Live Edge Dining and Coffee Tables

 Stettler Sequoia King is made with a slab of Ancient Giant Sequoia that is over 2200 years old!  It was naturally wind fallen in 2013.  It is a very rare double live edge slab. This is rare because it has one outside natural edge and one inside natural edge. As the tree grew and aged, it became hollow inside. Animals and brush lived in the bottom hollow area of the tree which was 24 feet across at the base. This is a large open area where fires burned many many times over the millennia.  Sequoia redwood is impervious to insect damage except after being burned. So the first few inches inside the tree are susceptible to insect damage, but it is limited to that very small part of the tree. This slab is a slice out of the ring of surviving wood of the tree.  It is difficult to visualize such a large piece of wood that is only 3 inches out of the giant circumference of the tree.  Most giant sequoia slabs feature one live edge and one flat edge since the solid part of the tree is too wide for a double live edge.  The ends of the slab are shaped to match the natural live edge of the sides.  The legs of this table are made with 5 inch steel tube and poplar cross support/beam and feet. This beam extends into the steel tube. A single post was chosen to provide the least noticeable leg, yet a very strong support for the 52 inch wide table.  The bottom of the feet are covered with leather.  

Stettler King is the true story of two very different men: a grandpa and a great grandfather. 

My great grandfather, John Stettler and my grandpa, Jack King.  

John Stettler was my great grandfather.  He was a craftsman and home builder in the early 1900s. He built a small step stool for his daughter (my grandma). I affectionately named it The Stettler Step.  My Grandma then passed the Stettler Step to my dad  who then passed it down to me. 

Inspired  by his work and love, I made my first step stools for my wife and 3 daughters. This was the beginning of my early woodworking. The Stettler Step is a representation of a father’s love for his daughter and the simple blessing of woodworking.   

John Stettler was a warm and loving man who made beautiful things with wood.

Jack King was my maternal Grandfather.  My memory of him is a stark contrast  of my thoughts about my great grandfather.  Jack King was a pipefitter. Iron and steel pipe is cold, hard and strong. He worked hard for his family. I don’t remember him ever smiling or really ever talking to me. Grandpa Jack was a tough man. He thought lessons were best learned the hard way. When I was very young, maybe five or six, I was running around in his front yard bare footed while he was talking to my mom on the porch. He flicked his cigarette out into the grass and yelled to me, “Go step on that!”.  So I did. I learned 2 things that day;  cigarettes are hot and one should stop and think before stepping on something burning hot! 

Jack King was a cold hard man who worked with cold strong steel.

My style strikes a balance between these contrasting idea.  I have always had a contrasting personality which is expressed through my creative work. I can be very hot and cold.  My photography always contained high contrast black and white with very little gray,  but balanced.  My early wood work consisted of wood only and country in style.  Picket fence coffee and end tables, as well as step stools. 

Fast forward many years …

My current style has come to grips with the traits of my forefathers.   You can see and feel the intentional balance of these lives and ideas. 

Stettler King style finds a balance between the strength of steel and the beauty of wood.  It strikes a balance of the lives and experiences of my forefathers and my own life experience.  Love of contrast and materials with a story and character mix with my nontraditional techniques, result:  STRONG AND BEAUTIFUL

My mission is to build custom live edge dining and coffee tables as well as benches that are strong and beautiful for clients with a passion for uniqueness. The final product will be the result of my client’s desires, my creativity, and the materials I work with to make their vision reality. 

A mission is your purpose and it starts with values. I value originality, contrast, balance, strength, beauty, creativity, and hard work.  The materials I choose to express myself are wood and steel. I love shaping wood and grinding steel. Shaping wood requires finesse and an intuitive sense of what the wood demands. The final shape will be where the wood has led me.  Steel requires precision and strength.  Its form follows function. It’s function for me is strength.