Butcher Block table question
#6
Making a butcher block table out of Jatoba, 4 1/2" thick and approx. 30 X 27" top.  Was thinking about a strip of maple or some other light colored wood strip down the middle in one direction to add a little pzazz and color.  Would do it in the same dimensions as the rest of the blocks that make up the top.  Each piece is approx. 4 1/2" T  X  1 3/4" square.  Would this cause problems in wood movement or is  there any other things I should worry about if I decide to go with the light colored stripe.  Also, what would be a good glue for the top, I'll need a little bit of time to get all the pieces covered all sides in glue before clamping up.  Thanks in advance for your help.  Don Jr.
The older I get the faster I was.
Reply
#7
(01-09-2021, 08:06 PM)Ingjr Wrote: Making a butcher block table out of Jatoba, 4 1/2" thick and approx. 30 X 27" top.  Was thinking about a strip of maple or some other light colored wood strip down the middle in one direction to add a little pzazz and color.  Would do it in the same dimensions as the rest of the blocks that make up the top.  Each piece is approx. 4 1/2" T  X  1 3/4" square.  Would this cause problems in wood movement or is  there any other things I should worry about if I decide to go with the light colored stripe.  Also, what would be a good glue for the top, I'll need a little bit of time to get all the pieces covered all sides in glue before clamping up.  Thanks in advance for your help.  Don Jr.

Jatoba is not a common wood here in the USA so I am assuming you are in Australia. All wood has it own shrink rate characteristics and that is proportional to humidity. Here in the Mid west the humidity bounces like a yoyo. Again here in Iowa, the summer has high humidity as well as winter. In the summer air conditioning helps control humidity but in the winter heat really dries out things in the home. In fact we have humidifiers either on our furnaces or in the rooms to help put humidity back in the air.

If you put a strip of maple blocks down the middle and glued a strip of Jatoba on each side I do not think you would have a problem. I would use a wood working glue like Titebond or Elmer's ( think it is CVA but not sure) because it allows for creep. If you were to go one  maple, one Jatoba, one  maple, one Jatoba and so on and then glue a solid strip of Jatoba to each side you might be asking for trouble but I do not know for certain. I wouldn't do one and one, just solid strips. And the last thing I would  avoid  is to put it in a frame.

Just my two cents and I wish you well on your endeavor.

Tom
Reply
#8
Some photos would certainly help. I'm having trouble visualizing what you are proposing to do and I'm fearful that you are creating a crossgrain situation.
Reply
#9
If you use epoxy for the glue up you will have plenty of time to assemble the parts.  Also, rather than use a strip of maple boards in the center, I would consider gluing up the entire block from your Jatoba, and then inlaying a strip of maple afterwards.  You could even make it look like the maple is full thickness by running it down the sides, too.  Something 1" thick would survive a lifetime or two of chopping.  Just make sure to orient the wood in the same grain direction as the rest of the block.  

John
Reply
#10
Thanks for the replies.  I think I'll just skip the strip of maple.  It looks really good now the way it's laid out.  I certainly don't want it cracking in a year or two.  I'm located in Florida and got a great deal on the Jatoba about 10yrs. ago.  Built my bench from it and these are just scrap I had left over.  Each block is approx. 1 3/4" square by 4 1/2" long.  The overall size is about 25 by 19".  I've got to buy some more Jatoba for the legs.  I'll try to get some pictures up but I'm a computer moron.  I like the idea of epoxy, is it food safe for limited contact?   Any suggestions on a brand?  With 154 individual blocks to glue I'm going to need some time to glue it all up if I do it in one shot.  May do it in sections.  Actually I ran out of money and wanted to do some woodworking so I looked around and found a bunch of 2" thick Jatoba that were all shorter than 8".  Like was mentioned, a pic says a thousand words and I'll ask the wife to help with pics tomorrow.   Funny your from Iowa Tom as that's where I grew up for the first 34 yrs. of my life before moving to Florida on retirement.  Again, thanks for all the well thought out replies.  I haven't been on here for a year or so as I've had a lot of health issues.  No matter what though, you guys/gals are always very helpful.
The older I get the faster I was.
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)

Product Recommendations

Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.