New to Live Edge?

What is Live Edge?

Live-edge woodworking refers to the use of wood slabs that retain their natural edges. This creates a unique and rustic look for furniture and other woodworking projects. Live-edge wood is often more difficult to work with than standard lumber, but it can be used to create stunning and one-of-a-kind pieces. Live-edge woodworking can involve leaving the live edge on the outer edge of a piece or incorporating it into an epoxy piece to create a stunning focal point.

Caring for Your Pieces

Regular Maintenance

  • Our pieces are finished with an oil product that bonds with the wood fibers, making them highly water resistant. This means that occasional spills will not ruin your piece, though we do recommend using a coaster, as you wood with other wooden surfaces in your home.

  • When cleaning your pieces, avoid abrasive cleaners to preserve the finish.

  • Tables finished with Rubio Monocoat can be clean with a damp rag, soap, and water.

Periodic Maintenance

  • Over time, your pieces may start to look dry and not as vibrant. To keep your furniture looking fresh, we recommend a product like Renew. Check out Rubio’s website to get some for yourself!

  • Caring for your piece over time will allow it to age beautifully.

  • The frequency of maintenance depends on how often you use your piece, the climate in which your piece is stored, and personal preference.

Types of Finishes

At Enhanced Timber, we use a product line called Rubio Monocoat. Rubio makes a variety of finishes that allow for a variety of looks to match any decor or taste.

Pure vs. Tinted vs. Natural

Rubio Monocoat finishes come in natural and tinted varieties. They can be used to enhance the natural beauty and depth of a piece of black walnut or to add a tint to a piece of white oak to match your decor.

What can you do with epoxy?

What is Epoxy?

  • Epoxy is a two-part liquid product that, when cured, becomes a strong resin material.

  • When epoxy is applied to wood, it seeps into the pores of the wood, creating a strong mechanical bond. The epoxy also cures to form a chemical bond with the wood's lignin, which is a natural polymer that helps to bind the wood fibers together.

  • The bond between epoxy and wood is so strong that it can often be stronger than the wood itself.

What looks are possible with epoxy?

  • Epoxy can be customized to produce almost any look.

  • Special tints and glitters can be used to produce any color and look.

  • Different colored and textured epoxies can be layered to create stunning and unique effects, with each layer adding depth, dimension, and visual interest.

What is a “flood-coat”?

  • A flood coat of epoxy is a thick layer of epoxy that is poured onto a surface and allowed to self-level, creating a smooth, high-gloss finish.

  • Flood-coat epoxy generally cures very quickly to create a consistent thickness across the surface of the material.

What is “deep pour” epoxy?

  • Deep-pour epoxy is used to create thick layers to match the thickness of a slab of wood

  • Deep-pour epoxy is a much more watery liquid when it is poured. It takes several days to fully set.

  • This type of epoxy can make a glass-like look in a void or opening inside of a wooden furniture piece.

Can “flood-coat” and “deep-pour” epoxy be used together?

  • Yes! When cured, both types of epoxy exhibit similar characteristics

  • Flood-coat epoxy, which is thicker and sets up quickly can be used to add artistic flare to a piece before being covered in a deep-pour coat, which protects the unique pattern of the prior layers.

Glossary

  • River - A river refers to a section of epoxy between two live-edge slabs.

  • Slab - A slab describes a slice of a tree. Generally, slabs are 2 3/4 (or eleven quarters) when rough cut, and when finished end up being closer to 2 to 2 1/8”.

  • Cookie - A cookie describes a special type of slab. Cookies are cross-cut slices of a tree. With a cookie, you would be able to “count the rings” of the tree.

  • Bookmatch - A bookmatch describes when two adjacent slabs that were cut from the same tree are combined to make a wider slab with the same grain pattern.

  • Bowtie - Bowties are used as a joinery piece to prevent a crack from expanding further. They can also be used as accent features in a piece to provide visual interest.

  • Crotch wood - Crotch wood comes from the crotch of a tree, where the trunk splits into two branches. Crotch wood is characterized by its unique and often dramatic grain patterns, which are caused by the tree's growth around the branch.

  • Figure - Figure in wood refers to the appearance of the wood, as seen on a longitudinal surface (side-grain). The figure of a particular piece of wood is, in part, due to its grain and, in part, due to the cut, or to innate properties of the wood.

  • Burl - A wood burl is a tree growth in which the grain has grown in a deformed manner. It is commonly found in the form of a rounded outgrowth on a tree trunk or branch that is filled with small knots from dormant buds.