Turning a really old and really big Oregon walnut tree into live edge dining tables
Last year I had a client who wanted a unique, one of a kind statement piece dining table. I knew Goby Walnut had been working on an amazing project salvaging a very big and very old walnut tree from Sauvie Island. The typical circumference of a walnut tree is roughly 12’ around. This gigantic walnut tree measured 27’ in circumference, stood over 100’ tall, and had an average crown width of around 150’ making it one of the largest walnut trees ever recorded. The tree dated back to the mid 1800’s.
The tree started showing signs of thousand cankers disease in 2019 and became a safety risk. Goby took it down in the summer of 2020 and began the arduous process of milling, air drying, and then finally kiln drying. The material was ready to be turned into live edge dining tables in the spring of 2023.
When I told my clients about the Sauvie’s tree, they jumped at the opportunity to have a beautiful piece of Oregon history in their home. These slabs were cut into book match sets which are two sequential slabs from the same log. The two slabs are mirrors of each other. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get my hands on more of this wood and bought a second set to build another table.
From there it was my privilege to bring these beauties to life. Two completely unique live edge walnut tables with lumber cut from the same historic tree.
