How do you make a butcher block top

[John Mark]

Hi everybody, I've been doing edge glued tops for years but I'd like to try making a table with shorter pieces with staggered end joints. How do you make the end joints tight while clamping from the sides?

[lift mechanic]

Lots of videos on YouTube on end grain butcher block tops.

[mike4244]

Hi everybody, I've been doing edge glued tops for years but I'd like to try making a table with shorter pieces with staggered end joints. How do you make the end joints tight while clamping from the sides?

John, use pinch dogs, Amazon sells them thru Taytools.  500030#  10 pack of 2" pinch dogs $19.99. Pull the boards up snug, then tap the pinch dog . Finish pulling the pipe clamps tight.
These will solve your problems. I will assume you may not be familiar with them as they are tools from 2 or 3 hundred years ago. 
Glue the joints, butt them together upside down. Tap one pinch dog on the joint, you can see from the website picture that the dog has sharp points. When you tap the dog down the wedged points pull the joint tight. The points leave a hole so you do this on the underside of the table. When glue is set you can remove the dogs by prying up with the claw of your hammer. If you had enough of the dogs you could join the entire top without clamps.  
I used to make laminated benches for assembly tables for various manufacturers , also made woodworkers benches but only a total of 7. I used a combination of pinch dogs and pipe clamps to glue up the tops. I have about 50 or so , mostly 2" size. 
mike

[Duane N]

I can't answer your question but because I may be in the same situation making a Walnut side grain counter top each over 11' long I'm going to check this topic as the replies come in.  I've seen a few video's where they made a counter top like you're asking about but they didn't show any special way of getting the end grain butt joints tight other than making sure the ends are perfectly square and sanding while the glue was still wet to fill in any gaps.

[mound]

I can't answer your question but because I may be in the same situation making a Walnut side grain counter top each over 11' long I'm going to check this topic as the replies come in.  I've seen a few video's where they made a counter top like you're asking about but they didn't show any special way of getting the end grain butt joints tight other than making sure the ends are perfectly square and sanding while the glue was still wet to fill in any gaps.

Pinch Dogs like mike4244 said is how I'd do it.  For large sections of glued up countertops, miter bolts.

[Duane N]

These are the pinch dogs Mike was referring to....

https://smile.amazon.com/Clamps-Pinch-10...pons&psc=1

[John Mark]

Thanks this is really helpful and well explained.

[jppierson]

Isn't the OP asking how to construct a counter top where the end-grain butt joins along the length vs vertically (like a bowling lane)? My understanding of the question is how to get a tight joint from one length of board to the next. So I don't understand how the pinch dogs would help.

[brianwelch]

Isn't the OP asking how to construct a counter top where the end-grain butt joins along the length vs vertically (like a bowling lane)?  My understanding of the question is how to get a tight joint from one length of board to the next.  So I don't understand how the pinch dogs would help.

re-read the method described above...Seems to make sense to me. The pinch dogs are used on the underside of the table (not in the end grain)...

[daddo]

The old block (1972) I had (22x20x24) was all end grain and dovetailed. It also had 3 threaded tightened rods going through it.