I am looking into have 2 bar tops made from live edge wood. I had hickory in mind, maybe oak? Thoughts on that. One would be placed under a 1/2 garage door and would have seating on both sides. The other would be more of a normal bar. Looking for ideas and suggestions on thickness, etc.
live edge bar top
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rayra
Well-known member
The slabs you will find are usually 2-3" thick, once milled flat. Not usually something you order by size, more of a find the one you like and make the best of it.
So in the case of your indoor / outdoor counter idea, you'll eithef want the finished slab in hand before you build, or you will need to plan the supporting wall or counter support to be the place where you adjust height to put your countertop exactly to the height you need
So in the case of your indoor / outdoor counter idea, you'll eithef want the finished slab in hand before you build, or you will need to plan the supporting wall or counter support to be the place where you adjust height to put your countertop exactly to the height you need
Voi
Well-known member
So this will be part exposed to the exterior?
If you want the grainy look like hickory or oak I would recommend white oak as the best choice.
But red cedar, redwood or many even cypress would be better, without getting into the exotics.
If this will get a lot of sun exposure I would probably seal it with a high quality spar varnish like Epiphanes.
If you want to fill gaps for that epoxy look I would probably look into surfboard polyester resin and use shallow lifts.
If you want the grainy look like hickory or oak I would recommend white oak as the best choice.
But red cedar, redwood or many even cypress would be better, without getting into the exotics.
If this will get a lot of sun exposure I would probably seal it with a high quality spar varnish like Epiphanes.
If you want to fill gaps for that epoxy look I would probably look into surfboard polyester resin and use shallow lifts.
TractorJeff
Well-known member
A guy out in southwestern NYS bandsaws them from big Pine and sells almost all he cuts for profitable prices! I had the opportunity to cut a few Oak out here till I saw some sell real cheap at an Auction. Seeing how cheap those sold for I figured it wasn't worth my cost of Sawing.
Voi
Well-known member
Cool. I like it. I've worked with cottonwood and elm for live edge stuff. Both tend to move a lot with seasonal changes but I got them for a good price.
I don't think you need to limit your choices to what I said. Instead see what you can find locally. My slabs were all just over 2" thick when rough. My Elm slab had to be taken down quite a bit and it's now well under 2" and is doing fine as a bench.
Will you have end grain exposed on both ends then? I used some fall off pieces of live edge to cover the end grain on the counter at my cabin. I'll look for the pictures.
Voi
Well-known member
This is how I covered the end grain on the Cottonwood counter at our cabin.
The grain doesn't flow great but I like it better than the heavily checked look of Cottonwood end grain.
Here is the other end finished.
I had to do an odd angled glue up to get it to work against a flush wall and be deep enough. You might be able to see that in the pictures. But I assume you want live edge on both sides so you'll just need a slab that is the width you want with both edges intact. Here are my slabs when I bought them and started the drying process.
The grain doesn't flow great but I like it better than the heavily checked look of Cottonwood end grain.
Here is the other end finished.
I had to do an odd angled glue up to get it to work against a flush wall and be deep enough. You might be able to see that in the pictures. But I assume you want live edge on both sides so you'll just need a slab that is the width you want with both edges intact. Here are my slabs when I bought them and started the drying process.
Kaizen
Well-known member
shop local and in person. you should be looking at the slabs in person and then splashed with water. black walnut is very popular right now and crazy priced. there are such wide variations from slab to slab in the same tree and your project will be dictated by the size you can get. make sure they are kiln dried or air dried for a year per inch (approx).
Bretny
Well-known member
Theres a southwestern NYS? I have loved here for 35yrs and never knew it existed. The state is prety skinny in the south.
metlmunchr
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NY shares a 225 mile long southern border with PA, with most of it running due east and west. Not sure how much longer it would need to be to refer to an area as the southwest ???
Trapps
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Here are some good before/after of black walnut. The finish is Rubio Monocoat 2C - Pure.
For your purpose, I would set 1¾" as a minimum thickness. As much for aesthetics as for strength. Obviously you could go thinner, depending in part on the frame/support.
For your purpose, I would set 1¾" as a minimum thickness. As much for aesthetics as for strength. Obviously you could go thinner, depending in part on the frame/support.
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JWILLIE1977
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Wait. . .when you say Southwestern NYS . . .you don't mean NYC? There's more to NYS than NYC??? Whaaaaaat?????
ez-duzit
Well-known member
Live-edge is SO overdone, especially to have two of them. And uncomfortable for a bar edge, which is often leaned upon.
Bretny
Well-known member
That's called the southern tier not the south west.
Have used butternut on projects -- it's nice looking and not as widely known. The trees grow quite large so wide is available ,,, it's not as hard as some hardwoods. People have been using soft pine for 100's of years ... it works.
I'm in PA -- so, we have lots of hardwoods available. The market drives what available ...... people always want interesting Walnut (even when walnut was not in fashion). When you go to the speciality yards you always see many slabs of walnut .... That's not to say others are not available. Sometimes you have to ask or even order/ ask if they have something to cut
woodscaper
Well-known member
Generally referred to at the Southern Tier.