how to protect the bark on live edge

Enjoy!Pittsburgh-based custom wood and metal worker. Deliberately remove bark and epoxy back on. 3. Finish the mantle with what ever finish you like. my plan was to oil the whole thing.. i hear it will harden the wood and bark?.. I don’t know him well but jjp does the guy with the lazy piggs house. wikiHow's There is a certain beauty to live edge slabs that straight, finished edges simply don't have. You use West systems 2 part epoxy. Your best bet is probably to dip the whole edge in epoxy or glue like the wood turners do. Usually the live edge faces upwards, but there are no hard and fast rules. Never done it myself.I looked on youtube and anyone working with walnut took the bark off. 1. I brushed satin poly on a cedar mantel with exposed bark a couple of years ago. Even though live edge slabs lend your woodworking project a natural, rustic look, you still need to finish them.

Looks authentic, and cant fall off. What works for me is, when I fell a tree....in summer or winter does not matter.....I immediately take it to my mill and slab it. It depends on what look you are going for, and also which side of the slab you decide looks better. nothing special here, but i got a free piece of oak that id like to make into a fireplace mantel, dried for over 2 years and the bark is on there pretty good. Anything to suggest? My top idea was spray varnish/polyurethane to harden/preserve it. Just a bunch of abrasion, followed by a dark stain. Typically epoxies are not UV stable on their own.I’ve done a few live edge pieces but the bark is always off.

This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. Next time I would try to epoxy it, but would prefer not to..it could get expensive.I remember reading somewhere the bark and the actual wood expands differently due to the difference in material even though both are wood but with two different purposes. It looks good and has held up well with no deterioration of the bark. Use a tinted Once the epoxy is flattened continue with your aggressive sander. I thought of a couple of ideas: 1. Live edge slab furniture is all the rave right now, even though it has been around for a long long time. Easy to follow and understand." Just make sure to remove any loose bark and lightly sand the edges of the bark where it meets the wood so that you have a smooth surface to work with. I have never tried to keep live edge on soft woods, like Pine. Check out the full video HERE. North Bay, ON. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/3\/3e\/Finish-Live-Edge-Slabs-Step-1.jpg\/v4-460px-Finish-Live-Edge-Slabs-Step-1.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/3\/3e\/Finish-Live-Edge-Slabs-Step-1.jpg\/aid9734201-v4-728px-Finish-Live-Edge-Slabs-Step-1.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":"728","bigHeight":"546","licensing":"