International Wood International Wood 2017 | Page 44

Slab and
Live-edge
Furniture: EACH
PIECE IS AS UNIQUE
AS THE TREE THAT
GAVE IT LIFE
44
INTERNATIONAL WOOD
L
ive-edge is a style of furniture that features an exposed,
cross-sectional slice of a tree and integrates the natural edge of the
wood into the piece.
Such features are unique to each piece of wood and give evidence
of its time on Earth. Dry years, wet years, years when the tree was
deprived of sunlight and when the canopy was thinned by nature or
by man and the growth rings became larger; indications of disease,
fire or damage caused by man or nature: all are visible to reveal the
story of the wood’s origin and time in the forest.
There are special challenges to working with live-edge. “The main
thing is that you’re limited to that one slab of wood. With live-edge,
there are no joints or fitted pieces,” said John Northrup of Blowing
Rock Woodworks in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. “The wood
needs to be very high quality, carefully air dried and kiln dried so
that it is extremely stable.”
In recent years, Northrup has worked almost exclusively in the
live-edge style. Initially his customers sought mostly American