Process for low-medium production of edge-grain wood countertops

[David Malicky]

My brother is interested in starting a small business to make edge-grain wood countertops, similar to Boos (long hardwood sticks glued together). Employees would be veterans, sawmill would be Amish, wood would be Appalachian hardwoods (maple, cherry, walnut). There is no illusion of competing with Boos or the like – my brother is after a different market. I'm helping him figure out an efficient process for a ballpark production rate of 15,000 – 30,000 bdft per year (if making all 2'x8'x1.7" tables, that's about 20-40 tables per week).

He currently has 7000 bdft of KD 8/4 rough cherry and maple and a 22" Powermatic planer. But it's probably smarter to start with 8/4 S4S, as there are local sawmills that can do those steps for low cost, to keep capital costs lower at business launch. The sawmill would also likely straight-line rip the sticks. Eventually, if more profitable, some of those steps may be moved in-house.

Below is a draft process plan. Steps S1 to P1 would likely be done by the sawmill (I assume they'd have a different process). We both work with wood fairly regularly, but neither of us has done it for 'mass' production.

Surfacing (outsourced initially): if starting with rough stock
S1. Joint 1 face: 12" Jointer (is this economical/safe to do for production?)
S2. Joint 1 edge: Jointer
S3. Plane other face: Planer
S4. Straight line other edge: Tablesaw

Prep Sticks:
P1 (outsourced initially). Cut into ~2x2 sticks: Straight-line rip saw, alternating edges to minimize warp.
----(below is in-house)
P2. Rotate sticks +/- 90 deg (orient with best quartered face up)
P3. As needed, cross-cut sticks for flaws: Miter saw
P4. Rough sort by lengths
P5. Rough sort by mostly quartered vs mostly rift (I've noticed ridges in older tables where two neighboring sticks have much different grain angles… I'm assuming that's from radial vs circumferential expansion differences)
P6. Cross-cut a set of sticks to table length + 2": Miter saw
P7. Optional, for later alignment, cut for biscuits, dowels, or spline on all edges. This style table top with narrow sticks would need a *lot* of these, so probably better to make a clamping fixture that does the alignment.

Assemble Table
A1. Apply glue: Titebond III, 2" paint roller
A2. (Optional: Insert Biscuits, Dowels, or Spline)
A3. Assemble and clamp: Horizontal table, parallel clamps in a custom holding fixture. If no biscuit/spline, use cauls/clamps to align faces.
A4. Dry ~30 minutes
A5. Remove squeeze out: chisel / scraper/ ? (Efficient way to clean lots of glue joints? Easy way to flip heavy table to clean other side… or just wipe it flat since it won't be visible?)
A6. Dry 12+ hours (we do have plenty of space)
A7. Unclamp and clean rest of squeeze out
A-Alt: instead of cleaning squeeze out or aligning precisely, make <21" wide sections and then plane faces. Then join those sections.

Trim and Flatten Table
T1. Square ends of table and set table length: sliding table saw
T2. Rip to exact width: table saw
T3. Round corners: hand-held router
T4. Sand surfaces: 37" - 51" wide belt sander (maybe outsource initially)

Finish Table: Options:
1. Mineral Oil
2. Food grade Polyurethane
3. Catalyzed Varnish (probably outsource initially)

Package for shipment

My brother has successfully run many businesses, and knows how to project if a plan is viable given the right data. Some key data is the labor hours per table, so first we need to determine the ~most efficient process, also considering initial capital. We can invest the needed capital, but we don't want to buy un-needed equipment before the business is shown to be viable (i.e., outsource more at first).

Thanks for any advice on the process, especially from any of you who have done production woodworking.

[Art Mann]

I have a couple of thoughts. First of all, forget about biscuits, dowels, splines or any other alignment or reinforcement pieces. These take waaaaay too much time and trouble. Glue will be more than strong enough. Your clamping fixture must be designed to hold the assembly flat as well as squeeze the glue joints. That will take care of the alignment issues. Second, it seems to me you are outsourcing at least half of the critical value added (and money making) operations. After paying someone to machine your material and then paying someone else to sand the surface, there isn't much room left for your own profit. There is one more thing. I don't mean to insult, but your process makes me suspect you have never actually built a wooden counter top. There are always unforeseen difficulties. I suggest you build a few to see how it goes and then define your process.

[johnny means]

HIGH FREQUENCY PLANT WITH AUTOMATIC GLUE APPLICAT…: http://youtu.be/FFV-llYDLGo

Talking about this amount of production with a 12 jointer and parallel clamps doesn't seem realistic to me. Unless you're setting up shop in Bangladesh. Your competing against companies that have machines that automate the entire process. Feed raw lumber in one end and a counter top pops out the other end.

