A Time to Move On?

Cheese

Cheese

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Jan 16, 2015
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You know it's time to question the future of live edge projects when Menards is offering live edge slabs shrink wrapped and labeled right next to their other pedestrian lumber offerings.

The only saving grace is that they aren't very pretty...but that could just further erode their desire.  [smile]

Maybe Costco will now be offering live edge slabs next to the 10# packages of chicken and the 5# packages of M&M's.  [eek]

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This made me laugh, thanks.

The hunk of maple for $29 (?? can’t fully read the sign) seems like a reasonable price if one we’re inclined to mill it up for some purpose other than a slab.
 
I have seen live edge slabs of wood at either Home Depot or Lowes.  Most of what I saw was pure garbage pine slabs and I bet that a moisture meter would reveal a disaster waiting to happen.  But the internet says that you can make (insert your favorite furniture type here) in just a few hours or less...

Peter
 
Just screw on a hairpin leg set, and there you go.
Pretty soon they’ll be selling casting epoxy.
 
I’ve never seen the appeal of live edge anything.  The first time I saw live edge was at my Brother-in-laws vacation lake house.  The siding on the house was all live edge. It did not appeal to me, it seemed unfinished.

Starbucks used live edge” for their countertops for a while.  But they scraped off the bark and sanded it all perfectly smooth.  I have no proof, but I always suspected that they manufactured the live edge from stock that was S4S or perhaps S3S with the remaining edge being a sawn edge. 

I’ll bet you could mimic live edge (sans the bark) with a right angle grinder with an appropriate rasp blade.

hero-scaled.jpg
 
[size=12pt]"One solid mark of a furniture-maker's success is when a uniquely designed object becomes so commonplace that you forget how unique it once was."[/size] [size=8pt]Architect Magazine, 2012 talking about the live-edge tables of George Nakashima[/size]

I'm pretty sure the maple burl that George used for "Butterfly Gate" wasn't sourced from Menards, but I could be wrong.  [big grin]

90


 
Packard said:
I’ll bet you could mimic live edge (sans the bark) with a right angle grinder with an appropriate rasp blade.
Click to expand...

Only if you ignore the direction of growth rings.
 
JeffSD said:
[size=12pt]"One solid mark of a furniture-maker's success is when a uniquely designed object becomes so commonplace that you forget how unique it once was."[/size] [size=8pt]Architect Magazine, 2012 talking about the live-edge tables of George Nakashima[/size]  [big grin]

https://cdnassets.hw.net/dims4/GG/058ff82/2147483647/resize/876x%3E/quality/90/?
[/quote]

Every cliche in language started life as a unique and effective way to describe something.  Because it was so unique and effective, it gets copied over and over until it is a cliche.

Fads come and go.  But many become resurrected years later.  Why?  Because a “fad” is like cliche.  It was once unique and effective—until it wasn’t. So bellbottoms were a fad in the late 1960s.  And they get resurrected every few years with small variations. 
Click to expand...
 
A similar pet peeve of mine is what passes these days for "Mid-Century Modern". Some of the pioneers of Scandinavian modern furniture are still around, albeit in their late 90s. I wonder whether they laugh hysterically or sob quietly when they see what YouTube furniture makers label "MCM".
 
As a new person to woodworking i have a different perspective.  I look at live edge as a way to get me into the hobby and world of wood working.  Starting into wood working and trying to do all these fancy cuts, dados, mortise, etc. I do not have the skill set nor the patience to do them so I don’t do woodworking.
What live edge allows me to do is get started into wood working.  I cut my own planks, air dry some and send some out to be dried, router them flat and now can make some tables, shelves and benches.  While this may not be satisfactory to “experienced” wood workers it gets me into the game and allows me to grow my skill set. (kind of like a par 3 golf course vs a US Open country Club).  A different customer base intended for different skill sets.

I have raw wood that came from a family property that I helped plant the nuts as a kid.  I can make functional furniture that meets my needs and others in the family are asking for ones to be made for them.  I am making floating shelves for my daughters house rather than them being purchased.

