# Aragorn's Butcher's Block - Part 2 *Large*



## Aragorn (12 Mar 2005)

Following on from Part 1, here’s the WIP of the base of the chopping block trolley.  

After the usual grind of
Gluing-up................................... Planing..................................... Ripping....................................... and Thicknessing.....










_if you want to see a bigger photo, click the thumbnail_

... I end up with the stock for the trolley base and its shelves:





and cut it to length at the SCMS:





The construction of the base is all M&Ts in oak. Guess what I used for this? :roll:





The Leigh FMT makes cutting very accurate tenons and mortices a breeze, and for a jig guided operation is strangely enjoyable to do!






So, here’s the tenons .................. and mortices:







This 3-way joint...





... is done using an offset haunched tenon:




(Sorry - it’s a bit out of focus)

So, with all the joints cut, it’s time for a glue-up or two:





I glued-up one half first, then glued the two halves together.
The two shelves are glued up separately:





Here’s one of the shelves after a light sanding..., and after being notched on the bandsaw to fit around the trolley legs:







The base is to have a towel rail at one side which also doubles as a handle to move it about.
I cut an angled tenon at the FMT:





... and made a walnut dowel on the router table. The stock is thicknessed to exactly 1”, and then rounded on the table using a ½” cround-over cutter. The uncut stock at each end stops the stock from becoming unstable on the table as the dowel is cut.





With the tenoned stock cut down to length, I can shape it at the bandsaw and spindle sander. Holes are drill part way through on the drill press to house the dowel.





I also made up so oak pegs that fit into mortices on the other side of the trolley. These will get used more when the trolley is used outside at the BBQ, for hold utensils/towels and so forth.





Here’s a pic of the assembled base, ready for some more sanding a some finish. You can see I have cut down two of the legs to take the castors, which are just screwed into the endgrain.





The drawer in the trolley is a simple construction. The sides are fixed to the front and back with pocket hole joinery, and the oak veneered MDF panel is sloted into grooves.





The drawer front will simply be screwed to the drawer from the inside, and the whole thing runs on full extension drawer runners, the same as the rest of the kitchen.





The base is screwed into the chopping block through the rails, which were pre-drilled before assembly to accept stainless steel screws and washers. The screws fix into oak blocks embedded in the block, and overall there is a range of about 8mm each way to allow for movement across the field of the top.

The base is finished with 3 coats of Finishing Oil and a coat of wax buffed to a reasonable sheen.
Here’s some pics of the finished item in situ:













This was really enjoyable to build and makes a nice way to finish off a large project.
Next I’m taking a break from work to have a go at the UKW competition


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## Chris Knight (12 Mar 2005)

Aragorn,

Just fabulous! What a wonderful set of pictures, thank you so much.


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## Gill (12 Mar 2005)

Aragorn, I would love to be able to tell you that it doesn't match the rest of the kitchen so that I could offer it a new home. Unfortunately, it matches your kitchen perfectly.

I really need to find a way to persuade you to make another one of those, just for me. I think it's terrific.

Gill


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## Philly (12 Mar 2005)

Brilliant Aragorn-A pleasure to see you in action.
Now thats how you use a jig!
Philly


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## Mcluma (12 Mar 2005)

Aragorn,

That is to beautifull to be used :wink: 

McLuma


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## Charley (12 Mar 2005)

8) very nice Aragorn, it looks Brilliant


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## Chris Knight (12 Mar 2005)

Aragorn,

There is just one thing that puzzles me.

The lower shelf is fixed with rails that are assymetrical (front and back) with respect to their fixings in the legs - with the result that the front rail and side rail mortices are cut very close to a corner of the leg as your pictures show.

I am interested to know why you chose this layout?


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## Midnight (12 Mar 2005)

Sheesh Aragorn... yer making it look easy....

checked shirt and beard in the near future...??


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## Aragorn (12 Mar 2005)

Thank you for your generous praise.
I've been finding it a pleasure to take WIP photos in these projects, and am glad it is appreciated!  



Gill":3jk6fy1p said:


> I really need to find a way to persuade you to make another one of those, just for me. I think it's terrific.


Aww Thanks Gill - I can think of a 4-figure way you could persuade me :lol: :lol: 



waterhead37":3jk6fy1p said:


> There is just one thing that puzzles me.
> 
> The lower shelf is fixed with rails that are assymetrical (front and back) with respect to their fixings in the legs - with the result that the front rail and side rail mortices are cut very close to a corner of the leg as your pictures show.
> 
> I am interested to know why you chose this layout?


Chris, I wanted the shelves to sit just between the legs, except at the back, where it needs to go up to the back wall (so that there isn't too big a gap at the rear for things to fall off!)
The shelves have M&Ts at the corner, so I was restricted in how large a notch I could remove without weakening the joint, and this in turn determined the position of the rails.
The second shelf is adjustable on those little stainless steel shelving pegs.
I'm not sure if that's what you wanted to know?


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## Aragorn (12 Mar 2005)

Midnight":bly012cp said:


> checked shirt and beard in the near future...??


Halfway there Mike! :shock:


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## Chris Knight (12 Mar 2005)

Aragorn,
Thanks - I've got it now.


