Choice for a kitchen island top?

[Bobby O'Neal]

So early on in my woodworking endeavors, I am going to get started on an island for my wife. What would be a good choice of lumber for the top? I assume a hard, tight grained wood but, honestly, i dont even know what that assumption is based on.

Also what would be the best way to finish it? This is all with the understanding that it will have food prep done on it, though it wont be used for cutting. Thanks


Bobby

[Larry Rasmussen]

It's a pass through between dining room and kithen- island size. Purchased a piece of Boos rock maple 32" X about 7' long although the pass through is 30" X about 50" I needed the extra for a top for a base cabinet in the dining room. I used McKlosky's finish, a rub on oil and varnish. Works really well, I sand it with 300 or so grit every couple years and put a little of the finish back on.

Hope that experience helps a little.
Larry R, Seattle

[John Coloccia]

I don't know about wood, but I have granite counter tops and would not ever use anything else. Ever. I can take whatever I want out of the oven or off the range and stick it right on the counter top. The granite also stays cool and we can make anything that required dough right on the top.

I'm just curious why you're thinking about wood?

[Jim Becker]

Mine is maple with a black walnut inlay for effect. We also don't cut directly on this surface.

http://sawsndust.com/images/kitchen-island/k-island-prefin-topoiled.jpg

[Jeff Monson]

I don't know about wood, but I have granite counter tops and would not ever use anything else. Ever. I can take whatever I want out of the oven or off the range and stick it right on the counter top. The granite also stays cool and we can make anything that required dough right on the top.

I'm just curious why you're thinking about wood?

+1 on that, nothing adds more to a kitchen than granite, IMO + the durability factor.

[Brian Penning]

Want a mix of woods?
Cherry, walnut & maple...

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_eDYZqM9-MJw/Sy4qoy9TZsI/AAAAAAAASrM/xmMxkJQ0DNQ/s640/IMG_3972.JPG

[Stephen Cherry]

Go ahead, live a little.

[Don Morris]

We redid the whole kitchen again for the second time after a 10 year hiatus. This time we did it right. Granite. The wood looks great, but we put hot things on it and don't worry, even cut a little on it...carefully. It cleans up beautifully, doesn't scratch, hold bugs, polishes even if you want. I love wood too, but, "function for the frau" unless the kitchen is just a show place. My wifes' a cook, and the kitchen is a work place. Her 6 burner gas range sometimes has all 6 burners going and when she takes one of the pots off, she doesn't want to have to worry about where she puts it. A separate stylish chopping block though (nearby), that's a different story. That might be useful and decorative.

[Dave MacArthur]

I would not make the main counter tops wood, for the reasons stated above. Likewise, I would not make an island wood, as the island tends to be central and be used as a food prep area. That means knives, hot pots, meat juices, and abrasive cleansers... none of which are good for any finish you'll put on it.

HOWEVER, there IS a place for wood counters in the kitchen, just not in actual high-use areas. In my kitchen, we have a 2nd raised counter top/bar attached to the main counters, where someone can sit behind it at bar height and eat. I think THAT is a nice place for some wood.

Now, since the wood is not going to be used for it's functionality, and granite counters have both the image and the truth of high-class functionality, then you should ONLY be putting in wooden surfaces if they are BETTER and CLASSIER than granite! In my opinion that means you should be doing something better than maple butcher block. Jim has a nice walnut banding around his maple; and that mixed cherry/maple/walnut is great. Mixed surfaces are OK and considered trendy (I'm also a Real Estate agent) so long as the surfaces are all high-class and have some art merit or superior function to them.

You can use any hard wood, so long as it's hard enough that neither it nor it's finish will get indented by the inevitable stuff placed on it. You should finish it with either an epoxy coat OR multiple layers of polyurethane. Basically, your surface should be an antiseptic plastic finish that is cleanable from meat juices etc.

Here's a pic of an island/cooktop I made out of cherry base and "Chakte Kok" top (also known as Redheart). Finished the top with 7 layer so poly sprayed on and french polished. I wax the top every few months, it's 10 years old and still looks shiny and decent. Not the hardest of woods either, and I have young kids eating at this thing every day, so there's a data point for you.

[Bobby O'Neal]

Good thoughts, guys. The main reason behind doing it with wood is to not be overinvested. This wont be a permanent fixture and we won't be in this house for much longer. We don't have granite counter tops so I'm not too worried about putting granite on the island, since it will probably go with us when we move and I can put a new top on it to match the counters in our next home, which are more likely to be granite.

[Kurt Rosenzweig]

You can always do concrete. I just finished doing my kitchen and it turned out great. Go to you tube and search for it. It's cheap but at the same time it looks expensive. Also it was a fun project. It's will help with your resale value much more then a wood counter top. Also go to www.chengconcrete.com (http://www.chengconcrete.com) and order his video.

[Steve Griffin]

I like wood counter myself. At 1/5 the cost of granite and good looks, they are a great alternative.

I've put them in a number of kitchens, including our own. Ours are 3/4" hard maple with wrapped edges to make them appear 1.5". After ten years of hard use, they are scratched, dented, and a little water damaged around the sink. As long as you understand there will be such natural wear and tear, you will be happy.

In ten years I've spent about 1 hour on maintinance--when the wife was out of town I scuff sanded them and added one coat of semi-gloss poly. Maybe in 5-10 more years I'll refinish them for real. OR maybe not. I really don't get upset about well used woodwork.

