My friend wants to make an end grain butcher block. I’ve tried to talk him out of it but… Anyone seen an article or a book that explains the whole process?
So far I’ve read that one wants to orient the grain in say 2″ wide strips and start by laminating them edge to edge, like gluing up any panel only the boards are narrower than usual. Then you run the laminated board through the planer to even it up. Then you cross cut the board into pieces the thickness of the block you want.
My question is are there any tips for gluing up these strips into the block so that they stay flat? Also, the laminated boards can only be as wide as my planer will accept but I want to make the final block bigger. Would I first glue together smaller blocks and then glue the small blocks together to make a big block? Or would I glue the whole thing together at once applying pressure in all four directions? If so, how?
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To make butcher block, there are generally two ways. Glue the stock face to face, not edge to edge,then cut shape and plane/sand to size. Or, drill through all pieces one at a time and bolt through(nut and bolt). A drill press works best.
If the piece is too wide for the planer, glue it up on a flat surface and break out the belt sander.
Edited 10/18/2004 3:20 pm ET by JACKPLANE
Chisel,
Orienting the end grain to the exposed (upper and lower) faces of a butcher block reduces damage to the block by cutting instruments like knives. Look at the grain of wood as being like a broom. If you push a sharp instrument into the end of the broom, the straws separate; whereas, if you push it into the side of the straws, they get cut and fall off.
David Marks (Wood Works on DIY) made a butcher block on one episode:
http://tinyurl.com/7y5od
Basically, faces and/or edges strips of wood are glued together. After this assembly cures, it's crosscut into smaller strips and oriented long grain to long grain and glued up. This leaves the end grain exposed on both sides.
Good luck!
Bill Arnold - Custom Woodcrafting
Food for Thought: The Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
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.
I made a butcher block counter over two years and nothing in my house gets has much admiration from guest as this block. The key is that you need an excellant planner and sander. I have an 18" woodmaster and withou it, I would still be making the counter.
I first took rough 8/4 stock and planned it to a perfectly square 1 3/4. I crosscut this stock to 16 1/2 inches. After much study I found that the perferred way to glue up was to alternate face and edge grain. This way the wood works against itself to hold its shape. (BTW..after two years no cracking, splitting or warping.) I then glued 19 sticks together using waterproof glue. Once dried, I removed glue and put through my sander using 80 grit. I sanded both sides perfectly flat. I then used a straight-edge and circular saw to crosscut the blanks square on one side. Using my tablesaw I cross cut the blanks to 4". My overall counter is 32" X 60" so I used 8 pipe clamps, 4 on bottom and 4 on top, to glue the entire counter at once.
I sanded to 220 then flooded the surface with butcher-block oil and let dry. The next day I sanded to 320 and oiled again. This was followed with two applications a day for 6 days.
It is great!!! We are carfull of hot pots but otherwise no worries. My wife treats it with oil about once a month.
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