butcher block counter
 

I'd like to eventually put an 8 foot long (approx) 2-3 foot wide wooden
counter in my home. It will likely be supported by thin cabinets, floor
to ceiling posts at each end (already supporting the ceiling), and
probably a couple legs.

I'd like for one side of it to be like a bar in that you can sit at it
and have your legs go under it (i.e. it hangs over whatever it is
resting on).

€ What is the best source for such a thing? how hard would it be to
build myself?

€ Anyone know of any resources in New York City? Brooklyn specifically.

€ And lastly, what kind of wood do you prefer for butcher blocks?

thanks,

Ben

Ben Gold wrote:
I'd like to eventually put an 8 foot long (approx) 2-3 foot wide
wooden counter in my home. It will likely be supported by thin
cabinets, floor to ceiling posts at each end (already supporting the
ceiling), and probably a couple legs.

I'd like for one side of it to be like a bar in that you can sit at it
and have your legs go under it (i.e. it hangs over whatever it is
resting on).

€ how hard would it be to
build myself?

Not hard, just lots of gluing (you want the surface to be end grain)
____________________

€ And lastly, what kind of wood do you prefer for butcher blocks?

Personally, I like hickory.

--
dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

Hard Maple, also know an Hard Rock Maple. You can buy it from John Boos
company and many others.

why end grain? doesn't that mean a lot more pieces to glue together.
End grain means it will end up being checkerboard style right?

I had pictured it with long pieces, which would be edge grain if I
understand the terms correctly.

What's the benefit of edge grain?


Not hard, just lots of gluing (you want the surface to be end grain)
____________________

¤ And lastly, what kind of wood do you prefer for butcher blocks?

Personally, I like hickory.

--
dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

You use end grain so when you knife into it you don't mar the surface,
it just pushes the fibres apart a bit. But if it's just decorative then
it doesn't really matter.

"damian penney" wrote in message
oups.com...
You use end grain so when you knife into it you don't mar the surface,
it just pushes the fibres apart a bit. But if it's just decorative then
it doesn't really matter.

Well, yes and no - the end grain is also much nicer on your knives.

so how easy is the gluing process? I know my way around tools but
haven't done much finish carpentry (worked in a scene shop in theater
for awhile).

Just wood glue and pipe clamps? or any other special process?



In article . com,
"SonomaProducts.com" wrote:

Hard Maple, also know an Hard Rock Maple. You can buy it from John Boos
company and many others.

Right, but it's nicer on them because you are just pushing the fibres
apart intead of trying to sever them (but you knew that anyway)

Ben Gold wrote in news:bgold-
:

I'd like to eventually put an 8 foot long (approx) 2-3 foot wide wooden
counter in my home. It will likely be supported by thin cabinets, floor
to ceiling posts at each end (already supporting the ceiling), and
probably a couple legs.

I'd like for one side of it to be like a bar in that you can sit at it
and have your legs go under it (i.e. it hangs over whatever it is
resting on).

€ What is the best source for such a thing? how hard would it be to
build myself?

€ Anyone know of any resources in New York City? Brooklyn specifically.

€ And lastly, what kind of wood do you prefer for butcher blocks?

thanks,

Ben

Edge grain maple. It's produced as a commercial product, in 'standard'
widths & lengths. Check with counter top fabricators and hardwood floor
supply outlets. Lumber Liquidators sells such a product. Ikea may as
well. A home center or lumber yard may be able to order it for you, at a
retail markup.

Ben Gold wrote:
why end grain?

Because you specified "butcher block". Butcher block is end grain.
_____________________

doesn't that mean a lot more pieces to glue together.

Right. It also means it needs to be well supported unless it is quite
thick.
_______________

End grain means it will end up being checkerboard style right?

Right. Like a butcher's block
______________

What's the benefit of edge grain?

Edge or end? If end, as others explained...

--
dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 14:48:30 -0400, Ben Gold
wrote:

I'd like for one side of it to be like a bar in that you can sit at it
and have your legs go under it (i.e. it hangs over whatever it is
resting on).

€ What is the best source for such a thing? how hard would it be to
build myself?

If you just want the look and you are not really concerned about using
it as a butcher block, you can buy the top already put together and
finished. Check with you local counter top supplier or flooring
company. Even the big box store can probably get what you need.

You can do it yourself if you have the machines to mill the material
or if you can buy the material already milled. You just need glue and
some clamps.

€ And lastly, what kind of wood do you prefer for butcher blocks?

Most we see are not actually cutting tops. They are made from long
strips of hard maple with edge grain up.

If you are lucky you might look around and find something suitable.
We did a large wood top on a kitchen island and the homeowner wanted
us to use a top he bought from a school shop. It took a lot of
sanding and we had to cut a hole for the under mount sink but it
turned out very well.
The bar tops in my basement (both lower and upper) are from a bowling
alley approach. A local bowling alley was being demolished and the
company doing the job was selling the lanes. The approaches were 2"
thick hard maple and the rest of the lanes were 2" thick fir.
I paid $12 dollars a running for the maple (42" wide) and they wanted
$10 a running foot for the fir.
It took some work to cut them up and refinish them but the price was
right for the material.

Mike O.

