timber kitchen benchtop

[LeonieB]

Hi all
Have just been reading some other posts about finishing benchtops. We have a red ironbark slab with natural edge - sapwood and bark - and are about to use it in the kitchen.

What have other people found useful and durable as finishes? A local slab manufacturer recommends Norglass marine polyurethane but I would ideally like not to use a solvent-based polyurethane, for health reasons. However does anyone have experience with this?

I dont know if the water-based ones stand up to wear and tear. Am considering INtergrain Floortec or floorseal, or Bona Traffic. Does anyone have experince with these?

Also read in an old post about 2 part auto finishes like acrylic urethane but has anyone any feedback on these?

We would like something durable, scratch resistant,waterproof, food safe, chemical resistant and ideally heat resistant. Non-toxic ingredients are also important. Also dont want to darken or yellow the timber too much.

Thank you very much for any thoughts.

Also any tips for actually joining two slabs at right angles for an L-shaped benchtop?

And for constructing slab benchtops in general?

Thank you
Sandstonehouse

[artme]

Firstly - you lucky blighter! :2tsup::2tsup:
My son has an ironbark kitchen benchtop yhat he finished with several coats of Tung oil. My worry about this is that it may well darken too much.
I wonder if you will run into problems retaining the bark. Very few timbers retain their bark and Ironbark is not one of them. If you really want to retain the bark I'd sugest using good quality CA and then coating the whole slab with Feast Watson Weathershield. Thin first coat then, thin second coat but not as much as first, then 2 coats full strength.
G:U:U:qood luck.

[orraloon]

There are a few ways to go. Ironbark is so hard that it will be hard to mark in any case. An oil finish would do and is easy to touch up from time to time. The timber will take on a lived in look over time with the marks of everyday use adding character. The floor finish would be ok as far as I can see. Hard wearing and takes a bit of punishment. Some floor finishes are two pack for extra hardness. I have seen a recycled timber top done in floor finish and it is over 10 years old and still looking good. I am not sure how much heat it will take but how heat resistant do you want. A mat or board to place hot pans on is the go. The wood will darken over time where it is exposed to sunlight and the red will become more brown. That is a fact of life to be aware of. Some finishes claim to be UV protecting but over time the colour will fade.As to joining the ends I will let the slab experts have a go there.

Regards
John

[Ironwood]

I have found the best way to join 2 slabs at right angles is to cut them at 45 deg's and join as in this photo of a bench I made for my verandah.
It does require the slabs to be long enough to cut the mitre though.

It is finished with "Adeze" a 2-pack polyurathane. This has held up to some pretty rough treatment and still looks good.




http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=30812&d=1158756773

[echnidna]

I've used Cabots Clear Water based floor finish.
It's a nice hard finish that doesn't darken the timber any more that wetting it with water

[Billylad]

Like echnidna,cabots waterbase low sheen,does not yellow.

[LeonieB]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

CAn I ask what is CA?

Also what is the specific Cabots water base low sheen that two of you have mentioned - is it Clear Floor, water-based CFP or another product?

Cabots CFP might be OK.

Has anyone used Bona Traffic on a slab?

I looked today at Glass coat - but hard to apply in 15-20 minutes to a big slab and very gloss. Also I am after a low sheen finish.

Also looked at Feast Watson FloorCLear but it darkens the timber a lot.

Does anyone have any comments on these?

Thanks to everyone for your input.

Sandstonehouse

[artme]

CA is Cyanoacrylate, otherwise known as Superglue.
I spoke to my son last night and he thinks your chances of having the bark stay on are less than slim, Even with CA.
I agree with the 45 degree join. Just make sure that the corner you are going into is 90 degrees and that you cuts are totally accurate.
Years ago I did a Brush Box floor with Cabothane water base. It has a beautiful soft lustre. It stood up to floor traffic very well but I don't know if it would withstand the vagaries of use as a kitchen benchtop.

[echnidna]

Use Cabots water based floor finish not a cabots water based general purpose clear finish

[Bloss]

I have had timber bench tops in my kitchen for years in two houses over 30 years.

The first was soft radiata pine but in large 50mm thick slabs I made up into tops up to 900mm wide. I used single pack polyurethane and re-coated once in 17 years (with two coats) after a light hand sand down. This gave very good service life albeit the softness of the timber meant that there was always some bruising and marks, but these were working kitchens so were not treated with excessive care.

The second kitchen is my current one which I did a quick and dirty update on to cover nappy yellow laminate on the original benchtops - 11 years ago. I used 20mm brush box T&G flooring with a 50mm routed triple edge to give the appearance of 'glulam' type tops. I used polyurethane again and that was sanded and re-coated 4 years ago just to bring up the surface.

So I am happy with the polyurethane I used, but would probably use the cabots or other water-based finishes in future as I have used them on other surfaces prone to wear and they are fine.

The plastic finishes are more suited to kitchens as they resists spills, stains, heat and are easily wiped over for cleaning as well as adding hardness once they have cured fully.

Two part coatings tend to get hard and then brittle so although wear well and are impervious to the various kitchen fluids they tend to chip. If they wear unevenly they can be hard to re-coat often needing to be completely removed by mechanical means.

