TMFoughty Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 Hello all. I am in the process of building a kitchen island and I am planning on building an end-grain butcher block countertop out of maple and walnut. My question is, should I use biscuits to help join the final glue up? It will be some sort of a checkerboard pattern. The overall length is 64 1/2". The width is 25 1/2". It will be about 1 3/4" thick. Thanks for any advice, Todd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrust Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 I think that the only reason for biscuits for the configuration you are descibing would be to help with the alignment of the various strips. The final top itself most likely wouldn't need the minor increase in strength the biscuits would provide since it would be sitting on a stable subsurface. The alignment help though, I think would be substantial for the size you are considering. ala Dennis Miller..."that's just my opinion, I could be wrong"... Sounds like it would be a beautiful top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmykx250 Posted January 7, 2011 Report Share Posted January 7, 2011 Please keep us posted as to how you do it. I just backed off of an end grain island for the wife and am now doing a standard butcher block top (boards on their edge or side) instead of the end grain. It looked to be quite a task and time consuming. I also have to make the chairs as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kesac Posted January 15, 2011 Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 Hello all. I am in the process of building a kitchen island and I am planning on building an end-grain butcher block countertop out of maple and walnut. My question is, should I use biscuits to help join the final glue up? It will be some sort of a checkerboard pattern. The overall length is 64 1/2". The width is 25 1/2". It will be about 1 3/4" thick. Thanks for any advice, Todd Biscuits won't benefit you any. It will be amazingly strong and stable without anything but glue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMFoughty Posted January 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 Thanks to all the replied. I am in the middle of the first glue up. Will post pictures once done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raruss1 Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 Please tell us how the sanding goes, I just finished an end grain panel that I used a belt and ROS to flatten and smooth and I am now in the market for a drum sander Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdDitto Posted January 23, 2011 Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 Yeah, biscuits aren't necessary. I built this run of end-grain countertop without biscuits two years ago: http://thewoodwhisperer.com/the-mother-of-all-cutting-boards-project-of-the-week/ and it's holding up well. Plenty strong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chester Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 Biscuits won't benefit you any. It will be amazingly strong and stable without anything but glue. I agree with you on the strength ... but biscuits will really help with alignment. I have built three of Marc's end-grain cutting boards and gluing alignment was difficult. One more thing ... if you do a dark-wood / light-wood checkerboard affect, the milling of your lumber has to be near-perfect ... all the way through the processes. Otherwise, the corners of the squares where the dark wood and the light wood come together will "not come together." Also, some have had trouble with water getting into the end-grain, expanding and cracking the boards. Marc made a mini-video on this issue (you should take a look). This adds risk to the long-term prospects for this large top. If it was me, I would not take that risk. I would do a side-grain glue-up for this large top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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