was a wide range of colours in the elm and lots of small voids which provided a lot of interest.
Although there wasn’t much sculpting to be done, this table top was still one of my favourites. It was just so beautiful!
The clients are really happy with the table and they tell me that it complements their home. Hearing that always makes me happy. I’m also happy that I have more elm slabs for future projects.
Sculptural Woodwork by Chris Wong 
AWESOME!
Did you make a jig and use a router to flatten it? Beautiful table!
Maria,
I used hand planes to flatten the slab. I don’t even think that I pulled out my hand-held power planer because the elm worked so nicely!
Chris
Schweeeet. You are smart enough to know when to get out of the way and let the material speak for itself. I will bet a loony you flattened with your new jack plane.
Morgan,
Thanks for the comment. I do believe that this table was complete before I had started my birch hand plane. You can keep your loonie :)
Chris
One of the most beautiful tables I ever saw. Add the two dovetail keys was fantastic. Shows minimum human interference in Nature’s work.
Congrats
I live in southern California and local arborist cut some slabs of elm like you have shown.
I am a very amateur wood worker but really want to work with it but afraid it would be too soft. So you filled it with what kind of resin and what did you finish it with ?
Hi Eric,
I filled the voids with West System epoxy and finished the table top with General Finishes’ High Performance Top Coat.
Chris