# Butcher Block ( walnut/cherry)



## Alex Beck (Feb 14, 2019)

Black walnut/black cherry butcher block, I violated alot of joinery rules here. So far (1 year later in a climate controlled space) no checking, shrinkage, or gaps. Long story, its a series of glue ups that have a lot of doweling to minimize shrinkage or expansion. Some dovetail work to minimize tension on the perimeter & silicone bronze boat nails that will not corrode in a moisture rich environment.


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## ripjack13 (Feb 14, 2019)

Do I need to imagine it? Or will there be pictures?

Reactions: Funny 2


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## Alex Beck (Feb 14, 2019)

Guess I'm worse than a woman, i would say it was anticipation but truth is I hate technology, I have internet and refuse to have cable or tv.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Alex Beck (Feb 14, 2019)

Alex Beck said:


> Guess I'm worse than a woman, i would say it was anticipation but truth is I hate technology, I have internet and refuse to have cable or tv.

Reactions: EyeCandy! 1 | Way Cool 7


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## Alex Beck (Feb 14, 2019)

Alex Beck said:


> View attachment 160748
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> View attachment 160749


 
So, on a cutting board this long, I found out you cant have it dead flat, you actually have to camber or relieve the center so that the 4 corner feet make contact. I love my stroke sander.

Reactions: EyeCandy! 2


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## ripjack13 (Feb 14, 2019)

Now that is a nice job!
Whats the curved area on the bottom left side for?


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## Alex Beck (Feb 14, 2019)

When you dice up every vegetable in the world and need to scoop it off into a bowl. Works wonderfully.

Reactions: Like 1 | Informative 2


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## Nature Man (Feb 15, 2019)

That is one massive block! Love the design. Must have taken hours in the glueup department. Chuck


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## Alex Beck (Feb 15, 2019)

Nature Man said:


> That is one massive block! Love the design. Must have taken hours in the glueup department. Chuck




It was a series of sub-assemblies that were glued up, doweled to lock everything together, dimensioned the next day and then rinse & repeat about 3 times. The perimeter is secured w/ silicone bronze boat nails, they are a bit ornamental but they also resist corrosion. Theres some light hook knife carving as well.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## DKMD (Feb 15, 2019)

Definitely a nice looking piece! Fingers crossed that the nails and dowels keep it all together.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Karl_TN (Feb 15, 2019)

A most excellent butcher counter top. 

Mind a few questions: 

Do you have any pics or diagrams of the joinery in case someone wanted to try making something like this? 
Would you do anything differently next time? 
What is the surface treated with? 
-Karl

Reactions: Like 1


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## Alex Beck (Feb 15, 2019)

I didn't take pictures during the process but i'll try to elaborate and describe the steps. Keep in mind all end grain glue ups are inherently weak so they need to be reinforced w/ a mechanical fastener, dowels are good, silicone bronze boat nails are even better as they have a barb. When you drill a pilot hole for the boat nails you will need to use 2 different drill bits, the first 2/3 of the depth should be bored using an equal size drill bit, for instance if you have 1/8in diameter nails uses an 1/8in drill bit for the first 2/3 of the depth. The last 1/3 of the pilot hole should be slightly undersized to allow the barbs to bite and hold, you should undersize the hole by about 1/32in so the last 1/3 of the depth in this case would be bored at 3/32. Use a depth stop on the drill to achieve the correct depth, go 1/16 deeper if need be. 
For the construction of the butcher block, I ripped 4/4 material into 1.75in thick strips. about 6ft long. I wanted to keep this unit fairly light to make it easy to move & clean under/around. I first laminated these strips, about 15 or 16 together w/ titebond 3. The next day, I took the lamination to my table saw & crosscut sled and cut them off into short sections about 4in long. Your sled will need to be aligned very accurately and you will need to use a 60 tooth or higher count tooth blade to allow for a decently smooth crosscut. I then laminated the walnut strips onto the end grain each of my cut off lamination blocks and put (6) 1/4 oak dowels into each assembly, 4 on the corner and 2 in the middle. When you glue up end grain I apply glue first to the end grain and let it soak in and then I add another coat to prevent a dry glue joint. The next day I added the cherry strips between my assemblies and did a large glue up. I then cut the assembly square on my table saw and then glued up the walnut perimeter boards, dovetailed the rail into the perimeter to prevent any movement if the walnut perimeter wants to expand. At this point, I nailed in my silicone bronze boat nails, notice that Im driving them primarily into the end grain connections, as these are the weakest and most likely to fail. I added some handles and then used a large edge sander to shape a cup into one side for funneling cut veggies into a bowl thats held beneath the board. In order to flatten the board I first used a very sharp hand plane and had to attack it from various angles to avoid tear out. I then moved to the stroke sander. If you have a spiral head planer maybe this would work for avoiding tear out but at this stage I wasn't gonna risk it. I then used the stroke sander to create a camber or slight arch on the bottom to allow the 4 corners to maintain points of contact. If you attempt to get the board dead flat sometimes the middle will become the high point and the board will spin & move. I know this because I made it dead flat to begin with and had to make this modification. I use walnut oil for my finishes on butcher blocks and utensils, you can use mineral oil but I don't like the though of consuming a petroleum product. 
Overall, the butcher block came out great, can't think of anything I would do different. Maybe if I had the time, drive more dowels into the face grain/end grain connections. The butcher block is over a year old and get heavy use, so far no cracks or de-laminations. I wash it will a damp rag and rub it with walnut oil and salt to prevent any bacterial buildup. I would never run water on it under the sink, that would be asking for trouble.

Reactions: Like 1 | Informative 2


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## Rocking RP (Feb 20, 2019)

Very interesting build.


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