What is ‘Live Edge’ Furniture?

The term “live edge”, when used in the context of furniture, is a technique of incorporating the natural edge of the tree into the edges of handmade, hardwood furniture including desks, tables, and other pieces of furniture.  The uniqueness of “live edge” comes from the sawmill process where, instead of cutting off and discarding the edges of the board, the natural outside edge of the board is left intact, thus providing unique, natural, look to your heirloom furniture, while enhancing sustainability of our hardwood forests. 

The whole process starts when a tree is delivered to a saw mill.  Once there, the mill will cut down the wood into slabs, normally several inches thick.  Because each slab is cut from a slightly different part of the tree, no two slabs will be the same, even from the same tree.  Each slab will have a unique grain pattern and live edge profile.

Once cut, the slabs are kiln dried to remove most of the moisture from the wood.  Without this step in the process, the wood will dry out overtime and can cause finished pieces to bow and warp.  This can make tables and other furniture essentially unusable.  

The kiln dried slabs are then cut to size, depending on the type of furniture the woodworker is making.  The holes in the wood cause from knots and rot are filled with epoxy to make a smooth and even surface.  Then the whole slab is sanded down and is prepared for the finishing process, normally a polyurethane or other oil based finish.

Although some live edge furniture keeps the bark on the edges, our live edge furniture has all bark removed, exposing the true “wood edge” of the American hardwood. Because each tree is unique, each piece of furniture crafted from “live edge” wood is also unique.  Rest assured that not only are you purchasing a piece of furniture that can be handed down for generations, but it is also a unique piece that has its own personal identity, and brings nature’s beauty indoors, for you to enjoy, and your friends and relatives to envy.