So in my 60’s I am a Blacktail Studio junkie, some may hate this, but it has inspired me to get into woodworking because it is something I can do.  Where watching Norm Abram on the New Yankee Workshop years ago make a $50 table with $125,000 worth of equipment did not inspire me.  I can make tables with tools I can afford (yes the Festool ones are a great upgrade I will admit to that and the sustainers are multiplying quickly 😉)

Will I end up building a true masterpiece….maybe…maybe I have already, as the items I make for the family as quite cherished.  So for now I am making items I am comfortable in making.  Eventually I hope to advance the skill set where I can get better and maybe someday make something that uses the great uncles 80+ piece chisel set and put it to good use rather than it collecting dust.  Without the live edge journey, the chisel set would never have a chance to be used, this way it does.

I do agree with the original poster, somehow Menards planked wood does not seem the highest quality, but, hopefully it will inspire someone to start the journey and become a great woodworker.

 
For me years ago it hit me with my scroll saw that I really liked using. Then I invested in some pyrography equipment for woodturnings and flat work - now I have a laser etcher. Seems like cheating.
 
Packard said:
I’ll bet you could mimic live edge (sans the bark) with a right angle grinder with an appropriate rasp blade.
Click to expand...

I use an abrasive/rasp grinder wheel to sort of mimic a live edge on the wooden part of my resin/wood charcuterie boards all the time. A plain straight edge just doesn't look right, whereas a roughly ground back edge in this case looks far more natural and organic.
 
Allano said:
Packard said:
I’ll bet you could mimic live edge (sans the bark) with a right angle grinder with an appropriate rasp blade.
Click to expand...

Only if you ignore the direction of growth rings.
Click to expand...

I’m going to Starbucks tomorrow.  I need a crash course on growth rings as they relate to live edge so I can tell if the counters are the real thing or counterfeit.

As a side note, the first 30 feet or so of the massive pine tree in my front yard has no branches and is nearly round.  If you took slices off that tree and removed the bark only, you would end up with straight planks with beveled edges and no knots.
 
Packard said:
I’m going to Starbucks tomorrow.  I need a crash course on growth rings as they relate to live edge so I can tell if the counters are the real thing or counterfeit.
Click to expand...

Seriously? Or being sarcastic?

In case you were serious: The outer surface of a log is parallel with the growth rings. Or rather, it is a growth ring. So there should be no visible borders between growth rings on a live edge.

If you make a fake live edge by cutting a live edge look-alike shape, you will get visible edges between growth rings. Unless you are really skilled and are able to form the cut after one of the existing growth rings, but in that case it would still be easier to use a real live edge.
 
Please excuse Packard his back is in bad shape and posts off the top of his head
I’m sure with his knowledge he was just fooling with ya
 
Vondawg said:
Please excuse Packard his back is in bad shape and posts off the top of his head
I’m sure with his knowledge he was just fooling with ya
Click to expand...

I’m actually a lot worse in person where I don’t have a keyboard to slow me down and give me time to think about what I am saying. 

In any case, I will visit Starbucks and look for the grain and see if it appears to be real or fake live edge.

(Starbucks is now serving “fake” brewed coffee that appears by a miracle by the push of a button.  But you can get real coffee if you request pour-over.  It will take longer and may not be hot by the time you get it, but real nonetheless.)

It appears that Starbucks (corporate) no longer views themselves as a “coffee shop” but as a “specialty beverage and snack shop”.  My guess is that if there were a way to drop brewed coffee from the menu, they would jump at the chance.  Note:  The store signs used to say “Starbucks Coffee”, but the newer stores have signs that simply say “Starbucks”.  So, in a sense, they have already eliminated the coffee. [I should probably add an emoji here, but I cannot figure out which would best fit.]
 
Packard, I'm with you on Starbucks.

You could say they've lost their [size=8pt]live edge. ;)[/size]
 
I have read through this a few different days and don't really know what to think.
My first thought was that the pieces are just rough and ugly. Someone is capitalizing on "a thing" but they don't really know what is going on. They just hit at it from the 10,000 foot level. Just because you can side-step the milling process and call it good, doesn't mean it is.
Leaving the bark on is also a problem, one more cost-cutting measure in the profit margin boost.
Then, what do you do with a "slab" that small? The label says it's 6 feet long, but what, maybe 18" wide?
with live edge on both sides? To make a table, like the one on the label, you would need 2 of them and the ability to straight edge one side of each one. What "Joe homeowner", who this is aimed at, could do that?
Ash?
 
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