Can't thank you enough for doing this. Remodeling my kitchen and have my heart set on slab counter tops.

I appreciate videos like this. The truth about how things really go. Everyone runs into issues even folks with year of experience. We learn way more from mistakes than victories. So thank you for share it all.

My vote is for the wire wheel or sanded edge. Hey, thanks for letting us learn from your boo boo’s. Just happens to be what I want to do in my house. The wood....not the boo boo’s. Though I’m sure I will make some mistakes of my own, your vid will help me navigate to a generally better experience. Yay!!!! That Black Walnut or the maple is my preference. So gorgeous!!!

That's beyond the freaking best , awesome, most beautiful counter top I've ever seen ! Looking forward to the rest of the series. Thumbs up.

The honesty in all your video's is so refreshing :) thanks for sharing all your tips and tricks. This turned out beautiful! And I gotta say, FRANKIE - YOU ARE AWESOME!!!

We learn a lot more from our failures than from our successes. Beautiful work!

Out of this world! Professionally explained on how to do it yourself! Well done guys....

I have always really liked the look of tables and furniture that looks like the counter top in this video!!!

Love that wire wheel live edge. Thanks for sharing all your trials and tribulations. The finished product is stunning! 😂🙌🏻

This should be a series on the DIY network. I dont know what ever happened to actually showing people how to DIY.. Great work. Nice to see the issues... we all have them.

Good video I have been doing my own for over 50 years but still like to see others doing this! 👍

Most people who knit pick others never did much of their own. Looks great.

I love your honesty. And ALOT OF PEOPLE CAN NOT HANDLE THAT.

I'm currently doing a river counter with lodge pole pine and white pearl mica pigment. Light burn finish to the to surface with a single "farmhouse" sink undermount. My favorite live edge treatment is actually to use a nylon bristle wheel, it gives even more depth and texture to the wood by pulling out the softest wood from the edge. I wish I could put pictures. I'm very proud of how it's turning out.

Wow Stan! That is beautiful!

I'm amazed with the results of your project---looks great on the video----but I agree with the other commenters and have some other suggestions to improve your long term results.....there is 100% chance your countertop will twist/warp/split----3" thick wood cannot air dry --properly.in-- that short of time-----your moisture meter reads at a maximum of 3/4" deep---if you have a good one?????Your poly---is NOT poly it is poured epoxy----- will separate from the wood with the moisture and is the stain compatible with this type of epoxy???If not then there is adhesion problems...and it is next to impossible to get the 3" slab completely flat and level with a belt + orbital sander---if you can you are a great wood worker Good luck on future projects...

I NEEDED this video. Excellent. I'm planning on making a live edge back bar and this will really help.

Excellent. Mistakes are what make you better. This is where you learn the most. Anyone who never made a mistake never made anything

Nice job! Rule of thumb is 1 year per inch of thickness for air drying (not out soaking up water and drying under the sun... that’s bad). Forget all the haters trying to play arm chair quarterback. I’ve done this before and what you’ve accomplished represents a LOT of work. Again, great job.

That is the MOST Amazing Work, I've ever seen. You're a True Artist.

I like it when people put up showing their mistakes. I want to learn from them and can save me a butt load of money! Yes, I said it! "Butt Load of Money!" Seeing what you did to that kitchen, just blows me away! Amazing work guys!

I used to work at a wood-mizer sawmill, and we made a lot of Live Edge tables and benches and shelves. My favorite way is lightly sanded and don't take off all the dark parts of the live-edge leave just enough to give it character. I did most all of my sanding with a random orbit Makita, it did everything I needed it to do. We would sometimes leave the chatter marks from the band saw in the wood on huge rolling interior barn doors for character

The sanded live edge is beautiful. Nice work guys

One of the nicest countertops i ever seen! Sanded live edge

I am new at thi but I must say that this is is the best info I have read so far. Thanks to all of you.

That’s beautiful! Your directions are also great. You should have a TV show!

That’s a great video, thanks for sharing it. I’m doing a live edge bathroom vanity for the first time and this will really help.

Thanks for posting this! We are about to start a kitchen the design part of our kitchen remodel, and this has given us a few things to think about.

im a wood worker and boy you melted my heart with beuty of the oak work you used its amazing !! yes im a girl and i am upsest with woods and grains and trees like my husband says to me im a tree hugger with art in mind !!

wow this is beautiful, you guys did a great job. this isn't a trade this is art

Looks really nice, mistakes do happen. BUT nothing that could not be fixed. Really nice wood pieces.

Amazing job! You and Frankie do great work!

Love the honesty.. your videos are great as always Stanley

Don't listen at those people. Even professional can make a huge mistake. People need to realize people needs to learn from mistake. I love what you guys are doing. I'm learning a lot how to make a wood sink from you guys and it's awesome!!