But much is just aesthetic choice - if you like old style kitchens that show the small marks and patina of age and use then the simplest of oils will do the job. If you want a near-new look to be maintained for as long as possible then the various plastic coatings are the go.

[flynnsart]

It would probably depend what time of year the tree was felled as to how well the bark will stay on. (winter felled trees the bark is hard to knock off) You could probably reinforce it with some nails driven thru at intervals, and plug holes with bark, you wouldnt see it. I think it would probably be a cleaning/health nightmare tho on kitchen edges. I would be inclined to knock the bark off and just leave the wany edge, rounded over a bit and smoothed.

Hubby made a chair for the oldies and left the bark on the legs about 10 years ago, it is still there firmly, no sign of moving, however, kitchen benches get leaned against, bumped, and things get spilled and flow over occasionally.

This chair was coated with a finish called (I think from memory) Sikkens cetol. It gave it a yellowish colour, but I think there is a clear as well as a reddish one. It is a long time since we used this finish it was very expensive, but as you can see lasts a long time. Peters mum puts traditional wax on it every couple of weeks. The chair is in constant use on their verandah.

I do recall a post on here somewhere about using mitre joins on kitchen benches and someone was saying there is a problem with the timber moving as it moves with the weather and gaps opening up. I would love to see a pic of your finished job it sounds great.

Donna

[LeonieB]

Thanks so much to everyone for your replies. I appreciate the pictures you have posted - nice jobs!

I am also looking at Weatherfast marine grade polyurethane satin from Norglass, single pack. Its hard to find out how toxic this is - no VOC content listed.

Also is white spirit (its solvent content) carcinogenic? I am considering the health effects of the finsh also, so dont want to use 2 pack polys.

Thanks again everyone
Sandstonehouse

[Carry Pine]

Hi LeonieB

I decided to answer this one along with the others because so many people remark on how good our benchtops look. (I'm not bragging- I didn't put them in)
[quote=LeonieB;664974]Hi all
Have just been reading some other posts about finishing benchtops. We have a red ironbark slab
We have a bluegum benchtop.

What have other people found useful and durable as finishes? A local slab manufacturer recommends Norglass marine polyurethane but I would ideally like not to use a solvent-based polyurethane, for health reasons. However does anyone have experience with this?

I used tung oil- the same stuff that went on the floor. it has lasted 12+ years and probably needs a slight rub back around the sink where I (not anyone else) has spilt water. It will be easy to rub back and recoat.

Also read in an old post about 2 part auto finishes like acrylic urethane but has anyone any feedback on these?

We would like something durable, scratch resistant,waterproof, food safe, chemical resistant and ideally heat resistant. Non-toxic ingredients are also important. Also dont want to darken or yellow the timber too much.

Tung oild did not darken the timber that much.
Thank you very much for any thoughts.

Also any tips for actually joining two slabs at right angles for an L-shaped benchtop?

There is a proper way to do this. I am surprised no one has given you a link yet. You just dont mitre the corner. there is a special cut out joint and a fastener that holds it together.

Have you thought of a splashback. Simple to add and looks great. Again there is a proper way to cut it in.

And for constructing slab benchtops in general?

Cheers,

Carry Pine

[journeyman Mick]

Don't mitre your benchtop joint! The mitre will open up and look horrible with changes in humidity. Nothing will hold the joint together if the timber wants to move, even steel toggle bolts will break. You need to make it a butt joint with allowance for cross grain movement. I posted a fairly comprehensive set of instructions for this in one of Jake's (Apricotripper) threads about timber tops, do a search.

Mick

[kewhill]

Don't mitre your benchtop joint! The mitre will open up and look horrible with changes in humidity. Nothing will hold the joint together if the timber wants to move, even steel toggle bolts will break. You need to make it a butt joint with allowance for cross grain movement. I posted a fairly comprehensive set of instructions for this in one of Jake's (Apricotripper) threads about timber tops, do a search.

Mick

Your right Made L shape Kitchen benchtop out of bloodwood inner boards and red mahogany (mahogany 6yrs old) trim outer boards, all boards 32mm thick mitred red mahogany Mahogany inner mitre opened up 5mm.
Bloodwood boards were butt joined on the angle no movement. Sealed benchtop with adeze floor clear gloss x 2 coats the one I used was an air dry single pack
Used techni glue for all joins

[David L]

I am concidering making a benchtop from T&G floor boards as Bloss did.
I am concerened about shrinkage and the gaps opening up, can anyone advise on this?
My Idea is to clamp the boards to gether and screw to cross pieces from below not using glue and finish with Cabots water based floor finish.
Thanks for your help

David

[Bloss]

I have done them as you intend - both glued and unglued and I have been happy with them. (Details have been PMed to you)

After timber choice (and evenness of grain stresses etc within that choice) movement depends on your local climate as much as anything. High variability of temperature and humidity means greater instability for the timber - and vice versa.

I live in Canberra so a dry and fairly even climate with relatively low humidity - result will not be the same coastal climates for example. The level of humidity etc is less critical than the variability - rapidly changing moisture levels is hell for timber of all sorts.

Real timber is a variable and changing product - that's why I and many others like it. Tolerance for the results of this - gaps etc is a highly personal issue, and if one has an expectation of perfection then one goes for manufactured products.