Ben Gold says...

I'd like to eventually put an 8 foot long (approx) 2-3 foot wide wooden
counter in my home. It will likely be supported by thin cabinets, floor
to ceiling posts at each end (already supporting the ceiling), and
probably a couple legs.

I'd like for one side of it to be like a bar in that you can sit at it
and have your legs go under it (i.e. it hangs over whatever it is
resting on).

€ What is the best source for such a thing? how hard would it be to
build myself?

€ Anyone know of any resources in New York City? Brooklyn specifically.

€ And lastly, what kind of wood do you prefer for butcher blocks?

thanks,

Ben

Judging from your other posts, it appears you want an edge grain counter
not a butcher block. That's good because a butcher block or a counter
made of wide pieces of that size would be very difficult to make. With
the edge grain, you would rip the panels to the thickness you want, then
flip them on edge for gluing. This would make things much easier in
several ways. You could choose whatever thickness you want, and any
differing original thicknesses of individual boards could be ignored.
Last but not least, since the individual laminates are long, thin and
flexible, they won't fight you much when you glue them up. This is
critical, because few, if any, boards are really flat over 8'. The old
adage 'flat as a board' wasn't coined by anyone who had ever worked with
wood. Since you need 8', it would be nearly impossible to joint and
plane them flat and square without industrial sized equipment, and even
if you could, you would lose too much material with most boards. Still,
choose your stock carefully, and while a little bow will be tolerable,
don't buy anything with twist.

Difficulty of the glue-up will be high. You will need an 8' section of
flat uncarpeted floor a couple feet wider than your counter and at least
8 strong clamps, but in practice you will probably need several more.
3/4" pipe clamps would be the way to go with cauls to spread out the
clamping force. They run about $18 for clamp and pipe together around
here. They may be considerably more in NYC. Use a slow setting glue
like Titebond Extend and work like an asteroid is about to hit the
earth. You may as well take the safe route and only glue up a portion
at a time and spread the assembly time over an entire day. Remove
squeeze out from one side before it dries and save yourself a lot of
work. You will need to include extra length of stock to cut the ends
square when you are done and you will need to sand and plane it flat.
Hope you have a good quality jack plane and basic sharpening skills and
a decent orbital sander.

Nothing special. I use Titebond II and lots o' pipe clamps. The only
real trick is getting it flat after its glued up. The biggest one I've
ever done was 30" x 54" see it here
http://www.sonomaproducts.com/Furnit...KI2-Cherry.htm. I only have
access to a 24" wide belt sander so I glued up three 11" wide slabs and
sanded them out flat first using the same setup (ie all passed through
the sand one after another on the same setup). Then I glued the 3 slabs
together and hand scraped and sanded them.

One helluva lot of work and the thing must weight 150 pounds. Also, any
longewr would have been a real challenge. I think any bigget than this
and it would have been a buy vs build.

You want to get edge grain, so take wide boards, I prefer to use
varying thickness. Mostly 4/4 some 5/4 and some 6/4. For a 2" think
top, plane each board to whatever thickness is required to get the
smooothest possible surface. No need to worry about a specifc thickness
for any one board. Then rip them all to 2 3/16". Flip them on their
sides and glue up what used to be the faces together. You could try to
joint each face but I've found with a good planer I get better, faster
reults planing them first before ripping rather than trying to joint
the faces of sticks; which is very inconsistent.

BW

Well, unless I run across some cheap good wood, I'll probably buy it
pre-made. Looking into what's needed I don't think I have the materials
to produce such a large block.

In answer to others, indeed I guess it is not a true butcher block I'm
looking for. Basically, I want an untreated wooden counter to separate
my kitchen from my living area and allow for "bar" style seating on one
side.


thing must weight 150 pounds. Also, any
longewr would have been a real challenge. I think any bigget than this
and it would have been a buy vs build.

You want to get edge grain, so take wide boards, I prefer to use
varying thickness. Mostly 4/4 some 5/4 and some 6/4. For a 2" think
top, plane each board to whatever thickness is required to get the
smooothest possible surface. No need to worry about a specifc thickness
for any one board. Then rip them all to 2 3/16". Flip them on their
sides and glue up what used to be the faces together. You could try to
joint each face but I've found with a good planer I get better, faster
reults planing them first before ripping rather than trying to joint
the faces of sticks; which is

Lumberliquidators also has them.
8' maple butcher block counter top $184.00.

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 14:48:30 -0400, Ben Gold
wrote:

I'd like to eventually put an 8 foot long (approx) 2-3 foot wide wooden
counter in my home. It will likely be supported by thin cabinets, floor
to ceiling posts at each end (already supporting the ceiling), and
probably a couple legs.

I'd like for one side of it to be like a bar in that you can sit at it
and have your legs go under it (i.e. it hangs over whatever it is
resting on).

€ What is the best source for such a thing? how hard would it be to
build myself?

€ Anyone know of any resources in New York City? Brooklyn specifically.

€ And lastly, what kind of wood do you prefer for butcher blocks?

thanks,

Ben

I have one as half the top of my kitchen island. Started out as a 4x8
got it at the local hardwoord place. Was about $300 if I rememeber
correctly.