Fabricated live edge slabs???

[WV Sawmiller]

   My wife and I went to our local Lowes store today for some safety strips to put on my outdoor steps which have gotten pretty slick and dangerous.

   I spotted a big cardboard sign that said "Live Edge slabs" and it advertised for use in making high end counter top and island type projects. I think they were about $40 or so. They looked to be about 4' long and 28-30 inches wide. They were pine and about 2" thick with one live edge. I picked up the carboard and what I saw beneath it would have made any experienced sawyer laugh or cringe.  It looked like they had taken 3 edged 2X8's and clamped and glued them to a similar sized board with one live edge facing outboard. It did not look like the boards were properly edged through a molder/planer or tablesaw and/or were not tightly clamped and glued. I saw gaps in the seams a good 1/16" or more and it did not look like any effort was made to find or match similar grain patterns as it was readily obvious where 2 boards met. I'd have thought they would have at least made some effort to bookmatch boards but I would have been seriously wrong. 

    The only good thing about it is if this is my competition my job is secure!

[Crusarius]

I was half expecting you to say they were a fake edge machined on there.

ppl will love those things. the fact they are that cheap they will fly off the shelves

[WV Sawmiller]

   Maybe I need to saw and save about 2" of the outer edge off my next 2" framing lumber project and sell them as "Live Edge Slab kits" and sell them with a small tube of Wood Glue and a dozen 3" wood screws and just advise the customer to "Glue both surfaces and start with a screw in the middle then add a screw every 12" working outward to the ends till finished. Allow to dry at least 24 hours before use." They would look as good as these did. :

[Old Greenhorn]

Last year, or was it the year before?, that I was selling plant stakes in various lengths. They were maple 1-1/2" square and I forget my prices but some folks thought they were high (they certainly were not). I was in HD and saw their wooden plant stakes for (I forget) but about 20% more than mine. They were 1" square and pine, only 4' long. I bought one and put it in with mine, but clearly marked "This is what HD is selling for $4.99". Nobody mentioned the cost of my stakes again.
 I'd buy one and keep it clean and on the side and use that as a 'display' at shows with the price and where they can get it. Almost everybody doesn't understand what we do, how we do it, and what they get for their dollar. That's life in our lane. ;D

 I have seen these slabs you speak of on their website, but none has shown up in our local store. I keep looking for them.

[WV Sawmiller]

Tom,

   Our local Lowes used to sell 5' Plant/tomato stakes for $7.95. They were dressed. KD (I assume) 1" tulip poplar. I was selling 5' rough, full thickness ash tomato stakes for $10/dz at the time. I admit my stakes only had one 45 degree angle point while the ones from Lowes had a true arrowhead shape. :

   What shocked me today was the extremely low quality of the workmanship  of the product offered for sale.

[Southside]

Next they will be 3D printing them just like they are with "meat" now.

[SawyerTed]

Howard, do not overestimate people's ability to look for cheap and ridiculous.

People will buy stuff like the "Live Edge Kit", just look at Chia Pets and the annual variations - think Chuck Norris Chia! :D :D 

[WV Sawmiller]

   I had to look up 3D printing of meat (I am pretty naive and gullible about some such things and some members have been know to try to pull the wool over my eyes at times :) but I found videos showing  the process so I guess it is valid. I guess the 3D wood printing would work and they would just leave the cracks as "Character".

Ted,

   Yes I still remember the pet rocks. ???

[Larry]

About 10 or more years ago we had a local guy running a large Komo CNC router.  Its a six figure machine so a serious operation.  He was gluing up 4/4 walnut boards than gluing on a waste slab edge.  After the glue up he threw it on the CNC and made the cuts for the counter bolts, sink cutouts and surfaced everything.  They looked great to most folks but it was easy to tell they weren't real slabs.  The cost was considerably less than the real thing also. 

[customsawyer]

I'm sure I'm not the only one that remembers the guy that started selling "pet rocks" about 30 years ago.

[olcowhand]

@Larry started a similar post October '21, only the prices seemed much steeper.
Home Depot selling live edge walnut in Sawmills and Milling
Steve

[Don P]

From a little different angle. A well glued up slab is going to perform far more reliably than a solid sawn one. If you polled customers of Larry's friend and the typical solid slab countertop customer I can hazard a guess on long term satisfaction. If someone wants a slab, I have a barnful and would be happy to provide one. If you want a more stable top with an edge treatment we can talk about that too. Basically, I can sell emotion, or structure and either is legitimate.