The epoxy had a chemical reaction because it was in the pot for too long. The heat couldn't escape while heating up the rest of the material thus making it set even faster. I've done dozens of epoxy countertops.

Already can't wait for next video. Lol. Love this type of video.

I have poured well over 1000 gal. of epoxy from most manufacturers onto everything from car dash kits to high end art work. I quickly learned to seal the work first with a scraped first coat. Pour some, scrape it around the work to seal. Give it half an hour and scrape the excess off. Objective is to stop air from migrating up through the wood pores( or anything that might be porous). The second coat will have 95% fewer bubbles. Especially you guys using solid wood. The crap never stops breathing unless you cap it with a seal coat. Yeah, an extra day but worth it. Also don't use the torch to heat the epoxy. It is the CO2 that pops the bubbles, not the heat. This I was told by several formulators. Fast moves with the torch. Too much heat in an area accelerated the cure on top and give you undesirable results from unbalanced cure rates. Be careful using stains. Done a ton of that too. Oil base must cure, yes cure for like 8 days to gain good adhesion. Ever try alcohol stains? Spray on transparent stains? No blotches with transparent dyes. Too many bubbles in the mix that you pour? I used to mix A&B on a drill press with a wire coat hanger that had a little loop at the bottom. Very little air mixed in. If you try these tips you will have success and save time and aggravation.

I appreciate the project, especially the how not to steps. Those can be very helpful to people getting into the trade. I'd have to add adding gallons of gel finish to the slab to the list of things not to do, though. A French polish is a French polish and the effect is perfect for grand pianos and inlays, but a live edge just looks better natural with traditional oil gin and treacle than with a half measure shine. Stay true to the wood. I should also add to the common disclaimer, wood probably needs more time to cure, as well. For ship timber you're looking at years of drying, I've had to fix well cured hardwood after humidifiers broke during the winter or homeowners overdid the wood fireplace, even butcher block slabs can still cup and twist. Natural edge with softwood and heartwood will move a mile unless you kiln dry it first.

That looks awsome. I watch all your videos. I run a mid size tree bussness and learn so much from your channel. Keep up the good work

Thanks for taking the time to share!

Thank you for sharing sir. It's an amazing resource to learn from others.

Live edge just the Eurethane Coat would have been my go to. Absolutely loved the creamed coffee color on that wood.

Wire wheel more vintage look!! You guy’s are incredible & your workmanship is state of the art!!! I wanna do a live edge in the bathroom & carve out a sink!!!

Stone Coat Countertops sent me to watch this ! 🤠 Thank You Both

i dig this idea 100% keep on with the good work my man!

just recently purchased a timbery m280 sawmill. have a lot of white oak and chestnut oak. they r live edge slabs at least 18" wide. i plan on usng the chestnut oak to do the same exact thing. need to put slabs together but once done it will give me more than enough width for counter tops. thanks for showing the failures/mistakes

Here on the ‘left’ coast true hardwood logs are hard to come by. I like a natural ‘wabi sabi’ live edge. One thing necessary to keep the back to front permanently ‘true’ is to plane or route a groove and lay in flush a 1” x 4” rigid board every 3’ (but not clear to the front to show). My last comment is that wood slabs need to be able to breath. The temptation is often to finish. Every surface with poly but the back should remain open with only a base coat of boiled linseed oil.. I’ve done a few of these and only got called back once after the owner thought it was his personal giant food prep chopping block.... Besides ending up with chips of poly in your food it will destroy the glossy finish. Routing an inset for a custom chopping block is a great option or a rolling cart with a saved section of the slab that is only oiled every few months and not poly-ed or stained

Big ups to Minnesota!!! Thanks for your videos buddy!!

I am picky about coloring wood and very picky if there is any fire or figure in the board. I f there is, and that maple looks like it might have some tiger stripe, I think DYE is best. The dance of light is the most beautiful thing in wood for me, and a bad stain job kills this effect, called chatoyance. The light part and the dark part should go back and forth as your eye moves.... the tiger stripe should not simply be a brown line.

I have found using a fine wire wheel, in the same direction as the grain, produces a more "natural" looking live edge on boards where the bark is not solid enough to fix with epoxy. Sanding just seems to take off too much solid wood. I've never undertaken a project on this scale though. You guys obviously know more than I do.

I appreciate videos like this. The good; the bad and the fugly

Fun project man...was doing a bit of research on my next project "TV Stand"

wooooooooooooooow that is awesome guy's I really really love it!!!! great job 👍👍👍👍👍

I like that older guy you have working for you. He reminds me of Boomhower from King of the Hill. He is a hell of a worker.

I love your videos and advice keep up the good work

Man that looks good bro! Thanks for the schooling.

Great work Stan! I like the wire wheel live edge myself.

That is absolutely beautiful.

That is STUNNING.

