Butcher Block table

[JayTalbott]

I'm thinking of making my wife a butcher block table for Christmas. My initial inspiration came from this one, except I need to make it a bit smaller, and I'm not going to put it on casters.

So I've drafted up my initial ideas in Sketchup...

I'm thinking the top will be 17-7/8" square and 3-4" thick, made out of end grain hard maple (11 columns by 11 rows of 1-5/8" squares milled from 8/4 stock). Due to space constraints in our kitchen, I really can't go any larger in size. I could also go with 10 rows by 10 columns of 1-3/4" squares or 12 rows by 12 columns of 1-1/2" squares and end up with a similar size top, but I was leaning towards going with an odd number of rows and columns. If I had stock on hand that had a true 2" finished thickness, I could do 9 rows by 9 columns, but as we all know, 8/4 isn't a full 2", plus it will need some machining, so that's not in the cards as long as I stick with what I have on hand.

The finished height will be around 32", a little lower than the height of our counter tops. Part of the reason behind this idea is that my wife is short, and she feels like she has to reach too high to cut stuff on top of her current cutting board (which is about 3" thick) on top of the counter. So my thought is that this would be 5-6" inches lower, which would make it much easier for her to use.

The legs, aprons, and stretchers will be cherry, stained and finished to match our existing cherry kitchen cabinets. The legs will be 1-3/4" square, milled from some 8/4 stock I've got, and the aprons and stretchers will be milled from 4/4. I put mortises and tenons in the Sketchup drawing for attaching the aprons to the legs, but didn't bother (yet) doing it for the stretchers. For strength and heft I didn't taper the legs in the Sketchup model, but that's not out of the question.

I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do for the lower shelf, whether I'll go with edgebanded cherry ply or solid cherry. I'd like to avoid the movement issues, but I've got plenty of 4/4 cherry boards on hand, so I'd like to use it if I can. Instead of a single shelf, I could also do it as slats, similar to the Boos version, but maybe with just 4 boards, each a little under 4" wide, with the outer ones notched to fit around the legs. That would also get around the wood movement issue.

I'm looking for recommendations, feedback, critique, etc. of this design before I begin construction. Although I've done a few other woodworking projects, this will be my first real piece of furniture, and I don't want to screw it up. Other than the overall size and height, anything is fair game - the thickness of the top, the size of the squares that make up the top, the size of the aprons and stretchers, taper or don't taper the legs, ideas for the shelf, joinery ideas, edge treatments, best way to attach the top to the legs, etc.

Thanks!

- Jay

Butcher Block.skp

[Ben@FineWoodworking]

Norm actually did a butcher block table really similar to this in season 5.

http://www.newyankee.com/getproduct.php?510

Might be worth checking out.

My wife wants one too... it's gonna have to wait awhile.

[adamking]

Honestly from your description, it sounds like you have a pretty solid plan for construction. Are there any specific questions you have about the process?

End grain butcher block is a great choice and can be beautiful. The only thing that might make it a bit easier to manage, (since it's your first piece) would be to bring the thickness of the top down an inch or two. IT might make it a little easier on you and your tools.

Just a thought.

Also, if you need some advice from the Boos Boys, I'll ask them. They live close by.

[AMarshall]

I'm kind of nitpicking here, but I notice you show 1/4" thick tenons in your model. You should probably think about 3/8 or even 1/2 thick tenons for added strength. That thick top is going to be pretty heavy, and you don't want the base to rack.

Other than that, I like your design. I personally wouldn't taper the legs, but maybe add a small chamfer instead. The Boos design has a similar chamfer around the edge of the top - not sure if you are going to do this but it could all tie together.

[JayTalbott]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I've modified the design to reduce the thickness of the top to 3", which is probably more proportional anyway for the smaller size of this table, and added a 1/4" roundover on the top and bottom edges. Since this is end grain, can I still do this with a router without ruining the top?

I also changed the thickness of the tenons in the aprons to 1/2", and shortened the length of the mortises a little bit so that they aren't quite so close to the top end of the leg. I didn't put in the details of the joinery for the lower stringers yet. Although not in the Sketchup file, I intend to ease the corners of all the legs and aprons, either by running them through an 1/8" roundover bit on the router table, or just knocking them down with sandpaper. And I'll put a slight chamfer at the bottom ends of the legs.

I'm still undecided about the shelf. I might just forgo the shelf and just have the stringers for strength. Even if I keep the shelf, I'm still not locked in yet on the height of the shelf. That's my real sticking point right now. Suggestions are welcome...

Thanks!

- Jay

(latest Sketchup file attached)

Butcher Block.skp

[JayTalbott]

Ok, some more refinement...

I inset the stretchers another 1/4" and added the joinery. I then inset the shelf 1/4" so it wasn't just flush with the legs. I also made the shelf 1/2" thick instead of 3/4". And I added a small chamfer to the bottom of the legs.

I'm considering doing the shelf by mitering together four pieces, as shown in the latest SketchUp drawing. Or I might just forgo the shelf altogether. Any suggestions regarding the shelf would be most appreciated.

Thanks!

- Jay

Butcher Block.skp

[JayTalbott]

Update...