What Lowes has is a teething problem  :D

[taylorsmissbeehaven]

The Lowes in my area has a large endcap display of the slabs you are talking about. They are pretty funny to us but Im sure there are lots of folks that sit in an office all week and want a weekend project. They dont/will never know the difference!! Keep sawing good wood, it will pay in the long run! Brian

[taylorsmissbeehaven]

Also, I agree with @DonP, a glue up can be much stronger and more stable but its gotta be done with care!!

[WV Sawmiller]

   I understand and agree a glued slab could and should last longer than a single piece but the poor quality of the edging, gluing and clamping is what amazed me in this case.

   I have a laminated ridge beam here overhead in my living room of our log home that is about 6" wide and at least 24" thick and over 36' long and I am well pleased with it compared to similar beam made from a huge single log but the joinery is far superior to what I saw yesterday.

[kantuckid]

  My wife and I went to our local Lowes store today for some safety strips to put on my outdoor steps which have gotten pretty slick and dangerous.

  I spotted a big cardboard sign that said "Live Edge slabs" and it advertised for use in making high end counter top and island type projects. I think they were about $40 or so. They looked to be about 4' long and 28-30 inches wide. They were pine and about 2" thick with one live edge. I picked up the carboard and what I saw beneath it would have made any experienced sawyer laugh or cringe.  It looked like they had taken 3 edged 2X8's and clamped and glued them to a similar sized board with one live edge facing outboard. It did not look like the boards were properly edged through a molder/planer or tablesaw and/or were not tightly clamped and glued. I saw gaps in the seams a good 1/16" or more and it did not look like any effort was made to find or match similar grain patterns as it was readily obvious where 2 boards met. I'd have thought they would have at least made some effort to bookmatch boards but I would have been seriously wrong.

   The only good thing about it is if this is my competition my job is secure!

Using your first sentence and not your overall topic: I re-built a stairway on our home this past summer. I bought ground contact stringers from Menard's who has the better price by LEAPS! & BOUINDS over anyone else and the treads from Lowe's because they had a better price. The PR treads now are often grooved for safety. Thus my point is that with an existing stairway if possible, you might consider running a router on the treads instead of buying those pricey glue on treads. 

[WV Sawmiller]

   My ignorance with a router is impressive even though I bought a very complete set of one several years back. Do you want to feel responsible reading "WV Sawmill owner/operator killed by run-away router"? :D Thanks for the suggestion though.

  Another option is to buy grit and mix with paint or varnish and paint the treads with that. Right now it is too cold and damp to install the treads or do any painting. I may wash then dry my step with my propane fish/turkey cooker and if I don't burn the house down in the process install the ones I bought yesterday. ;)

    We don't have a Menards within 100 miles of us and the nearest HD is almost that far so its either Lowes or 84 Lumber or some smaller local building supply places for us.

EDIT: I even thought about just sawing new stair treads with a badly out of set blade to get the traction I need. ;D

[Old Greenhorn]

Howard, I built a handicap ramp for my folks house well over a decade ago and needed those strips on the diamond plate transition I made from the laid stone walk up onto the ramp. I ordered them from McMaster Carr and got them pretty quick. They have quite the variety and price range so do some shopping before you pick one. LINK
 My folks have ben gone a while now, but those strips are still holding up. Falling is bad. Last night I was coming down the stairs in the dark and the cat was playing with a toy, I thought on the floor at the bottom step, this threw my brain off. Turned out he was one step off the floor and I wound up landing my foot between two treads and going down in an ugly way ending up crosswise in the stairwell in a fetal position. I had a 30# bag of trash in my hand at the time, which landed on top of me. No big deal (the trash is fine, no damage), temporarily painful along with the lecture from the wife (as if I did it on purpose) and it took me a minute to get up. Had I been a few steps further up, it might have had a different outcome. Second time I have fallen on that same stair section in 25 years. Last time was from the top and I went down fast on my coccyx all the way to the bottom. My chiro guy is still fixing that lasting damage issue monthly.
 Go find yourself those strips or something else.

[WV Sawmiller]

Tom,

   Lowes had several versions of them. I bought the 2" X15' rolls of sticky back tape version and will cut them to fit the steps.