Butcher Block Counter Top

[Greg Caputo]

Hi, all.

Looking for a little reality check here to make sure this'll work:

I'm planning to make a butcher block style counter top for a kitchen island I'm building for my daughter. She doesn't want the end-grain look of true butcher block, so the plan is to turn the wood edge up and laminate the faces.

The wood is maple. Each strip will be ripped to 1 1/2 inch wide in order to provide a 1 1/2 inch top after the wood is turned on its side and the pieces glued together. I'm using 8/4 stock, so the visible width of each strip will also be about 1 1/2 inches. I'm planning to use Tightbond 3 glue. The overall dimension will be 22" wide x 36" long, so I'll probably do it in sections. I plan to finish with mineral oil/beeswax mixture since it won't be near the sink and she doesn't plan to use it to as a true cutting board.

Does all this make sense? Is there a more appropriate glue? I'd certainly appreciate any advice anyone may be able to pass along.

Thanks.
Greg

[Jim Becker]

Pretty much exactly how I made my maple top for our kitchen island. Do note that the maple moves seasonally, so be sure you accommodate that when you fasten it down to the cabinetry...it must be able to shift front to back (or back to front...your choice) to avoid cracking.

[Greg Caputo]

Thanks, Jim. I must admit that I hadn't considered wood movement in this since the face grain would be vertical. But it'll be easy to accomodate the front-to-back movement. I appreciate the advice and response.

Greg

[jason lambert]

I would use tightbond II mainly because the color is much lighter than the III and would match the maple better in case you see a little here and there.

[Greg Caputo]

Thanks, Jason. I've been using a lot of TB-3 on this project since it'll be in a kitchen, but your point about TB-2 is well taken.

Greg

[Ed Breen]

Greg,
I'm currently working on our our 8 foot butcher block table. I used 3x3 walnut as the edging but over the years the maple has shrunk a bit. I'm redoweling the walnut. By the way, it is mounted on an old barber chair bottom whic, at times, surprises polks at the table since it can be spun.

Ed:)

[Steve Clardy]

Method sounds fine to me Greg. ;)

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I would use tightbond II mainly because the color is much lighter than the III and would match the maple better in case you see a little here and there.

What he said or just Titebond as it's pretty good stuff.

You may run into a problem with the ends. they check if you don't seal 'em quick. I know I did when I built my butcher block living room set.

In the alternate you might want to think about a slower setting glue because of the process you will be in getting all your clamps on and knocking all the pieces together.

Something I didn't do that I would today if I were doing it all over again: Use biscuits or a spline to line everything up so as not to be knocking the pieces into place as the clamps are applied. It doesn't have to be much just a couple of biscuits will save you oh so much effort.

[Peter Quinn]

Type II or III would both be good choices, food grade and very strong water resistance. I'd treat any wooden counter in a kitchen as a food contact surface, because sooner or later it will be. Wood around a sink gets tricky but they make great tops elsewhere. I've made a bunch commercially.

My only advise would be have a lot of clamps ready, because maple needs pressure, remember to use cauls to protect the edge boards even if your gluing it up in sections, which I'd recommend, so you dont get marks in the field along the glue line where the clamps crushed the wood.

And give that glue enough time to CURE. By this I don't mean "How early should I pull clamps" time, but wait long enough for the water proof type II or III to fully cross link, do its thing, and the wood to regain equilibrium before final milling of each section and final milling of the whole assembly. Otherwise you may get fractional movement that you think is creep, but is actually just a result of rushing things. I think I read they III takes 72 hours to fully cross link? That is much longer than 30 minutes, or even over night.

If you can get time on a wide belt at a cabinet or millwork shop it would be well worth the price but not essential. In a stable shop environment the ends shouldn't check too quickly, but I usually make em about 6" long on each end and cut to length near install. If your shop humidity is all over the place seal the ends with shellac and get some finish on all 6 sides as soon as they are ready for it.

Good luck, sounds like its going to be beautiful.

[Greg Caputo]

Thank you everyone. Great advice here which is really gonna help when I begin to make this thing this weekend. The wood's been sitting in my shop for about a month now, so I feel like I can begin the process.

Greg