Replies

1. 
   Spalted | May 04, 2006 05:31pm | #1

   Depending on the size, this may be a project you'll love or hate. If it is large (think kithcen island) Then you will need to accuratly glue up a row or column, mill the sides to be glued and thenglue it to the next row or column. Make a jig to hold the pieces as they will love to make you curse the movement that makes you beltsand or hand plane the top flat. when the entire project is glued up i would recomend running a threaded rod through the piece to keep it from moving more than necessary. cover the ends of the rod with deco caps or a solid trim. Trying this with more than one species of wood in the same countertop is NOT advised. The differential in the movement of the solid wood makes it crack and move funny. I would use a polyurethane glue or epoxy, despite the mess, to keep it together.

   If it is small (think fits in dishwasher, not that i would advocate it!) then you may be able to get away with planing or thickenss sanding the faces flush after glue up, thought it will kill a set of blades in short order. Make sure it is firmly glued up (let the glue set overnight at least) and over size to cut the back end chip out off. rout a chamfer on that edge anyway to minimize it.

   I took a salvaged off-cut from a failed attempt at a 4'-7' maple and cherry end grain countertop (checkerboard layout, 3"x4"x4" thick) and managed to cut it down to fit in the planer, it went well and I immediatly set to sanding the top. This of course ruined the nice planed look of the end grain. use a scraper plane and burnish the edge regularly.

   Wow, that is long and has more information than you need! Hope it helps, just some recollections of the one i did...

   
   

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   Edited 5/4/2006 10:34 am ET by Spalted

1. 
   boater | May 07, 2006 01:15pm | #2

   Thanks for the advice Spalted, the idea of a glue-up jig should work for me. This top will be about 2'x4' & will get rough surfacing with a router on a sled. After 48 years as a patternmaker this is the first time I have been confronted with a glue-up of so many small pieces

2. 
   HowardAcheson | May 07, 2006 09:50pm | #3

   There is a little engineering that needs to be considered when building an end grain butcher block. First, choose wood where the growth rings (viewed from the end) run as close to 90 degrees or parallel to one edge. Remember, the expansion/contraction is about double along the annular rings verses perpendicular to the rings. You've got to keep the grain running in the same direction as you glue up your strips. In other words, don't glue a flatsawn edge to a quartersawn edge.

   Next, the way butcher blocks are made is to glue up strips of wood like you were making a laminated type cutting board. These laminated panels are then run through a planer to flatten them and bring them to equal thickness. Then the panel is crosscut into strips of blocks equal to the thickness that you want the butcher block to be. These block strips are then glued together again keeping the grain running in the same directions.

   Not paying attention to the grain orientation will lead to the block cracking and/or joints being pulled apart.

   A type II adhesive will work just fine however, you need to be sure you do everything right to get good adhesion. Your glue faces should be flat and freshly cut. It they were cut more than a few days earlier, freshen them up with about three swipes with 320 sandpaper and block to keep the faces flat.

   Generally, threaded rod is not used as maple has quite a bit of movement when it's moisture content changes. Threaded rod would restrict this movement and either deform the block or pull the nut/washers into the wood when it expanded leaving the rod performing no function when the wood later shrinks. Proper gluing will keep the block together.

   Finally, it always much cheaper, and a lot less aggrevating, to purchase a butcher block than to make one.  The firms that specialize in end grain butcher blocks have speciaiized equipment to apply the necessary clamping force, plane the initial boards exactly correctly, plane the first glue up and then clamps to make the final block.

   Howie.........