Kitchen Countertop Advice

[flatheadfisher]

My double dresser is done except for final scraping and then staining. I am not a fan of staining - the bull in the china shop syndrome... My next project is to make countertops for our kitchen. I have been doing lots of reading on the web. I am thinking about doing mostly end grain with some two areas with end grain. This will only be my fourth project. But, it seems like it will be easier than the double dresser - no drawers to fit! I am looking for ideas to help me figure out what I want to do. There are so many possibilities as far as wood type and pattern go. I like the idea of using several kinds of wood to make an interesting pattern. But, I don't want it to look psychedelic or even uglier. I may just use hard maple of Jatoba because or its hardness. After the top is done, I will work on replacing the cabinet doors and drawer fronts so it needs to match one way or the other.

The tops will be 25 inches wide and there are several sections. The longest is nine feet. I think cutting the strips would be best? That would give a nice pattern on the edge - especially if I use different species of wood.

Has anyone made countertops like this? Any pictures you can share? What suggestions and/or cautions do you have. Other advice? I haven't done anything like this before - am I missing something that makes it harder to do than I think?

 

[Woodman2k]

Michael,
if you have alot of counter top area,and it sounds like you might,I would avoid doing anything that would be "busy".Being a large area it will be overpowering after a while and you would end up pulling it back out.If there is a chance that you would be selling your house in the near future that would be another reason to stay with something more traditional.
On the other hand ,what your talking about sounds like you want to laminate multiple strips of contrasting woods together to get a solid counter top 9 feet by 25".Butcher block style?,maple looks great that way,but I imagine it would be a bear to handle while doing the glueup.
Whatever you decide,good luck and post pix.
Greg B.

 

[Makinsawdust]

Mike,
In theory doing countertops is not that hard. In practice it can be a PITA. I make and sell a few thousand laminated craft items per year and I have a hard time managing countertops.
The last top I did was 2" thick x 26" wide x 60" long out of hard maple. My strips were 4/4 turned on their side. I used TBIII because of the slower set. I could only get 4-5 strips glued before having to clamp it up using a roller bottle to spread the glue. Each time I clamped the whole top including the strips without glue to reduce bowing. I used pipe, jorgy and bessy k-bodies on top and bottom spaced about every 2-3 inches. Each time I glued a few strips I had to wait until it dried, unclamp and do it all over until I had the whole top done which took a few days. My results were not as good as I would have liked. The TBIII glue lines were too dark for my liking and were too wide on the bottom side, of which I could not get a good look at during the glue-up. I had a slight bow from uneven clamp pressure which I had to trim out on the edges. Then I had to lug the thing in and out of the WB sander until flat on both sides. Then due to the contractor insisting that I have it done and installed in 10 days, I had to go pick it up a month later and resand and finish it again when the wood moved.
With all this said my tips would be:
1 Use 8/4 stock and make your strips 2x2" or 1.5x1.5" (I would have used 8/4 if I had had time to order it in) Also, cut your strips the same day as you glue-up. Otherwise you may not be able to draw them together in the clamps.
2 Try to use TBII if at all possible on a maple top. If you do a mixed top like maple and jatoba you wont be able to see a darker glue line with TBIII.
3 Use a steel "I-Beam" caul on either side of your top when you do your glue-up if you can. This will even out the clamp pressure and result in straighter top.
4 Let the top set after sanding for a min. of two weeks, then lightly final sand and apply finish. (I like Waterlox for this application)

I hope this gives you some insight into what to look out for on these oversized cutting boards. I wish you good luck if you go for it.
Rob

 

[flatheadfisher]

Thanks for the tips. That is exactly the kind of advice I am looking for!

 

[Travis Porter]

For wood counter tops you are going to need a wide belt or wide drum sander especially if you are doing end grain.