edge-grain countertop advice
#9
I'm putting together an edge-grain (not end-grain) countertop and I'm looking for any advice, tips, or tricks that folks may have. I've done it once before when I built my workbench top but that was many years ago. This time it's a 1.5in countertop that will have one miter joint and one butt joint. I've already got all the maple cut into strips. I spent lots of time between the jointer and bandsaw to get the large boards broken down into manageable pieces. Next, I flattened and squared them all at the jointer, planer, and drum sander. Finally, I cut everything to about 1/16 over the final size at the table saw. I know that's not much wiggle room but I'm counting on a really nice glueup and sending the slabs through the sander instead of the planer to get to final thickness. Here's a tip I already found out, In an effort to minimize waste I rough cut some of the material a bit smaller than I should have and didn't have enough left over to account for the kerf of the TS blade. That means I had to rip at the bandsaw, because of the smaller kerf, and use the drum sander to get to my desired thickness. Next time I'll give myself at least 3/16 or even a 1/4 inch extra material. Ripping strips at the tablesaw is much faster than dealing with the band saw/ sander route. 

At this point I'm aligning boards and checking for any defects, chipout, etc so I can orient them good side up. Glue up is right around the corner. One decision I'm hoping dosen't burn me is that I accounted for the miter when I cut the lumber to length. That is to say, one side is not square, it staggered boards that roughtly follow the miter. It's going to mean some extra clamps for glue up but think that's it. 

I'm looking for any tips on joining both the miter and butt joint. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with some coutnertop connector bolts but not sure if I should use any kind of adhesive. I was thinking maybe silicone since it's relatively flexible. As a kitchen counter I feel like I should put something in that joint. For finish I was planning on mineral oil, but I hear good things about Waterlox.
How do you know you're learning anything if you don't screw up once in awhile?

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#10
I’m not a counter top guy but if I were doing this with the tools I have, I’d use the Domino with a longer slot for wiggle room.

Also, depending on your DS width, you might do 2 separate glue ups, flatten each, then join for the final piece with a very careful glue up. Touch it up with hand sanders.


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#11
(01-13-2022, 03:40 PM)Kansas City Fireslayer Wrote: Also, depending on your DS width, you might do 2 separate glue ups, flatten each, then join for the final piece with a very careful glue up.  Touch it up with hand sanders.

+1 with KCF.  I would glue up manageable groups at a time. I find I get them closer to flat if I do separate glueups. Though it is important to rejoint the mating edges of each section before you glue them together, and make sure that either both sections are exactly 90 degrees, or you hold them face to face or back to back when you run them through the jointer so both sections stay in the same plane.

If you don't have a domino, a few biscuits with the connector bolts might help to hold the miter flat.  

BTW,   I find that ripping with a bandsaw rather than a TS does have much impact on kerf loss. The kerf is much thinner using the BS, but I have to go through the jointer a few times after each pass, so I think the kerf loss is about the same.  OTOH ,  ripping on the BS is safer, IMO, since there is no danger of a kickback.
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#12
Thanks for the tips guys. The sections are all pretty small. the largest is only 14in wide and about 42in at the longest. I'm really hoping to glue them up in one piece and avoid the planer, but we'll see how the glue up proceeds.

I don't have a domino so I will be using biscuits for alignment.

(01-13-2022, 08:01 PM)barryvabeach Wrote: If you don't have a domino, a few biscuits with the connector bolts might help to hold the miter flat.  

BTW,   I find that ripping with a bandsaw rather than a TS does have much impact on kerf loss. The kerf is much thinner using the BS, but I have to go through the jointer a few times after each pass, so I think the kerf loss is about the same.  OTOH ,  ripping on the BS is safer, IMO, since there is no danger of a kickback.

You make a good point about the kerf difference. If time/efficiency is an issue then the table saw is much faster and you have to account for the kerf. In my case I was only looking to save maybe 1/16 so it worked. The main reason I started with the bandsaw is that I needed to break the rough lumber down some before I could get it on the jointer. I broke it down into sections that would yield 2 or 3 strips. Then I would joint, plane, and drum sand them before ripping on the table saw. This order of operations reduces time at the jointer at the expense of a full TS kerf for each strip you get off a board.
How do you know you're learning anything if you don't screw up once in awhile?

My blog: http://birdsandboards.blogspot.com/
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#13
You could also do home made loose spline in two separate dados.


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#14
When i have done laminated strip counters in the past I would use a 7 1/4 blade in my table saw. It has about the same kerf as a bandsaw blade and I was able to get glue up ready cuts out of it by feeding at a medium slow and steady rate. I cannot seem to remember how much depth I could get out of this setup but it was over and inch.
Proud maker of large quantities of sawdust......oh, and the occasional project!
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#15
(01-14-2022, 06:14 AM)KyleD Wrote: When i have done laminated strip counters in the past I would use a 7 1/4 blade in my table saw. It has about the same kerf as a bandsaw blade and I was able to get glue up ready cuts out of it by feeding at a medium slow and steady rate. I cannot seem to remember how much depth I could get out of this setup but it was over and inch.

That's a good idea. I've recently heard of using smaller blades in the TS but it never really occurred to me before. A thin kerf blade would be useful in this situation. With hard maple I might worry a bit about deflection of a thin kerf blade but it's worth a try next time. A company that made these sorts of counters went out of business recently so I may have an opportunity to do more of these.
How do you know you're learning anything if you don't screw up once in awhile?

My blog: http://birdsandboards.blogspot.com/
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#16
I always make edge glue ups thicker than the final thickness and definitely longer than needed, then joint and plane or drum sand them flat after, then cut to final length.  No offense, but you are at least making life difficult to do otherwise, and unnecessarily increasing the odds of failure.  

I'm not sure I understand how your mitered joint works, but you need to recognize that mitered joints made with solid wood will work to open up with seasonal changes in humidity.  There's really nothing you can do to prevent it, so it's better to avoid it entirely and use butt joints with allowance of expansion/contraction.   

John
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