[Joe Calhoon]

We process 25 to 40 thousand BDFT per year in a 2 man shop mostly making doors, windows and millwork. We have made plenty of solid countertops & tables over the years and solid stave core construction is similar to BB counter production. You have to start somewhere and you will soon find out your weak areas. We were always able to make good flat glue ups even starting out with marginal equipment. You just need knowledge of wood and care through the process. My shop associate and I are always surprised at the poor quality of edge glued table tops and the such that other shops bring in for us to wide belt sand.

A couple things that helped make solid processing easier for us was a S4S machine and a small straight line rip. In the end you will need it all. I would seriously think about a clamp with panel flatteners. Art is right, forget dowel or biscuits. Also at that quantity you will need some efficient dust collection. We use a twin 10HP Belfab unit that automatically transfers to a 16 yard dump trailer or briquetter.

If you already have a shop make a few tops and see how it goes. I know of a couple shops doing OK making custom wood countertops.

Joe

[David Malicky]

Thanks, all -- that is very helpful!

Art, yes, I had thought starting with rough lumber was the way to go, but a local mill does S4S for $0.28/bdft... at 20k bdft/year, that's $5600/year, which would be a 3 year PBP on a S4S machine ($15k, I think). So we thought it better to outsource that for the first year. And yes, I should have mentioned we've not built counters yet (good observation) and I completely agree we need to do that through many iterations. I posted first because I wanted an initial plan that was closer to a production method. Was there anything else in that draft process (besides alignment) that you saw as a red flag?

Johnny, Thanks for the link and the point is well taken. Certainly we're not in that league for either low price or high volume. My brother is after a different and much smaller market... veteran friendly, Amish ties, more hand-made, more custom features and appearance possible.

Joe, that's great to hear, thanks. The panel flattener clamps are just what we've been looking for (didn't know the term)... I thought we'd have to make those. What quality level SLRS is needed for our volume? I see there are Taiwan ones starting around $8k, or used Diehls for a wide range (many needing overhaul), or new Diehls for ~3x that. I was thinking a ~10 HP cyclone for dust collection, depending on the machines serviced.

Thanks again!

[Joe Calhoon]

David,
The more I think about it a S4S machine would not be of much use for butcher block construction. Since you are gluing off the planed surfaces after ripping and turning. We use it a lot because we process all our work pieces through it after lamination.

We bought a Taiwan rip saw only for the small footprint. It has worked fine for us. We get all our glue joints off the S4S anyway. The heavy US SLRs are better for sure. In the case of butcher block tops a multi rip would pay off quick.

We have a JLT clamp rack with a panel flattener. It would be entry level for BB tops but could work to get started. If you have room, better would be a used glue reel with flatteners.

When doing stave cores or butcher block tops we start with well planed timber, then rip and flip. If you alternate the bows you will notice that alternates the grain also and keeps the glue ups flat. We tried abrasive sanding the surfaces with the steel roller on our wide belt but find a clean planed edge is better for gluing. We have Tersa carbide on our S4S that makes for a good surface. That will be your challenge with outsourcing this but sounds like you have good resources. The end game for this is probably heavy planers or double surfacers fitted with modern heads.

Joe

[David Malicky]

Thanks, Joe -- that's very helpful info! I see your point on a S4S machine. If we started with rough, what production method would you recommend to get S2S?

I saw some youtube videos on glue reels with the pneumatic flattener -- so efficient. A used one of those would indeed the ticket.

I know about alternating the 'bark side' direction for flatsawn glue ups, but didn't realize mirroring the grain angle also helped with edge grain tops -- thanks. I will check on the surface quality of the local mills.

[Joe Calhoon]

David,
The least expensive machinery to get S2S is face on a wide jointer (12" and up) then a couple passes through a single planer. Pretty labor intense. A power feed on a jointer works pretty well for facing 8/4. Next up are double planers of the old variety like Newman- Whitney, Buss and the such. Also facers like a Oliver Stratoplane or Porter in line with a planer. There are a lot of combinations. A lot of production outfits do not face material. This can work if you get flat material in the rough or hit and miss. We try to get all our material hit and miss. Saves a lot of work and chips from going total rough and still allows us to straighten. Making butcher tops your material will spring a bit anyway when ripped into strips. Or a lot if you get bad or improper dried wood.

A shop I know just set up a new Taiwan (Cantec or Extrema) double surfacer - facer with a German made insert head to S2S hard maple for drawers. He is very happy with the machine.

Joe

[Loren Woirhaye]

Sometimes counter tops have holes in each piece. One can put a rod through the holes. I don't know if it's for glue up or to tighten up splitting over time.

I think you're going to want a wood welder and a glue spreader. You'll probably want a jointer power feeder.

[David Malicky]

Joe and Loren, thanks! Good to hear about power feeders on a jointer. I didn't know about double planers/surfacers or facers so will read up on those. Getting the lumber hit and miss sounds like a good solution, as we already have a decent planer and that's easy. Yes, that would save the time consuming step. We had considered through holes but thought it better to get the regular process right. I didn't know about wood welders, either--will keep those in mind.