-Steve

[Peter Quinn]

Hummm. I guess I'll swim upstream and say I don't really care for granite. Over rated to say the least. Its hard and shiny, and I don't consider either of those things to be positive attributes in a working kitchen. I can remember being at my mothers house the first time she put a pyrex caserole fresh out of the oven directly on the new cold granite counter in December. Crack....bang....splash....turns out hot pyrex doesn't appreciate the shock of being placed on cool granite. Funny, the trivets we'd gotten by with on the maple butcher block for the previous 40 years never caused a problem?


Wood is flexible, repairable, comes in lots of colors, can be done BY YOURSELF WITH BASIC WOOD WORKING TOOLS AND SKILLS so its cost effective for the wood worker, and it will out last any of us if proper basic maintenance is afforded it. I like a repairable finish that is food safe for food prep areas. Mineral oil and bee's wax is possibly the most basic, walnut oil is good, a wipe on poly oil blend if left to full cure works well. Lots of choices.

For wood species, take your pick. I'd avoid toxic species like rosewoods, plus they are expensive. A closed grain species of neutral smell and flavor (like maple) is essential for a chopping block or working cutting board, less so for a counter that wont take direct food contact. We have made counters from almost any species you can imagine at work. My favorites are cherry, jatoba, walnut, the darker species. Oak is a bit open for my tastes, though white oak is handsome and durable, and relatively inexpensive. I saw one stained with dark black coffee that was quite striking. Yes, actual coffee was brewed and reduced to make a food grade stain! Smells good too!

There is a great article on making counters in a small shop environment in Fine Homebuilding a few months back that has lots of great ideas jointing, gluing and flattening with minimal tools. We use a wide belt and a large planer at work, so if you can find a shop to rent time on those it makes things go quicker, but they aren't essential. And if you really must put hot things right out of the oven on the counter, and you can't seem to operate a trivet (:confused:), you can use some 1/8" aluminum or stainless strips as inlay and make a nice built in trivet for hot stuff landing. And they wont crack your glass wear!

[Matt Meiser]

The maple top on my parents' island contrasts the quartz countertops on the cabinets nicely. Their island is mobile and I was concerned about chipping the edges when they roll it through a door way so I talked them into that. It took a while to get enough mineral oil/wax finish worked into it so that the grain didn't raise every time something wet got put on it. Mom just resanded with 220 and reapplied whenever it started feeling rough.

[Ellen Benkin]

For counters, I'd go with the quartz material which has several commercial names like Ceasarstone. You get most of the look of granite with none of the aggravation. Remember granite has to be sealed regularly. Solid surface material (Corian and others) is good and can be made to be seamless, but it will scratch and needs regular attention to keep it looking new. I would not use wood for an entire counter, but I might have a wood insert as a real chopping block.

[Jim Becker]

I would not make the main counter tops wood, for the reasons stated above. Likewise, I would not make an island wood, as the island tends to be central and be used as a food prep area. That means knives, hot pots, meat juices, and abrasive cleansers... none of which are good for any finish you'll put on it.

My solution was...no finish. Well a little mineral oil occasionally when I apply it to our soapstone counters. :) Serious, there has been zero issue with food prep, hot pots, juices, etc. And it's been in continuous use since 2003.



Jim has a nice walnut banding around his maple;

Thank you for your kind words.

[Andrew Nemeth]

+1 on concrete

I have done 3 kitchens with concrete and I think they are fantastic. Trivit inserts and/or cutting board inserts are great and easily incorporated.

[Dave MacArthur]

It also occurs to me that most bar-tops are wood, and THEY TAKE A BEATING.

I have to admit... my granite counters always seem dirty, it's very hard to see if not clean. I love their look, but I'd like a stainless kitchen (counters, backsplash) with wooden bar-height counters for eating the most, really.

[Don Morris]

Most bar tops take a beating but they don't need to have something hot put on them. Ever see cigarette burns on a bar top? An Island for a cook, should be able to withstand something hot. Something hot is not something I'd want to put on a bar top or on wood. Trivets are OK, but things have a tendency to slip off, and a burn mark doesn't look good in the middle of a pattern. And heat will have a tendency to effect the color of some woods unless the trivet is really thick and effective. My choice for an Island is still granite, if the cook really utilizes the island. And not corian, nor silestone, neither of those can take as much heat as granite. Though they can take more than wood. To me the only advantage of corian is that it can be sanded. The disadvantage of granite is that even the cheapest isn't cheap, and there are some patterns that are outright expensive.

[Brian Penning]

Er...Jim....ummmm.....about the base for your island.
You have any...ummm.....storage problems or things of that nature?
It's kinda low too, no?
Other than that, I like it.

;):)


Mine is maple with a black walnut inlay for effect. We also don't cut directly on this surface.

http://sawsndust.com/images/kitchen-island/k-island-prefin-topoiled.jpg

[Doug Carpenter]

I have concrete countertops. It works well for dough. It is very artsy. We don't cut on it but there are very few tops you can cut on anyway.

The tops are sealed and waxxed so we don't put hot pans on it directly. It leaves a mark that goes away after awile. Lemons and tomatoes are the enemy. They will leave a mark if not cleaned up imediately.

The price was right. It was something I could do and gave a nice earthy feel with out springing for granite. It would have been about 7 grand had I charged myself. It actually cost me about 3 hundred to do. I told my wife she could pay me ($3500) her half in cash :p

[Peter Quinn]

I think Jim nailed my favorite material available to the wood worker with SOAPSTONE! You can cut and profile it yourself with carbide tools, it can be sanded, it can take heat like nothing else, and it is real dense. Looks great too.