The defining feature of a butcher's block is that it is an assembled wood product, made from strips of wood which are glued together to create a solid wedge.
This allows manufacturers to pick out the strongest, straightest, most closely grained pieces of wood to create a butcher's block which will last for decades, when well cared for. A popular choice of wood for butchers' blocks is maple, although a number of different woods may be used. Wood, incidentally, is a hostile environment for many harmful bacteria, making it a great choice for cutting boards, as long as they are well maintained.
In an end-grain butchers block, the pieces of wood are assembled with the cut ends facing upwards, creating a very thick, heavy block. Disclosure: BobVila. You agree that BobVila. All rights reserved. Expert advice from Bob Vila, the most trusted name in home improvement, home remodeling, home repair, and DIY.
More From Bob Vila. Depending on where you look, you can purchase the counters at a fairly decent price. Building this one was necessary as the dimensions of it could not be found at a reasonable price.
It does still look great, too! Nice job, and great information! Currently building a house, and thinking it would be fun to build my own butcher block countertops. I know one of my blogging friends gets tons of free cutoffs from cabinet making companies. You can research those in your area. You can also watch for sales at your local hardwood lumber store. Mine has monthly sales for different species of wood, so if one I like goes on sale, I go buy some.
This is awesome! I am also in a kitchen reno and think this would be a great counter top. Seriously considering this. I was wondering if you used a stain on your wood, I did not see you mention it in your blog. Are stains okay to use? My husband is making me a butcher block cabinet and I want to make sure if we use a stain it will not affect food prep. I did not stain this, but you certainly can. As long as you use a strong sealant over the stain, it should be fine.
I recommend Waterlox sealant for a durable finish that can be wiped down. Just make sure you follow the instructions and purchase the correct cans. I had to learn from that mistake on another project! I wanted to know, did you put biscuits between each of the wood pieces with a planer? You know to reinforce the wood?
Fantastic butcher block and DIY that you have created. This is inspiring me to create one of my own. Do you have any recommendations on where to look to find a nice cabinet to rest this butcher block on?
Thanks so much! Everyone is certainly entitled to their opinion, but to call it lazy is rude and uncalled for. When I built this, I had a very small table saw and it was not easy or safe to cut down these boards on that saw. I also do not have a drum sander and did not want to spend hours with a belt sander trying to make it all perfectly smooth and uniform, only to be unsatisfied with the result.
However, it is fairly obvious his only interaction with a female is when someone as honest, upfront, and a genuinely nice person as you, replies to an antagonistic post of his. Hi Katie, Absolutely beautiful! You did an amazing job! Could you tell me the approximate sizes of your shortest and longest pieces that you used? Is there more of a possibility of shorter pieces moving over time?
Why did you rip down your boards? For easy handling? We ripped them down to use the edge grain of the wood, rather than the top grain. My table top is currently clamped. I bought shorts from my favorite wood shop in 7 different species of wood including some exotics. I plan on using a hand planer for the top which I have never done and then finish it off with a belt sander.
Your table top sounds like it is gorgeous! Rockler also has many locations across the country and I believe they can also do this. My brother does Harwood floors and sometimes has spare wood laying around. It all interlocks, so is it possible to use that wood for my butcher block?
It would be very thin and not have a lot of structural integrity unless you did it as an overlay on top of sturdy plywood or another material. The hard part would be finishing the sides and ends to make them look like a solid piece of wood. I know I must sound pretty lame but new to this and I want to be sure. I wish I could give you an estimate on that, but the cost of lumber varies greatly depending on where you live and where you purchase it from.
I just pulled up a board foot calculator and per your measurements, you would need about 38 board feet of material. You can call your local hardwood store and ask them. Some also have websites where you can see the cost per board foot of lumber. Sorry, but I have to ask, other then you glueing the boards together, what makes this a DIY? Third party ripped it, planed, cut down to size, sanded it. Rather than go into an explanation again, feel free to read my previous responses. If it makes you feel better, I did build the entire kitchen island it went on all by myself.
And you have inspired many others and myself to try this ourselves. Second taking it to your local shop for sanding and ripping was a very smart move.
I think the whole point of DIY is to do as much of the work as you can safely do by yourself. No shame in asking for or seeking help when needed. Keep up the good work. Yes, I try to do as much as possible and I have many more tools now than I did when I built this, which would make it easier for me to do even more of it on my own. After 4 years, how is the table holding up in both structure warping, splitting, etc, and finish look, cleanliness, feel, etc. Lastly, if you would do it all over again would you change anything in the process or material?
It looks just like it did the day I finished it. If I were to change one thing, I would probably put a more permanent coating on it, but that would be it. Looks really great. Do you see any issues on the side where the glued pieces would overhang?
I added corbels to this one to offer more support for people leaning. After applying the butcher block conditioner on the bottom, did you wait for it to dry, then flipped the block over on the sawhorse and apply the conditioner to the top?
Hi, thank you for this post. What if only hard mapple is available and can find the knotty alder, would you recommend it still? I see that you prefer the knotty alder over the mapple from your post. U did such s beautiful job on this project for ur mom she must be so proud. I wish I could do the same however I am disabled and have 2 bad vertebraes and 2 lousy knees. But ur correct this stuff is expensive. I will just keep looking. What I did was buy a stainless steel kitchen island but when cutting on it, it is going to get it all scratched up.
So hence I want a piece of butcher block for a top to protect the steel.. Thanks Katie. Article was very informative. I just attempted my first top. Wish I had found your article before. All strips were done strictly using a table saw. But, turned out better than expected.
Learned from my mistakes. I was wondering how many knotty alder did you use for your table. Butcher block is made from straight cuts of wood glued together into thick slabs that provide a particularly sturdy and stable work surface in a kitchen, whether as a cutting board, tabletop, or counter. There are three basic construction styles of butcher block: edge grain, face grain, and end grain.
Butcher block can be made from nearly any wood. Cherry and red oak offer rich color. Butcher block can also be crafted from bamboo it works best with end-grain construction and sustainably farmed exotics such as wenge, zebrawood, and iroko.
And when needed for food prep, pair it with a cutting board. Note that unsealed butcher block is not recommended immediately around a sink: Over time it will likely discolor and rot. At a minimum, butcher block countertops require oiling every six months to keep the wood protected. Depending on level of use, butcher block countertops may also require more frequent oiling and conditioning to prevent the wood from cracking and looking dull.
Because butcher block is soft, it mars more than other materials, leading some people to use it for certain surfaces only, such as work islands. Just before oiling, you can lightly remove scratches, burns, and other surface damages with fine sandpaper, and your countertop will look like new. Yes, unsealed butcher block works well as a large stationary work surface and has been used this way for centuries after all, it comes by its name honestly.
And, as mentioned, cutting on butcher block over time leaves marks and scratches—character-defining to some, best avoided to others. Prices vary depending on the type of wood, the grain construction, and the thickness.
In other words, good butcher block is more expensive than mid-range granite but less expensive than top-of-the-line natural stone.
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