Butcher Block Island Construction?

[pkirby]

Hey guys,
I'm getting ready to make a 5'x8' butcher block counter for my island. It will be made from 8/4 Hard Maple. My original idea was to rip the 8/4 stocks into varying widths and then glue them up as one big slab with Titebond and bar clamps. Then once the glue dries, I'll put it on the Bot to surface the top and run edge profiles. I have two questions:

1) Does this process sound reasonable? (because i've never done it before)
2) Should I add dowels between the ripped pieces to add strength?

Below is a drawing I made in sketchup and a picture of the edgeprofile I plan on running.
20653
20654

[dlcw]

Paul

The edge to edge glue joint is plenty strong (stronger then the wood) for your application. The only thing dowels or biscuits will do is provide for alignment references.

I just finished a 4' x 10' x 2" thick rustic hickory table top and used my CNC to flatten both sides. Edge profiling was simply a roundover and I did that with a handheld router. After surfacing, I used a large belt sander with 120 grit to remove CNC tooling marks. I then used an ROS down to 220 grit and finished it.

What you propose should work just fine. Remember to have really straight edges. You don't want to have to apply heavy clamping pressure to bring glue joints together. This tends to glue-starve the joint and will cause you problems later down the road. You should have a consistent, tiny bead (about 1mm) of glue squeeze out of the joint. This will ensure that every part of the joint has good glue coverage.

[jTr]

Paul,
Just did a 42 x 90 pine slab table top. I agree with previous post, but I'll polarize my response regarding the dowel/biscuit question - definitely not. On a large glue up, biscuits can especially cause headaches - if they swell faster than you can clamp them, it can glue the joint open. I am assuming you've taken great care to prep those boards as dead flat as possible...

I like to use a wallpaper seam roller to spread glue evenly. This assures full coverage, and when gluing both edges of boards as you'll need to, a single heavy bead or two of glue can run out of there quite fast. After it is spread evenly, it behaves / hangs in place much better.

I suggest you glue in several steps - no more than 3-4 boards at a time. Much easier to level, and you're less likely to have glue set up/drip out faster than you can get them all together. Use C clamps on ends at the joint lines - this will help keep your boards level, and control slippage along length.

Biggest challenge you face is the sanding - haven't run across a good method of retrofitting a 'bot with a R/O sander yet. Perhaps you could try on your project and let us know how it goes....:D;)

jeff

[coryatjohn]

I've made really nice tops using the bot. I think the secret lies in having perfectly dimensioned lumber prior to the glue up. Use your SB to size every board before ripping so there won't be any noticeable variation in thickness. This will make the glue up go smoothly and require the least amount of clamping pressure.

[waynelocke]

Unless you just want to do this, you might check into purchasing a butcher block slab. The price of a butcher block hard maple slab may surprise you. There are sources which specialize in this.

[Greencarvings]

I concur, purchase the ready made slab, put it on the bot, cut your profile and be done.

[myxpykalix]

When i do a larger glue up, i do it like they suggest, 3-4 boards at a time but along with clamping them together i also lay down a plastic sheet over a good flat surface (usually my table saw) then i lay cauls across the glue up and clamp it to the table to get as flat of a glueup as possible.

[adrianm]

Probably another one of those American to English translation things but a butcher block over here has the end grain running vertically in the slab.

I've done a few vertical grain butcher blocks on the 'bot. The hardest thing is to stop the edges chipping when surfacing so I put a 3/4" roundover on them afterwards.

Nice looking Sketchup models by the way. Have you tried the new Sketchup import in Vcarve and Aspire?

[bleeth]

Not just on your side Adrian. The right way to do a butcher block slab here is also rip your stock and turn it.

[steve_g]

The very best cutting boards are end grain. Typically in the U.S. they are gourmet items and not very large…
SG

[pkirby]

Guys,
I really appreciate all the answers. And will take you up on the advice to glue up only a few boards at a time. I also like the idea of putting the plastic underneath to catch the squeeze out. As for flattening the boards before glue up I don't have a jointer, so my plan is to:
1) Flatten one side (of the individual boards) on the Bot
2) Use a Festool Track Saw to create one good edge
3) Then rip the pieces on a 3hp Jet Tablesaw that has a power feeder
4) After glue up, the entire slab will then be planed to an even thickness.

I did look at some ready made slabs but the cost was more than I wanted to spend. If this were a paying job, I'd probably buy it ready made, but since it's for my house, I don't mind taking the cheaper/harder way:D

Adrian,
I haven't tried the sketchup import feature yet. I primarily design in Rhino and will use Sketchup to help do quick concept drawings. I really wish Rhino and Sketchup would work better together when importing/exporting files. But I've learned to live with the limitations.

[Kyle Stapleton]

Just one question, How is it that you have power feed on your tables and not a jointer?:confused:

[KMD]

Your on the right track with your butcher block. I did a full kitchen and Island in 2" maple several years ago. one piece was 26" deep x 14 feet long. the Island is 60" x 36" the important thing I learned was lots of glue and you need time to get it right. If your not using as a surface to cut on you may want to look at using tight bond extend. it gives you more time to work with the glue joints.

when I did mine I had a festool track saw, 15" planer, table saw , glue line rip blade and a 6" sander. I trued one edge of each board with the track saw ripped them into 2" strips laid out the parts for glueup. maked out 14" segments (so it still goes through the planer) took the glue up apart and ran them through the planer to final thickness. took the track saw and trued 1 edge on each glue up. glued them together. After that I leveled the pieces with the sander and cut the tops to dimension with the track saw

It worked but would the shop bot made it a faster process on the big panel

[pkirby]

Just one question, How is it that you have power feed on your tables and not a jointer?:confused:

I figured I'd get that question:D My background was general contracting before the economy tanked. So I had more construction tools than fine woodworking tools. I had a project a couple years ago where I needed a lot of 2x2x8' and I couldn't fine any that were straight. So I bought a 1hp Powermatic Power Feeder and a used 3hp Tablesaw to setup as a dedicated ripping machine to rip 2x4s. I was afraid of the stock fence bowing so I used angle iron clamped on both ends of the table to serve as my fence. It ended up working great! I wish I could attach that feeder to all of my tools. I love it because it 1) Gives good quality edges 2) Consistent rip width 3) No burn marks 4)It's automatic (I don't have to push the work thru) 5) It's extremely safe because my fingers are no where near the blade. It's awesome!

Kirk,
Thanks for posting the picture. It looks nice!

[coryatjohn]

>> 1) Flatten one side (of the individual boards) on the Bot

Flatten both sides. You want as perfectly dimensioned lumber as you can make. The more uniform thickness you have, the less pressure you'll need to clamp and the tighter the seams will be.