Saturday I was able to mill up the lumber for the legs, aprons, stretchres, and shelf. I also glued up the shelf using a couple of biscuts in each joint. So now I'm committed to a solid wood shelf, although I just edge glued three boards rather than doing the miters.

The stock I had on hand for the legs was actually a little shorter than I had thought, so the legs ended up a little more than an inch shorter than the original plan. To compensate for this, I decided that I would add casters after all, so I picked up a set of 4 bronze finished casters from HD on Sunday.

I also cut all the mortises in the legs using my mortising attachment for my drill press (first time!). Took a little bit to get the hang of it, including just how much force it really takes, but I got them done and they seemed to turn out pretty good. Not quite a simple as Norm makes it look, but it's way better than doing it by hand.

Next is to cut the tenons on the aprons and stretchers, cut the shelf to size, and test fit everything. I still haven't figured out what I'm going to do to allow for wood expansion across the width of the shelf yet... I also need to start thinking about how I'm going to attach the top to the legs.

And, of course, I still need to get started on the top. That will be this Saturday...

Here are some pictures of my work so far. Cherry is really beautiful wood.

[JayTalbott]

Progress continues...

When I glued up the shelf, it didn't come out completely flat. My fault for not checking it when I put it in the clamps when I glued it up. I wanted the shelf a bit thinner than 3/4" anyway, so I figured I'd just plane it down, which will make it flat again. Of course, at a rough dimention of about 17" wide, it doesn't fit my planer, so it was time to grab a hand plane and give it a go. Being much more of a power tool junkie, I really haven't done much hand planing before (i.e., basically none), but I figured how hard can it be? I had just watched a WoodSmith podcast the other day on hand planes, and with that information fresh in my mind, I figured out how to tune up my fresh out-of-the-box #4 plane to where it would produce decent shavings, and I started in on the cherry shelf.

Of course, my next problem is that I don't (yet) have a suitable woodworker's bench, but just have a 30+ year old workbench my father gave me which is just an 1-1/2" thick block of MDF attached to a metal frame. No vice, no dog holes, etc. So I had to rig up a clamping system to clamp the shelf to my workbench. I started by clamping a thin cleat (a scrap piece of maple, I think) to one edge of the bench using a couple of quick clamps. Then I used a couple F-style bar clamps to clamp the shelf up against the cleat, with some blocks thinner than the shelf (scraps of cherry) between the end of the clamps and the shelf so I didn't run into the clamp heads with my plane. See the attached photo...

Anyway, after I got everything rigged up and got the plane tuned up, I probably spent an hour or so of planing the shelf on both sides until it was flat on both sides and had a thickness of about .700" +/- .005" measured around the perimeter. One corner ended up a bit thin, but most of that will get cut off when the shelf is cut to final width, and the rest of it will get cut off when I notch out the corners to fit around the legs, so that's really a non-issue. Can't say it's a perfect job of planing by any means, but nothing that a little work with a random orbit sander won't take care of (or so I hope).

I also did the layout for the corner blocks on another piece of less desirable cherry that was mostly sapwood, which I will hopefully cut to size this evening.

I decided how I'm going to attach the top to the legs. I'll put a hole in each of the corner blocks, and use those to locate the corresponding locations on the underside of the top. Then I'll drill holes for 5/16" threaded inserts that I'll install in the underside of the top. Then I'll just use 5/16" bolts and washers to attach the top to the frame. I want the top to be removable so that if I ever need to refinish the cutting surface after several years of use, I can remove it from the base, plop it down on my bench (that is, the real woodworking bench I'll have someday), and have at it.

Lastly, I updated my Sketchup drawing to more closely match what I'm actually building. You never know, I might end up making another one of these someday...

- Jay

Butcher Block.skp

[Eli]

Hello,

It looks like you're making fast progress on this, so well done.

There are a couple of things I noticed that you might want to consider in the future. The 1/2" tenons are probably overkill, but there's nothing wrong with that. The stretchers at the bottom will stabilize the table a lot, so the upper tenons aren't doing that much work. The problem I did notice is that the mortises, and tenons, are meeting within the leg. You want to avoid that. Although the extra length does add glue surface, you need to consider the leg strength as well. A 1/2" mortise is a large void, and having them connect inside the leg weakens the top of the leg. My rule of thumb is to leave 1/8" between the mortises. You should be alright, but think about this on the next one.

Regarding your idea to miter 4 pieces to make the shelf: this will cause a wood movement issue. As the boards shrink, the angle becomes sharper. Since the outside corners can't move inward, the inside points are pulled outward. The result is a curvy x-shaped gap at the center of the shelf. If you're building in the winter, the opposite will occur. The boards will expand from the center, forcing the outside of the miters apart. This is a dilemma with any wide miters, not just the 'X'-shaped glue-up. Wood movement changes the angles and forces the miters open.

Finally, don't forget to account for wood movement when attaching the top. Leave plenty of slop in those screw holes. An end grain top absorbs and loses moisture easily. Also, it moves in both directions. You're looking at the end grain of an 18" wide 18" thick board.

Sorry this is coming a little late.

Eli