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by
Rick Campbell
photos by Yvonne Duivenvoorden
illustration by Len Churchill |
BUTCHER BLOCK ISLAND |
| Increase
kitchen workspace with this tasteful maple cart |
I get a lot of satisfaction building practical projects that
are strong enough to stand up to the rigours of everyday living.
With this in mind, I designed and built a butcher block kitchen
island that includes a 2"-thick laminated top with a matching
knife storage block, a 29"-wide utensil drawer and a removable
wine rack that holds four bottles of my favourite vintage. This
island is built to last and portable. The entire unit roles
quietly and easily on heavy-duty rubber casters.
I built the block using hard
maple. It’s the traditional choice for butcher blocks because
of its tight grain and food-safe surface. Birch is a good substitute
and may be easier to find in some areas of Canada.
A Beefy Top
 |
| Solid
maple construction, crisp details, traditional
joinery and on-board storage make this project
a built-for-life kitchen addition. Ebony-wedged
joints add strength and prestige to a project
you’ll want to leave out for guests to see |
|
There’s
more to the laminated top than first meets the eye. Steel rods
hidden inside prevent the top strips of wood from cupping and
separating. The first step involves slicing your strips from
planks planed to 2" thick. The width of each top strip
isn’t important so long as the top totals 20" wide.
Make sure the front and back edge strips are at least 1 1/2"
wide so there’s room to bore pockets for the washers and
nuts that secure the ends of the threaded rods. I used a combination
of 2"-, 1 1/2"-, and 1"-wide strips, assembled
in random order. Rough-cut the strips 1" longer than the
materials list specifies so you can trim the top square after
gluing.
Drill 1"-deep pockets into
the outside strips with a 1"-dia. Forstner or spade bit.
Then switch to a 1/2"-dia. bit to bore oversized holes
through all the top strips for the steel rods. Ensure consistent
alignment by using the first one as a template, and drill the
remaining strips one at a time.
The
top of the block will get wet so use a water-resistant glue,
such as Type II PVA or a polyurethane adhesive, when assembling
the top. Install the threaded rods while the glue cures overnight.
Tighten all the joints with bar clamps.
Remove excess glue around the
joints with a scraper and smooth the top and bottom faces with
a belt sander. Run across the grain, constantly moving the sander.
Trim the top with a circular saw along a straightedge.
Next
come the tongue-and-groove joints connecting the end caps to
the top. These caps hide the end grain and prevent the top from
cupping. Mill the 1/2"-long x 1"-thick tongues with
a straightedge and a handheld router spinning a 1/2" straight
bit. Make end caps to fit.
Don’t use glue to fasten
the end caps to the top because the joint’s cross-grain
stops the top from moving laterally as it expands and contracts.
Instead, use four #8 x 1 1/2" screws to attach each end
piece. Countersink the screws into 3/8"-dia. pockets for
tapered wooden plugs. Create an oval hole for the screw by rocking
the drill bit from side to side as you bore. The oval hole allows
for some tabletop movement.
Cut 1" dia. x 1"-long
maple dowel plugs to cover the threaded rods, but don’t
glue yet. By relying on a friction fit for the first few months,
you can still remove the dowel plugs and tighten the nuts if
the top eventually shrinks.
Build the Base
Begin by cutting the skirts, crossbraces,
and legs. If you laminate the leg blanks together from narrower
stock, rotate the legs so that the joints face the outside.
This is stronger and looks better.
The crossbraces attach to the
legs with ebony-wedged tenons that extend through mortises in
the legs.
Start by marking the mortise positions
on the legs. Centre the brace mortises across the width of the
legs and offset the skirts 1/4"on the outside faces. Drill
a series of 1/2"-dia. overlapping holes to form the mortise
openings. Set the drill press depth gauge just shy of the bottom
and finish drilling from the other side to prevent tearout.
Clean up the mortise openings with a chisel.
 |
Portable,
stable and
elegant. This solid maple island solves the perennial
kitchen problem—having
an extra workspace right
where you need it |
|
Now
prepare the matching tenons. Make the skirt tenons 1/16"
shorter than the mortise depth so the shoulders completely contact
the legs. The brace tenons should be 1/16" longer than
the thickness of the legs and extend slightly proud of the surface.
Sand flush after the joints are assembled and wedged. I cut
the tenons with a tablesaw, starting with four cuts to define
the shoulders. Continue by sawing the waste from the tenon cheeks,
leaving them slightly thicker than needed. Finish up by paring
material from the cheeks with a sharp chisel to create a snug
fit within each mortise. If you make the shoulder cuts 1/32"
deeper than required, it will be easier to remove material from
the corners when you chisel.
Complete the tenons by cutting
notches for the hardwood wedges. Drill a 1/8" hole at the
end of each notch so the wood doesn’t split when the wedges
are taped into place. Dry fit the base together and if everything
looks good dismantle, glue the joints and reassemble with clamps.
Before setting aside to dry, glue the wedges in place and check
to make sure everything’s square. Once the glue dries,
sand the ends of the brace tenons flush with the legs.
Next come the nine shelf slats
for the lower shelf and the two rack slats. Trim the ends 45°,
then cut 3/4"-deep notches to fit over the braces. The
wine rack slats should be easy to remove so make these notches
1/16" wider than the others. Install the shelf slats with
glue and #8 x 1 1/4" screws. Counter-bore into 3/8"-dia.
holes for tapered plugs.
Attach the top with metal clips
fit into slots cut in the skirt sides using a biscuit joiner.
The slots allow the top to move freely as it expands and contracts,
while the metal clips hold it firm.
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