Originally Posted by
Chris Fournier
First, I would never put wood around a sink as in the photo the OP provided. I guarantee that no matter how careful you are and I mean surgically careful, the wood around the sink will be compromised over time as water works away at the finish. This design will cause major grief down the road. I have made several wooden countertops for kitchen use in the past 15 years and they are all in service to this day and have required no maintenance to speak of.
Second, take a close look at the grain orientation in Rick's photos. It looks nice overall but again this is a poor idea, tangential and radial grain make poor bedfellows - one moves alot , one moves a little. I would predict that this top of Rick's will suffer failure at several of the gluelines. I would avoid this situation as a woodworker, especially a woodworker who warrranties his work!