"Live edge lumber" musings

[Tom Dixon]

If I could "like" this thread at a value of a million it would not be enough. Most of the live edge and river table things I see leave me totally cold and have nothing to do with why I love woodworking. Fine design and beautiful joinery. This is not to say that I don't occasionally see someone use a slab with fine woodworking to support it, but most everything I see from the world of slabs is dreck. I will not be sad to see it go away the sooner the better. HOWEVER.... I have noticed that the slab craze has introduced a new generation to working wood and that is a good thing.

[Pat Barry]

I think you can find similar groups of people that are sick of Arts and Crafts, Greene and Greene, Chippendale, Shaker, Rustic, Gothic, or what have you. Its OK to rant of course but that just isn't very productive. I think the appeal of the live edge is the naturalness and the uniqueness considering the large amount of pressboard / Ikea type furniture out there.

[Bryan Lisowski]

Not a big fan of live edge or river tables, but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

[johnny means]

On a positive note, in ten years, when all these walnut river tables hit the curb, it's going to be a gold mine of easily recycled raw material.

[John TenEyck]

And don't forget, if you have a live edge table you MUST have a sliding barn door to go with it. I have nothing against either, and I'm happy to make either if someone is paying me, but I don't want either in my house. Remember avocado colored appliances? This too shall pass.

John

[William Hodge]

The popularity of live edge furniture will probably have a slower arc than the popularity of leisure suits. Live edge stuff will probably last longer, because not many people go out in public wearing it. I still have a house with avocado green Formica kitchen counters.

[Derek Cohen]

Nakashima did a whole lot more than market slabs as furniture. Unfortunately, there are too many who do not get this. The market is flooded with either slabs that pass for furniture, or furniture that displays highly figured wood without much else to define it.

What is absent is the understanding that there needs to be a sympathetic union of timber and design, along with the craftsmanship to bring this to fruition. This is not really surprising since many woodworkers are seeking to express their inner Nakashima, but are not Nakashima.

Many are also not trained or knowledgeable about furniture construction, traditional joinery, or how the achieve this. Few have an eye, whether trained or practiced, about form and balance. It is easy today to build a table or bench using metal fasteners for simple butt joints, and call it good. I particular dislike River tables, which are an extension of this.

One of the lessons I have learned since building variations of mid-century designs in the past few years is that these designs can be extremely complicated if attention is given to traditional joinery and the intent to create something that will endure for a few centuries. And yet, side-by-side with a factory mass produced piece, the average person could not tell the difference, or care. As an amateur, I have the luxury of building what I want and how I want. That makes it possible for me to sound off and be a snob.

on a train to Berlin ...

Derek

[John K Jordan]

...
Many are also not trained or knowledgeable about furniture construction, traditional joinery, or how the achieve this. Few have an eye, whether trained or practiced, about form and balance. It is easy today to build a table or bench using metal fasteners for simple butt joints, and call it good. I particular dislike River tables, which are an extension of this.

A friend had a "nice big" dining room table custom made. With solid ends fastened to thick edge-glued planks with no thought given to wood movement. From the looks of it the wood wasn't even quite dry when it was built. You can imagine how it looks now, a few years later. To pay money good for that...

On the other hand, I applaud people with little knowledge creating things for their own use - at least they are inventing and doing something with their hands instead of making another trip to Ikea or [gasp] Walmart.

JKJ

[Frederick Skelly]

I don't care much for live edge furniture. While I admire and aspire to George Nakashima's level of craftsmanship, I don't enjoy looking at much of his work. I'm sorry guys, I just don't.YMMV.

[Mark Gibney]

I've made a fair few live edge tables, and I've always worked hard to design a base that presents the top. Years ago a furniture designer told me a chair should feel welcoming to you, almost as if the back is like a pair of arms raised in welcome.
I use that when I fumble around trying to get a feel for what sort of a base might work with a table top.

The hairpin leg or welded steel bases on a live edge slab make me angry. These people put zero effort into the work, and it shows.

My wife keeps telling me the live edge fad is over, I think that's because she hopes I'll stop ranting about the ugly stuff on Etsy.

[Ira Matheny]

I, too, agree 'Live Edge' is a bit overdone. But it sure beat the gross 'particle' board junk.

[Erik Loza]

One of my commercial shops, who does slab-type tables (among other architectural millwork)...

https://www.instagram.com/4theditiondesign/

What I see is two distinct levels of offering: Very high-end furniture makers who can do actual steel fab and have dedicated finishing rooms, then the rest of us (myself included), who get it done with a track saw, R/O sander, and like to play with pretty colors. This all reminds me of the bowl-turning craze of the 2005's: All of a sudden, everyone was a turner and there were little bowls with sparkly veins for sale everywhere. I agree with Tom Dixon: It may not be your jam but it gets into ww'ing, which is a positive thing.

Erik

[Frederick Skelly]

Years ago a furniture designer told me a chair should feel welcoming to you, almost as if the back is like a pair of arms raised in welcome.

Well said Mark.

[Gordon Stump]

Well, I have been waiting for a post like this! I am not totally against the live edge movement. It has provided established small and large operation sawmills an opportunity to make money from what was essentially firewood. If you are interested in the sustainability of American hardwood furniture then that is a positive. Has it created a cottage industry for folks who buy a portable sawmill an sell "kiln dried" slabs out their back yards. Wait-a-minute!! Kiln Dried 12/4 slabs? I doubt it! Have you priced getting 12/4 slabs kiln dried lately.

My regular sawmill/kiln drying guy was backed up. He charges from $.80-$1.50 a bd ft for sawing and drying. So I went looking for a kiln drying service. If they would even consider taking my 4/4 and 5/4 rough cut walnut they wanted from $3-$4 a board foot. I was shocked but I figured they did not want some good-old-boy to slab his front yard oak tree and sell it for $450 a slab without paying the piper. I can be petty!

A few years ago I participated in a craft walk in my little town. I made Arts and Craft style clocks and other small furniture quality items. My son begged me to offer some small live edge shelves from some 5/8" kiln dried quality walnut I had with one edge with bark. Yup, they sold right away. Folks wanted to special order bigger sizes. Given the price of walnut, this was not a cost effective business proposition. I did not sell a single clock. So woodworking craftsmanship verses live edge popularity was a fail for me.

Walnut Mission Clock.jpgshakers.jpg

Live edge will be the shag carpet of the future. Get that out of my house. (if you can lift it)


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[Randy Heinemann]

I'm curious why this topic generated so much reaction and discussion? I would completely agree that there are tables out there that are needlessly expensive just because they have a live (natural) edge top. Plus, the slabs themselves are expensive and, sometimes, require a lot of work; maybe more than a standard table top made from boards. However, there are woodworkers out there at all levels and, if some feel a sense of accomplishment from installing a live edge top on pipe or metal legs (even purchased from another source), why is that bad? If they design something that maybe isn't exactly "fine furniture" (which covers a lot of ground) with beginner techniques, why is that bad? They are doing something that they must enjoy or making something for a family member or . . . I have always believed that we should make what makes us feel happy and satisfied. I am making my first live edge table and, after all the work prepping the top and designing a unique wood base for it, I'm guessing it will be my last slab table. I still think I learned a lot and, while it may not turn out to be my best work in the end, it still gives me satisfaction and makes me happy as I move through the design and build process. I guarantee it won't win any prizes and maybe would make others wonder what I was thinking when I designed it, but it's woodworking and woodworking always makes me happy and satisfied with life.