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Butcher Block Countertop


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12 hours ago, Bushwacked said:

ok I still have plenty of that but wasnt sure how water based top coat would work with oil based stain ... never tried it before 

I put it over their wipe on Poly all the time without issue.  If you're concerned, use a coat of Shellac first.

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Working through the finish now … I wasn’t sure about my high endurance and if it was still good?? Looked fine but the lid went to crap and after I opened it I couldn’t get it shut again. 
 

BA920C53-0421-4FD6-AA8E-0FE56F44DF41.thumb.jpeg.f415431529c09007f2f955e1c260ad4d.jpeg

 

so found this minwax stuff with ultra flat … never heard of it so figured why not .. 

4BF5C7B1-211E-47EC-A0D1-58C6888C5930.thumb.jpeg.cdf761f04f77f7c7cca08533a49f2056.jpeg

so far 2 coats applied and can’t even tell.. when they say ultra flat they are not lying haha. Really impressed with it so far! 

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Oh one other thing … while I was test fitting and scribing…. I noticed his cabinets we 1/2” thick … do I need to get a smaller screw to go into his cabinets? Like a #6 or something? 
 

 

also for installing. Was thinking for those figure 8s to putting 3 in the back 2 on the sides and 3 on the front … Is that enough or overkill? 

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34 minutes ago, Bushwacked said:

Oh one other thing … while I was test fitting and scribing…. I noticed his cabinets we 1/2” thick … do I need to get a smaller screw to go into his cabinets? Like a #6 or something? 
 

 

also for installing. Was thinking for those figure 8s to putting 3 in the back 2 on the sides and 3 on the front … Is that enough or overkill? 

Figure 8s - If the cabinet is MDF, I don't think I would do figure 8s.  Screws are suspect as is in the face of MDF and absolutely crap in the end grain.

Mounting - I think I would install mounting strips to the cabinet on the sides and install from there.  Oversize the holes to allow for wood movement.

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52 minutes ago, Kev said:

Figure 8s - If the cabinet is MDF, I don't think I would do figure 8s.  Screws are suspect as is in the face of MDF and absolutely crap in the end grain.

Mounting - I think I would install mounting strips to the cabinet on the sides and install from there.  Oversize the holes to allow for wood movement.

Hmmm I didn’t look close enough to notice if it was MDF or not … 

as far as strips go I’m not sure there’s enough room on the sides or front to install them. 
 

assuming silicone would be a bad idea as it would restrict movement too much.

Maybe a couple 1” long strips of silicone in the corners and some screws with figure 8s … if it’s not MDF. 
 

if it’s MDF am I SOL for attaching it with strips? 

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Looking back at the original pic, there is plenty of room to attach hardwood strips to the sides of the carcass, glued and screwed or just screwed. Use your Fortsner bit to countersink the figure 8’s on the strips and you should be fine. 

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17 minutes ago, Coop said:

Looking back at the original pic, there is plenty of room to attach hardwood strips to the sides of the carcass, glued and screwed or just screwed. Use your Fortsner bit to countersink the figure 8’s on the strips and you should be fine. 

So just just 3/4 ply strips right? About 1 1/2 - 2” wide? 

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13 hours ago, Bushwacked said:

Hmmm I didn’t look close enough to notice if it was MDF or not … 

as far as strips go I’m not sure there’s enough room on the sides or front to install them. 
 

assuming silicone would be a bad idea as it would restrict movement too much.

Maybe a couple 1” long strips of silicone in the corners and some screws with figure 8s … if it’s not MDF. 
 

if it’s MDF am I SOL for attaching it with strips? 

Like @Coop, I went back and looked at the original pic as well.  Because of the paint, it's difficult to tell if it's MDF but, if it's a stock cabinet, chances are it is MDF.  It also looks like you have room to install about a 2" X 2" block on the sides.  You'd have to measure to be sure.  Then, just a couple screw up through those in some oversized holes.  Or, you could use the figure 8's in the new blocks.  3/4 is enough for figure 8's but, I'd go thicker if you have the room.

Silicone would also hold and wouldn't restrict movement.  I'm just not sure how well it would hold up.

