Getting The Choicest Live Edge Wood Slabs From A Large Cherry Tree Log
Channel: Bluestone Tree
Date: 2021-06-17

Josh, Bill and Casey address two large cherry tree trunk sections for the first time, deciding how best to prepare for milling into live edge slabs.

The goal with live edge wood slabs is to get the largest pieces with the most character, so that the trees story can be revealed in full view. Josh describes their thinking as they study the bark and cut ends of the log sections, developing a vision for what may lie inside.

0:00 What to do with log #1?
1:06 Cutting log #1 to lengths
2:15 Prepping green log sections for air drying
3:23 Moving logs
3:57 What to do with log #2 crotch and bulge?
5:25 Cutting log #2 to lengths
5:52 Nothing goes to waste
6:33 Storing green logs for air drying
6:57 End checking and wind shake

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This endeavor, milling live edge wood slabs, is a mix of the mechanical and spiritual. Each slab is 100% unique; no two are alike. Every grain tells the story. The energy of a trees entire life is bound up, in tension, ready to be released and exposed on the mill. With careful planning and intention the blade passes through, and the tree is given a shot at new life, celebrated in slab form.

https://bluestonetree.com/slabs
 
“We work with boards from trees, to fulfill their yearning for a second life, to release the richness and beauty. From these planks we fashion objects useful to man, and if nature wills, things of beauty. In any case, these objects harmonize the rhythms of nature to fulfill the tree’s destiny and ours.”  ~ George Nakashima, The Soul of a Tree