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## Anonymous (13 Mar 2005)

Beautiful job Aragorn. Truly beautiful


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## Newbie_Neil (13 Mar 2005)

Hi Aragorn

Thank you so much for taking the time to produce the wip photos.

I learn so much just following your photographs.

Thank you and well done on an excellent job.

Cheers
Neil


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## Alf (13 Mar 2005)

Aragorn":38nudx0l said:


> I've been finding it a pleasure to take WIP photos in these projects


Masochist. Or maybe sadist, given that gratuitous shot of the Toblerone... :roll: :lol: Proper job, and evidently the FMT is earning its keep big time.  

Cheers, Alf


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## Aragorn (13 Mar 2005)

Alf":223n38xx said:


> Masochist. Or maybe sadist, given that gratuitous shot of the Toblerone... :roll: :lol:


It's a terse attempt to take gloating to a new level.  :wink:


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## devonwoody (13 Mar 2005)

I really like your butchers block project, are you going to use real choppers to the top so that it has a well used patina and appearance? :shock: 

"I’m gluing the lengths together in two batches"

The quote above comes from your part 1 section. Can you tell me which type or brand of adhesive you used?

Remember go steady with the chopper in your hand :roll:


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## Aragorn (13 Mar 2005)

devonwoody":2lt1923b said:


> Can you tell me which type or brand of adhesive you used?


I am currently using a regular PVA based woodglue by Everbuild. I'm perfectly happy with it - it has a short cure time (can be unclamped after 10 minutes) and it's waterproof. I get this from my local hardware shop, but I think Everbuild is a readily available brand, though I'd pretty much use whatever they had in stock to be quite honest.

The customers are under strict instruction to use and abuse the chopping board! I hope it looks well worn in a year's time!


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## Neil (14 Mar 2005)

Aragorn":1lrlr5go said:


> Next I’m taking a break from work to have a go at the UKW competition


Is this some kind of underhand intimidation tactic, to put up a post for a fantastic piece of work like this one and then pop that sentence at the end? :roll: :lol: 

Neil


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## tim (14 Mar 2005)

Fabulous - really beautiful piece of furniture and I really hope they use it. 

I had a look back at your previous post of WIP photos - how did you get on with the floating oak blocks to hold the board down? They looked quite a lot smaller than the sockets and I wondered whether you got any noticeable play, rather than just allowing for seasonal movement. 

Also from an aesthetic POV there is no doubt that the walnut top is the biz and ties beautifully into the rest of the kitchen. I also know that you didn't skimp on the oil finish but do you think that the timber is close grained enough to do the job as an endgrain block? 

Sorry - asking these questions makes it sound like I'm picking holes - which i'm definitely not. Just curious  

Cheers 

Tim


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## Aragorn (14 Mar 2005)

Hi Tim
Yeah, the oak blocks seemed to work out fine. The base is screwed tightly to the block this way, and there doesn't seem to be any casual movement, and I'm hoping that there is the right combination of space and tension to allow for seasonal changes.
I have advised the customer not to lift the trolley by the block, but to use the handle, so there shouldn't be any unnecessary stress on the block.

Re the endgrain. The black walnut isn't particularly open grained along it's side grain - considerably less than oak, but more so than beech say.
It's endgrain didn't seem very open at all, and basically I didn't worry about it in these terms. There weren't really any open pores, and I think the oil finish has taken care of what is there.
As it gets used, we'll see what happens. Everything I make comes with a lifetime guarantee, so perhaps I'll hear back in 5 years to say that walnut wasn't a suitable material after all :!: :!: :shock:


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## Adam (14 Mar 2005)

Great stuff!

Adam


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## SimonA (14 Mar 2005)

I just have to say Aragorn that once again you have come up trumps with a great project and some nice looking wip pics. I love to see these things and I'm very greatful to the people who take the time to make them. I don't post as oftern as I'd like, but I do try to read everyones posts as I feel its only right after they have gone to all the trouble. 

Keep up the good work fella and I can't wait to see some more wip pics in the near future!

Simon
PS. Have take your advice(and everyone else's) and I'm saveing up for the bigger Festool DE  CHeers again!


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## tim (14 Mar 2005)

Aragorn":ttw1kpum said:


> I have advised the customer not to lift the trolley by the block



So you'll be the first to have a customer listen to advice then? :roll: 

Cheers

T


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## Aragorn (14 Mar 2005)

tim":3vo3rlq8 said:


> So you'll be the first to have a customer listen to advice then? :roll:


<chuckle>
Know what you mean!
I reckon it will put up with being lifted a few hundred times without any problems - so if I advise them not to lift it, it's possible it'll only get lifted a few hundred times over it's lifetime!
It's all about playing the odds   


Thanks to everyone that's commented on the piece. Your appreciation makes the extra little effort to do WIPs worthwhile.


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## Alf (14 Mar 2005)

Aragorn":4eqq0fst said:


> I reckon it will put up with being lifted a few hundred times without any problems


So these customers then - bodybuilders are they...? :shock: :lol: 

Cheers, Alf


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## Aragorn (14 Mar 2005)

:lol: :lol: 
No comment there Alf!


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