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5 hours ago, Bushwacked said:

not thinking it will? Any guess on how long until it wiggles loose?

The issue I see is the figure 8s on the front and back..  The material is going to move across the grain and those figure 8s are going to attempt to stop that movement.  

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Kev, do you suspect that if he elongated the Fortsner holes in the front of the cabinet and on the top, so that they would be able to swivel, and angled the figure eights all in the same direction, that it would allow for any movement? I say that, hoping that is the right answer, as I have done that before. Would you have just put the figure 8’s on the back and two sides?

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8 hours ago, Coop said:

Kev, do you suspect that if he elongated the Fortsner holes in the front of the cabinet and on the top, so that they would be able to swivel, and angled the figure eights all in the same direction, that it would allow for any movement? I say that, hoping that is the right answer, as I have done that before. Would you have just put the figure 8’s on the back and two sides?

Your chances would be better if the figure 8s weren't directly opposing each other and installed at an angle but, it still depends on how much expansion happens in the top.  I would have just put them on the back and the sides.  

If there's only slight movement, it will probably be fine.  If there's a lot then, something's gotta give and I'd guess it will be the front face frame.

This is a good conversation!  We're all here to learn and get better.  In this particular case, I hope I'm completely wrong.  

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9 hours ago, Kev said:

Your chances would be better if the figure 8s weren't directly opposing each other and installed at an angle but, it still depends on how much expansion happens in the top.  I would have just put them on the back and the sides.  

If there's only slight movement, it will probably be fine.  If there's a lot then, something's gotta give and I'd guess it will be the front face frame.

This is a good conversation!  We're all here to learn and get better.  In this particular case, I hope I'm completely wrong.  

LOL! No offense, but me too 🙂 

So as far as Coops comment on elongating the Fig 8 holes, they kinda had to be anyway since this cabinet was only 1/2". These do have a good amount of swing from side to side because they could not be set into the wood very deep. .... Hopefully this helps?

I am interested to hear the theory on why not putting any fig 8's in the face frame. My thought was that was the place the make sure I had some there because that was actually solid wood and would hold the most intact and not wiggle loose. I do agree, if this thing moves a lot, then there probably wasnt anything I could have done to help it not break something. It did sit in the garage for about a week or so with the stain and some sort of finish process on it before being installed.

I would assume if this thing is going to go completely south, it would probably happen in the first year of its expansion/contractions moves?

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11 minutes ago, Bushwacked said:

LOL! No offense, but me too 🙂 

So as far as Coops comment on elongating the Fig 8 holes, they kinda had to be anyway since this cabinet was only 1/2". These do have a good amount of swing from side to side because they could not be set into the wood very deep. .... Hopefully this helps?

I am interested to hear the theory on why not putting any fig 8's in the face frame. My thought was that was the place the make sure I had some there because that was actually solid wood and would hold the most intact and not wiggle loose. I do agree, if this thing moves a lot, then there probably wasnt anything I could have done to help it not break something. It did sit in the garage for about a week or so with the stain and some sort of finish process on it before being installed.

I would assume if this thing is going to go completely south, it would probably happen in the first year of its expansion/contractions moves?

I would have left them out of the face frame purely for expansion reasons.  This would have allowed the piece to move in the front while maintaining your scribe work at the back wall.  You could remove those screws from the front ones and let it sit for a year.  Then, recheck it a few times during that year and see where your original holes are.  Just a thought.

If it's going to move, it should move soon..  Typically, the winters are the dry time and the summers are the humid times. 

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ok ... so just trying to sum all this great info up in my head ...

In theory ... the below would have been the best potential install?? 

AEF26C2B-0416-43E5-AA17-247370EA6F57.jpeg.846cbe0d0f86d28ebb9521df39028f67.thumb.jpeg.b5656c8ea25b323550c7d89d24113031.jpeg

Blue: Wood Movement

Red: Fig 8's that could rotate with the wood movement.

 

So, just installing the fig 8's on the sides would give this the best possible opportunity to let the wood expand/contract without hampering it .. while still giving it enough hold down strength to not move ??

Is that pretty close to what yall are saying?

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