Laminating and Solid Surfacing

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Solid Oak Countertop with Butt Joints

10/8/13       
johnthegood1 Member

Website: http://www.johnlightfootgreiner.com

Hi Folks -

I'm making some countertops for a cafe out of a common grade KD white oak. The pack I'm pulling from only has 8' lengths and my longest run needs to be roughly 16'. The counter width is 30" for about 7' and steps down to about 20" for the remaining 9'. All the material will be 1.5" thick and be whitewashed, then finished with 3 coats of a water-based finish. Here's my plan:

- Let the material acclimate in my shop for a few days before milling.

- Butt joints, dominoed, kreg screwed, and staggered to make my lengths.

- Fasten to the base cabinets with something flexible like a liquid nails, or phenoseal, and washer-head screws through oversized holes.

I've worked with plenty of this material but never on a piece this large and I'm not an expert on countertops per se, so it's got me a little nervous. Anyone see any red flags here? Thanks for weighing in.

10/8/13       #2: Solid Oak Countertop with Butt Join ...
Dave Edgerton  Member

I personally think you are overdoing it on the butt joints cause once everything is laid up they will never separate. A domino would be fine without the kreg screw. Otherwisr sounds good to me. I would also skip the adhesive on the cabinets and just go with screws and washers.
Do you think you may fill the grain when finishing or let the wood grain show?

10/9/13       #3: Solid Oak Countertop with Butt Join ...
johnthegood1 Member

Hey Dave -

Thanks for the input and confidence. I'm really using those kreg screws as a clamp more than anything else. One guy, 16' pieces, I can draw that joint closed with the screws and be done. As far as the finishing goes, you'll still read plenty of the natural character through the light whitewash. Especially with the common grade, all the knots, swirls, heartwood, etc, you get plenty of the "oak" in there...in any case, it's what the customer wants!
Thanks again.

10/9/13       #4: Solid Oak Countertop with Butt Join ...
mark

I take it that the idea is for the countertop to be "rustic", so as long as you're ok with a little separation at the joints and roughness after a year or two, then go for it. I'll state the obvious, and say stagger the joints. It will hold together, and look the part.
If your expectations are higher, then you have a bad plan. You need to be able to joint each full length piece for a good result. The best answer to this, is to find another supplier; even a FAS premium would be cheaper than end matching. If your stuck with the supply, then end match and scarf the joints (8:1 stopped scarf would be best) so that the boards can be handled.
No glue on the install.


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