Buying solid countertops for raw material

[Transit80]

Do you know any kitchen fitters or builders who fit kitchens? I often get offcuts up to three or four feet from a neighbour.

Shame you are so far away, Ive always got ideas to use them.

 

[Benchwayze]

Novocaine:

Was that an AC Uke or DC ?
Cheers

John

 

[novocaine]

Novocaine:

Was that an AC Uke or DC ?
Cheers

John

not sure, but after plugging it in, I was thunderstuck.

 

[DBT85]

This is the "scrap" from the cut out where our sink was installed -

View attachment 96265


Photo only taken the evening before last, so I have no finished shots.

It's just a basic job. No fancy inlays or anything. It's just as the other half wanted a new chopping board, not to show off any skill.

After fitting oak tops in my kitchen 4 years ago I kept the leftovers as so many do and never use them. I then used one on top of a shop bought bathroom cabinet and another under a surface mount sink in a weird 70 degree corner of another bathroom. All that remains are a few smaller chunks and I have been pondering ripping it and attempting to make an end grain board for the kitchen. If it fails I gained experience and firewood. If it works i've gained experience and a hopping board!

Do keep me apprised of how it goes!

 

[Benchwayze]

All I need now Novo is advance warning of you performing in a grass skirt!

 

[Benchwayze]

I don't believe this new/ish format of UKW works with a Mac. Can't find the New Topic button. Or can I not read anymore?
Also my avatar has vanished, and I don't have a copy, nor the real plane I photographed.

Ah I see. New topics are now called a THREAD...

Ok then!

John

 

[julianf]

Do keep me apprised of how it goes!

Seems fine.

Points to note -

This is for personal use, not for sale.
It was supposed to be a quick project from scrap.
It is, ultimately, a sacrificial block to stop the counter top being damaged.

I was never trying to make a mirror finish cheese board. I was trying to make a chopping board from scrap, quickly. I, and, more importantly, the other half, are pleased at how it worked out.

 

[DBT85]

Nice! Did you use the polyx to finish it? I'd have thought that would get beaten up quite badly from knives, no?

 

[julianf]

Nice! Did you use the polyx to finish it? I'd have thought that would get beaten up quite badly from knives, no?

Yeah. It will get trashed. It's a chopping board.

80 grit finish from new, for that pre-used look -

Again, it's a chopping board in a house that's at least 150 yrs old.

 

[msparker]

This looks great! we bought a similar end grain chopping block a few years back, looks exactly the same and was $$$. Great use of scraps

 

[DBT85]

Yeah. It will get trashed. It's a chopping board.

80 grit finish from new, for that pre-used look -

Again, it's a chopping board in a house that's at least 150 yrs old.

Oh yours is one of these modern houses then

I only meant that with the polyx being a sort of film it might need more regular attention than something else (not that I can say what). Though saing that the only thing that's upset my 3032 covered worktops has been one particular bottle of oven cleaner that turned the surface black in a few places, easily remedied.

Looks great, I'll have to make my one now!

 

[julianf]

Oh yours is one of these modern houses then

I only meant that with the polyx being a sort of film it might need more regular attention than something else (not that I can say what). Though saing that the only thing that's upset my 3032 covered worktops has been one particular bottle of oven cleaner that turned the surface black in a few places, easily remedied.

Looks great, I'll have to make my one now!

I think the proper thing to do is use mineral oil. Smith and Allan sell it on eBay for not much money, but, being a skintflint, I didn't want to buy another pot of stuff, so used stupidly expensive osmo instead... Hmm...

 

[DBT85]

I think the proper thing to do is use mineral oil. Smith and Allan sell it on eBay for not much money, but, being a skintflint, I didn't want to buy another pot of stuff, so used stupidly expensive osmo instead... Hmm...

I did hear something a while ago suggesting that mineral oil only became recommended as manufacturers wanted to save money and get people to oil their own boards with something they all had at home many years ago. That was on the woodtalk podast but it might have been a modern episode or a 10 year old one, i don't recall.

 

[julianf]

One thing notable -

Normally you put a tiny amount of the polyx on, and there's just no point in putting on any more as it won't go anywhere.

On this end grain, I kept dipping the cloth back into the tin... And then decided to just get a teaspoon out and scrape it around with a plastic edge like I've seen people do on YouTube.

...and then another teaspoon full.

In that, I really don't think I've got a film at all. I mean it was going "somwhere" and I'm not aware of any inter dimensional wormholes active currently, so I reckon the end grain was sucking it up somewhat?

Who knows how it will turn out though - not me, for sure!

Really it was just scrap that I thought I'd do somthing with. If it only lasts until next weekend, I'd be disappointed, but it's not like I put in much effort to the job, so, if it does work out, bonus!

If I remember I'll take another photo in a month and we can all see what it looks like then.

I think this beech block is about £100 a 3m length from Wickes. I see people *trying* to sell not dissimilar boards on the interweb for anything up to £200 (?).

If I were in the chopping board game, assuming this one isn't on the brink of self destructing, I think I would almost certainly just buy the counter top to chop up. For the £100 or so outlay, the amount of time saved would just be so huge. You would get stacks of chopping boards from a 3m length.

 

[DBT85]

Absolutely, you just probably want to avoid finger joints where staves and staves are joined being on the visible faces. And as for the prices, people buy them. You can really up your price further with things like laser engraved names or whatever too.

There are real woodworkers reading this now thinking we are crazy because of the Glopforth effect causing boards made like this to turn into mushroom weilding bulldogs or something that we two have yet to encounter!

 

[julianf]

You can really up your price further with things like laser engraved names or whatever too.

This is the sort of stuff I do for paid work -

That job is silk screen printed, but I do a fair bit of mechanical engraving also.

Indeed, whilst I mostly did the board by hand, I must admit I loaded it to the CNC mill to take the last 0.75mm off.

I didn't want to, but it would have been a simple enough job to load some tool path other than a flattening program.

All that would be fine for branding, but personalisation is one step further than I'd want to go.

(Not that I want to get into the chopping board market anyway!)

But for £200 a hit, it would be a consideration!

 

[DBT85]

Ahh nice!

Yeah there are plenty of people out there that don't want to do it, but if people will pay you good money for something you can batch out for 2 or 3 days a month its worth thinking about.

 

[JimB]

I doubt it would be much good as advice these days but, it used to be worth keeping an eye open for any demolition or upgrade to laboratories in universities, colleges and schools. the benches used to be teak or similar.

 

[HamsterJam]

This is the sort of stuff I do for paid work -

View attachment 96366

That job is silk screen printed, but I do a fair bit of mechanical engraving also.

Indeed, whilst I mostly did the board by hand, I must admit I loaded it to the CNC mill to take the last 0.75mm off.

I didn't want to, but it would have been a simple enough job to load some tool path other than a flattening program.

All that would be fine for branding, but personalisation is one step further than I'd want to go.

(Not that I want to get into the chopping board market anyway!)

But for £200 a hit, it would be a consideration!

Did you just make the front panel for someone or did you rebuild the synth as well?

 

[julianf]

Did you just make the front panel for someone or did you rebuild the synth as well?

I've done the electronics in the past but that stuff is best done by children in far off lands...

Now I just do the metal work, and some bits in wood also -

English oak and resin ends for a posh bit of electronics.

Similar sort of idea in reclaimed mahogany -

etc

I have no real skill with woodwork. I mean thats relative, so probably more than your average chap off the street, but not compared to many on here. Im not much good with hand tools.