stuart noble wrote:

Jon Brooke wrote in message ...

Anyone able to offer tips on buying / fitting wooden worktops for my
kitchen. I've got two straight runs one of 3.4m one of 2.1m - the 3.4m
run will have an undermounted sink + hob cutout, also some of those
cutout slots for a draining board (I guess they need routing somehow).
I like Iroko or Oak - Cheapest blanks I've found so far are £510 for
650mm wide 40mm thick tops from thehardwoodfloorstore.co.uk - these
use 40mm wooden stave construction.

I've not fitted worktops before so any advice appreciated.

A *decent* jigsaw will do the cut outs, but you may get a bit of smoking on
the blade. I found Ikea beech very sticky. Also, be very careful with the
layout. With separate taps and sink you can end up with very little room for
error.



What I used was a jigsaw, a straight edge and a deep router bit. Jig
roughly to size, then use a single pass of the router at full depth to
plane the edges square.

I used a belling router bit with a ball race to get curved edges.

A good sand and several coast of Danish Oil has provided a more
resliient surface than I expected - on oak.

I used a LOT of clear silicone on top of the belfast to seal that as
well. Didn't bother with routed drain slots. Just wipe it into the sink.
Its fine. SWMBO is muutering about inset slate drainers, but she can
sodding well wait for that :-)

Did two right angle joins - in the end, just butt jointed - before
routing the bevelled edges. Looks tidy. Bevel the underside front edge
before fittong, but the top last of all.

Butt joints were done with glue, and plates screwed underneath,