Building Your Very Own Butcher Block Table
Love those Butcher Block tables? Thing that one would look great in your kitchen but do not think you could afford one? Well no problem because you can actually make your very own butcher block table easily and quickly by following the directions found in the paragraphs below.People love butcher block tables because they can be used for a variety of things. They also like them because they are beautiful and adds a nice touch to any kitchen. They are great to have for preparing and serving food from.So if you are considering making your own, you need to do one thing before even going and getting the wood. And that is decide what kind of wood you would like to make it with. Two woods should be avoided at all times and those would be spalted maple and oak. Woods that are used often are hard maple, ash, beech, and walnut, all lovely woods to use.After you have decided on the wood you can do one of two things. If you are used to working with wood then making the tabletop from scratch would probably be the route you would want to go. If you are not very experienced with wood then you would probably want to go out and purchase an unfinished butcher block tabletop.On the other hand if you have decided to make it yourself, here you will find how to do it. First you will need to have one inch by two inch strips of wood to begin with making sure that you take either the end grain or the side grain to start work on. Both ways give strength to the wood.To make your own, take your butcher block and cut it into one by two inch pieces that are cut about one half inch longer than what the actual table length is going to be. These pieces all need to be glued together along the two inch side which will make the side grain will show up in one inch pieces. The amount of strips that you will need will depend upon the actual size of the table. So if your table is say two feet by four feet you would need overall 32 pieces.Now that all the strips have been cut and are ready to be glued, you will use a very strong wood glue to accomplish this. Once you have the pieces glued together you will need to make sure that you apply clamps that will hold them firm while the glue dries. After the wood has dried you should take some fine sandpaper and sand off any excess glue.Take the wood to a table saw and start to cut off the edges that are in excess. This makes this side of the table even giving the entire table a more even look, which is very important.After you have done this you will need to take sandpaper or a sander and make sure to sand both the top and the bottom of your table top. Make sure the finished product has a completely flat surface.The next step includes the handmade and store bought table top. You will need to take a router and round each of the table tops corners. With a router you can make the corners look a little more attractive. Either way, the reason why the corners are rounded is for safety and it makes it easier to clean.With the edges rounded you now can take either mineral or olive oil that needs to be spread over the surface of the table. Let the oil soak into the wood. Once it has, you will then sand the table again. After the second sanding is done, apply more oil and let it soak in and dry all night. To help keep your Butcher Block look new, it is advisable that you put oil on it each month.If you are a very good woodworker you will probably want to make your own legs, but most people end up purchasing ready made legs because they come in a huge variety to pick from. They range anywhere from steel to different types and shapes of wood ones. This final stage is only limited to your creativity. So find something that will make your Butcher Block really stand out, so that it accents your kitchen.
