kitchen solid timber benchtops

[Don777]

HI Grahem,

I different idea for kitchen beach top is partical board base then cover with select grade Hardwood flooring then some half round jaarah moulding (32mm) on the edges..
I have made this style in my parents kitchen,( praticise) , then did my own kitchen the same way.. alot of sanding then 4 coat of polyurithan ( i know not spelt right)sanding inbetween each coat...
looks a treat the jarrah and handwood look great together adn hard wearing and you can walk on it.

Don

[Greg Ward]

Red Sirus is used in Hogs breath Cafes.....so it will handle the tough stuff.
Pines such as Norfolk, Bunya are OK, but a bit soft. Camphor is good, Rosewood is good and hard and blue and red gums are fine, but need good sealing. Tas blackwood works OK, but must be dense. Himalayan cedar (deador) is good, and a beautiful odour, you can imagine the scented cedars of Babylon, well a few thousand years ago if you have a good imagination. All ned good sealing or if oiled, resanding and oiling eaach year
To obtain any timber type you want, with the wood shows about to start, contact Malcolm at Boutique Timbers 0265 858296. He can bring some to any show for you.
Regard
Greg Ward

[Wildman]

I had recycled blue gum made into benchtops by Shiver me Timbers in Williamstown, they look sensational but are extremely heavy and even with extensive sealing are moving a fair bit. I sanded and sealed with 4 coats of organic timber oil (tung based) and then waterproofed with a beeswax/emu oil wax which needs re-application every few months with a rag to maintain the waterproofing, especially around the cooktop and sink. I have steel brackets underneath with screws that can be adjusted to pull the benchtop down where it curled up to pull it flat. It takes some time but it is working. Hopefully I can pull them flat again and have them stay there over time.

[arms]

this is where you go wrong,ANY cutouts in a timber benchtop MUST be coated with or covered with a similar coating to the surface coating or it will accept moisture and water and split,i am sorry to say this, but READ the instructions or do your research BEFORE you attempt to do timber tops and the result will always turn out as you plan

[Gingermick]

Mackay Cedar AKA Red Sirus AKA Acacia Cedar is a fairly dense timber and should be okay for benchtops, however stringent dust control measures need to be taken when working with it as the sawdust will burn your nose and throat like cayenne pepper!

Mick

Blokes in the woodturnning club call it sneezewood

[Carpenter]

The biggest pitfall with slab benchtops is the potential for cuppin. Obviously the propensity for cupping depends on timber species & how each slab is milled & the resulting grain profile when looking from an end section. The one thing that you can do to arrest this potential problem is to "envelope seal" the benchtop (sink cutouts as well). This means that every surface is coated with a non porous finish, usually limiting you to a two pack flooring product which is as hard as buggery & takes the knocks. Organic oil based products still allow for moisture transfer to & from the timber, & that is what causes the cupping. For example, if you have a slab that is nice & flat, & you "envelope seal" it, the miosture content is "encapsulated" in the slab & stability ensues. However, if you coat the top of the bench with a porous oil coating, moisture can eventually find its way into the top layers of the slab while the underside remains bone dry, & this causes differing tension between the top layer & the bottom layer, & so cupping occures. The thing is unless an eperiences eye can look at the end grain & make an educated guess on whether the way it has been milled will promote or negate cupping, the safest thing to do is to go the two pack envelope seal.

[Wildman]

I deliberately didnt go the two pack option as I wanted the benchtop to be easily spot repairable. Benchtops take a lot of harsh treatment and the poly surface coatings scratch easily and cannot be easily repaired. A scratch in an oiled top can be rubbed out with sandpaper and re-oiled/waxed without showing up. All cutouts were heavily oiled before the sink went in, the underside was also sealed before the bench went down. I was not kidding myself that movement would not occur and so far it is within acceptable levels of a few mm (can only be seen when the ends are sighted along) with one corner rising approx 8mm before the steel brackets and long screws pulled it back. It is currently less than 3mm and appears stable and considering it is over 700mm bench width it is not too bad.

Cheers
Ben

[aussiecolector]

I have iron bark bench tops and am happy. I just oiled them and left them floating not screwed down for fear that any shrinkage mite crack them.

[toolman]

I have 45mm thick solid Jarrah bench tops which I made by biscuit joining 190mm wide boards and gluing with PVA. I first cut the boards in half (lengthwise) and then alternated the grain direction to minimse movement.

I painted all sides of the bench with Cabothane satin and added the CFP hardener to it. After nearly two years there has been absoltuely no movement at all and the surface has proved to be extremely hard wearing and looks great.

The Jarrah I got from Bunnings for about $13.00 a L/metre. It was sitting in with the F17 structural hardwood and when I saw it I just bought all that they had available. Apparently it was a special order and when the person didn't pick it up they didn't have a code to sell it under so they just put it with the F17.

When I did my island benchtop I didn't bother cutting the boards in half and there has been no cupping with that method either.

I did all my benchtops for about $300 and made an outdoor table with the rest.

Regards

Toolman