Does Live Edge Furniture Warp?

The nightmare scenario: You spend thousands on a custom table, and six months later, it looks like a Pringles chip.

Does live edge furniture warp? It can, if you ignore the science.

Why Wood Warps

Wood is hygroscopic—it absorbs and releases moisture from the air like a sponge.

• High Humidity: Cells swell.
• Low Humidity: Cells shrink.

If one side of the board shrinks faster than the other, the board cups. If the wood twists along the grain, it warps.

The Defense Strategy

1. Kiln Drying (The First Line of Defense)

We cannot stress this enough: Air dried is not dry enough. A slab sitting in a barn for 5 years might be at 12-14% moisture. Your air-conditioned living room is at 6-8%. When that slab enters your home, it will lose that 6% of water rapidly. That rapid loss causes warping.

• Our Standard: We dry to 6-8% in a kiln to "pre-shrink" the wood before substantial fabrication begins.

2. The Base Design (The Mechanical Defense)

You cannot stop wood from moving. You can only guide it.

• Bad Design: Screwing a slab directly into a metal frame with simple holes. When the wood tries to shrink, the screws hold it tight, and the wood splits to relieve tension.
• Good Design: Using slotted holes or channels. This allows the screw to slide left and right as the table expands and contracts, without fighting the wood.

3. Finishing Both Sides

If you seal the top of the table with 5 coats of varnish but leave the bottom raw, the bottom will absorb moisture faster than the top. Uneven moisture absorption = warping.

• Rule: We finish the bottom of the table just as thoroughly as the top to ensure balanced airflow.