Wow , that's beautiful. I like the randomness of the block pattern . What dimensions were the individual blocks? I'm guessing about 1 1/2 square by 2 1/2 tall?
Contributor
Wow , that's beautiful. I like the randomness of the block pattern . What dimensions were the individual blocks? I'm guessing about 1 1/2 square by 2 1/2 tall?
[OP]
Member
Good guess. The blocks started off at 8/4 and by the time they were glued up, etc. ended up about 1 5/8". It finally ended up about 2 5/8" thick.
Member
Very nice looking and a lot more work than I would have had the patience for. Congratulations...
Sarge..
Member
Wow...that is dedication and it looks fantastic.
Got a question for you (or anyone for that matter)....
Would it be 'bad' to skip the dowels and merely use glue? I know this size might make it harder to clamp but maybe you could glue small blocks and then glue bigger blocks??? I don't know.....I've just always read that end-grain cutting boards could be made using glue only. Any thoughts?
Wood is very beautiful in tree form. Wood is very useful in burning form. I merely try to make my work honor the first, avoid the latter, and aim for the middle: beautiful and useful.
Member
that is one incredible countertop!
sounds like it was a ton of work though.
i think if i was doing the same sort of project, i'd end up drilling through the blocks, and thread them all onto 1 long dowel, vs lots of individuals.
however, Kudos on a fantastic job!
Member
One of the last couple of Fine Woodworking magazines had an article about making tops with end grain. After reading the article, I thought "wow, that is a lot of work". So I can really see that you did spend a lot of time on this project.
I believe the FWW author glued a bunch of strips together, then crosscuts them for the end grain. Then they are glued together. So two glue ups. No dowels or anything. But I don't think he used Titebond. He also had some rules about how to orient things so your top doesn't fall apart - probably a not a problem for you with 1200 dowels!!!
Member
I read that article, and made a small end table with this style top.It was a great article.Originally Posted by Robert Reece
Moderator
Because one is gluing long-grain to long-grain, no additional joinery methods are typically needed. Long-grain to long-grain is the strongest glue joint one can have.
It surely is an impressive project and if the dowels will make DARN SURE this thing never comes apart, it was totally worth it!
This is an awesome, awesome table top!! It will last darn near forever....
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