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.

On 29 Sep 2003 15:16:59 -0700, (Jon Brooke) wrote:

Anyone able to offer tips on buying / fitting wooden worktops for my
kitchen.

Avoid oak. You're pretty much guaranteed to get "iron stain" problems
from something. Maple or a tropical (teak or iroko, which is cheaper)
would be better, IMHO.



--
Smert' spamionam

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.

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,

"Jon Brooke" wrote in message
om...
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.

sounds expensive, unless that is for the whole lot and not lengths ......
also check here;
http://www.clarkswood.com/worktops/worktops.htm

Iroko 40mm 4.2m x 650mm £295.00
Oak 40mm 4.2m x 650mm £330.00

iroko dust is an irritant to both skin and respiration, so wear a dustmask
or better still a respirator when routing. a jig for sink drainer is
relatively simple; you use a ball groover and a guide bush ....... and you
construct a jig out of ply or MDF strips that has the right size gap for the
bush a support strip screwed at right angles at the bottom of both ends, the
bottom strip thickness is what decides the fall of your drainer, one end
rests inside your sink cut out, the other end sits on the worktop and that
gives you the fall, clamp in place, set your depth on the router and rout
away. Spacing of the strips gives you the spacing of the drainer channels

Jon Brooke wrote:
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.

Not sure if this helps but IKEA should be getting delivery of
its OAK worktops in 3 weeks time. 186mm costs about £80
and 246 about £120. From memory it's 606mm x 38mm.

--
Chris Spyrou
numero communications limited

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.

sounds expensive, unless that is for the whole lot and not lengths ......
also check here;
http://www.clarkswood.com/worktops/worktops.htm

£510 was for two pieces, so a bit cheaper than your suggestion, but
thanks for taking the trouble to respond. I just want to make sure I'm
not missing some bargain supplier that everyone except me knows about.
Anyone else got a favourite supplier. I'm near High Wycombe if anyone
knows one in this neck of the woods.

Cheers



Jon

Where did you get your wood, and how much did you pay?

Jon Brooke wrote:

Where did you get your wood, and how much did you pay?


I got my worktops via arena kitchens - its not actually FROM them - they
are sort of online brokers - can't remember the price but try
www.arena-kitchens.co.uk from memory.

Jon Brooke wrote:
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.

sounds expensive, unless that is for the whole lot and not lengths ......
also check here;
http://www.clarkswood.com/worktops/worktops.htm

£510 was for two pieces, so a bit cheaper than your suggestion, but
thanks for taking the trouble to respond. I just want to make sure I'm
not missing some bargain supplier that everyone except me knows about.
Anyone else got a favourite supplier. I'm near High Wycombe if anyone
knows one in this neck of the woods.

My rubberwood worktops were *far* less than that. About 120 to 150
pounds for 3 metres by 600mm.

Yes, here you go:-
http://www.albatops.co.uk/acatalog/A...erwood_43.html

They do other woods as well, delivered to my house etc. etc.

--
Chris Green )

try howdens, MFI trade

--
regards
Dave Batter
Kitchenman
www.kitchenman.co.uk
www.sxmitres.info
www.marks-family.co.uk
http://oneandone.co.uk/xml/init?k_id=5568652
wrote in message
...
Jon Brooke wrote:
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.

sounds expensive, unless that is for the whole lot and not lengths
.......
also check here;
http://www.clarkswood.com/worktops/worktops.htm

£510 was for two pieces, so a bit cheaper than your suggestion, but
thanks for taking the trouble to respond. I just want to make sure I'm
not missing some bargain supplier that everyone except me knows about.
Anyone else got a favourite supplier. I'm near High Wycombe if anyone
knows one in this neck of the woods.

My rubberwood worktops were *far* less than that. About 120 to 150
pounds for 3 metres by 600mm.

Yes, here you go:-
http://www.albatops.co.uk/acatalog/A...erwood_43.html

They do other woods as well, delivered to my house etc. etc.

--
Chris Green )