Sanding down maple is a chore. Could have rented a drum floor sander to do the job and then go over that with the random orbital with 40 then 60 then 80 then 120 and finally 150 grit. You need to go down at least 1/16th if not 1/8 to be safe to get rid of the saw blade. That counter top will also shrink a little too because it's not kiln dried. My take is that you might be good with air dried but for furniture you want that wood as dry as it will get.

I think your first mistake is getting your slabs/wood from Minnesota Milling. I know several people that have had nothing but problems with their wood because they don't kiln dry it and/or if it does get kiln dried, they stack it right back outdoors to absorb the moisture or elements again. Kiln dried wood needs to be stored in conditioned storage. Check with the BBB (Re: Mn milling) before buying from them if anyone is reading this. There are several other reputable slab suppliers in the Twin City area and their wood is top notch.

yay a video for me lol in custom work the donts are invaluable

My vote is for sanded live edge.This video was pleasant to watch.Respect.

you know what? I am barely 2 minutes into this video and now, I totally want to see this video. Why? People always learn the most out of mistakes. And being able to learn off of other peoples mistakes is a great experience. Now I know what to look for. Thanks and now I am excited to watch this video...

I just like watching these kinds of videos and maby someday I could do this project

Looks great. Nice job

I like sanded, butnif the poly is thick enough i might change my mind to wire wheeled for the texture

Aweome video , i learned alot and for that i thank you.

Hi from Miami. Beautiful job congratulations you doing very good video 👏🇺🇸👍🍻👍

I have black walnut live edge bar top that is about 3 years old now and the moisture in the house has made it start to cup in spots. I have 6 coats of clear poly on the top and edges but nothing on the bottom.

That was a cool video. Awesome funky music. Loved it!! New fan

I am getting ready to do this buy myself and I am not a wood guy at all!! This has helped me a lot to know some things I am going to do . Thank you. Wish you guys could come help me. I am using white pine with the bark still on. Wish me luck

Love how it came out..it would have helped to pass the slab through a planer before sanding get the saw marks out

Very cool beautiful project.

Looks awesome. I did a Live Edge Cedar

I LOVE mistakes-that's when I learn something I would never have discovered before and I end up doing whatever it is better the next time.

if its important (expensive) I always use a template (1/4" plywood etc.), and maybe invest in a beam saw, either way great job!!

"We wanted a rustic wood look" so we got plastic

I like the sanded live edge, and the weirdest video I enjoy is actually a video of a flash animation from way back, its the Badger badger badger badger badger badger badger video. for whatever reason I just love that one.

A wise man learns from others mistakes

oh..my...gawd....i've been putting my saw blade on backwards....no wonder i've been literally burning through the wood...Thank You!

That countertop turned out AMAZING!! My wife is going to be pi$$ed at you. I'm seriously contemplating tearing her kitchen apart now. Lol

Stan ur house if effing amazing dude. Props to u buddy.

Wire wheel edge! I actually took a 4.5 grinding wheel to a piece of whit oak with some rot and removed the soft stuff. It looked like natural decay , it was awesome. Pics on request

those slabs are going to move and crack if they are not properly dried..... and believe me you do NOT want that, the method I use to seal my slabs that are still wet is, I fibre glass the under part of the slabs (the top part gets epoxied) it doesnt move at all

A suggestion for those doing this in the future. It’s a lot more efficient to use a planer first, before sanding, to get the bandsaw marks out.

That Makita is not a worm drive even though it has the general shape of one. It is a sidewinder with a rear set handle to allow room for two batteries.

Best way for us to learn is by learning from mistakes,it tackles so many questions that the newbie could never know to even ask, so im looking forward to this vid.

Well hell, after that challenge, I'm gonna watch it no matter what. 😝

Mmmm I love that woodmizer, wish I had one =)

Hello, good morning, I'm watching your video and I like this kind of table top, and ask a question, the resin you put on it warms up because here at Bresil ours does not make a layer above 3mm as you can get some compensation that is put together with the resin. Thank you in advance.

those counter tops are beautiful!!

the sanded live edge looks best then the squared off edge.... I'm ready for the next video... I'm doing a live edge bar and want to see what not to do... lol thanks

Too late now, but you should try an electric planer. Old school would be a hand planer, but that's a lot of work on a piece that big. Planes make a much smoother surface than sand paper. Came out absolutely beautiful.

Me: -finds video- Him: "I don't care if you watch me or if you don't" Me: -subs-

love the work

Keep in mind im a woodworker and we build live edge tables and furniture. Never use a heat gun on epoxy. Also make sure you are using a thin coat epoxy not thick coat which is what we use in river tables. If you are coating bark which I dont recomend you need to make sure no air is between the bark and live edge. Learn to use a jack plane if possible. That will remive those band saw matks and leave a glass smooth flat finished top.

That is so beautiful omg

i like all 3 edges. depending on customer at that point and their preference

That looks intense