Live-Edge Curly Birch: What the Sizes Allow
People who come to curly birch from walnut or oak slabs sometimes expect the same widths. They will not find them. Curly birch is a small tree, and that sets the limits of everything we cut from it.
The numbers
Our slabs and boards run 10–25 cm wide, 15–50 mm thick and 0.5–1.5 m long. Logs are 13–25 cm in diameter. A board right at the top of that width range is uncommon. A single-board dining table is not something curly birch does, and we would rather say so here than in reply to your quote request.
What fits in that width
- Shelves and wall-hung pieces. A 20 cm live-edge shelf in curly birch is a good use of a single board, and the edge shows the bark line the figure grew under.
- Small tables and stools. A side table or a stool top from two boards, joined along a straight edge.
- Boxes and cabinet fronts. A drawer front or a small door panel is a natural fit for one board.
- Serving boards and trays. One board, edges left natural or eased.
- Knife handles, turned work and instrument parts. Most of what is made from curly birch is small anyway.
Building wider surfaces
When makers want a wider surface, they glue up. Two approaches work well.
Bookmatching. A thick board is resawn through its thickness and the two halves are opened like a book. The figure mirrors across the joint, so the panel reads as one piece. This needs a board where the figure runs evenly through the thickness.
Consecutive boards. Boards sawn one after another from the same log share their figure. Glued edge to edge in order, they look closely related without being mirror images.
If you need either, say so when you ask for a quote. We can pick boards that will do it, or tell you honestly that the right log is not in the yard right now.
Live edge or sawn edge
A live edge shows where the outside of the tree was. On curly birch the bark is lumpy, so the edge has a lot of movement. It looks good on a shelf and is impractical on a glued joint. Most of our boards can be supplied either way; a straight edge on one side and live on the other is common for shelves.
The bark itself rarely stays on during drying. If you want the edge as it was, plan to clean it back to the wood under the bark and finish it there.
Thickness and movement
A 50 mm curly birch slab is dense and heavy for its size. It also moves as it reaches the humidity of your room. We ship at 13–15% moisture, which is drier than outdoor wood but wetter than a heated room in winter. Let wide pieces sit in your workshop for a couple of weeks before final machining, and allow for the board to shrink a little across its width after that. Why we ship at that moisture explains this in more detail.
Sizes and stock details are on products. For how bookmatched pairs and grades are chosen, see grades.
Working on something in curly birch?
One line is enough to start. If you already know the sizes and quantity, add them below and we can quote with photos of the actual boards.
Prefer email? Write to hello@nordicmasur.com.