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Making Maple Counter Tops

3K views 16 replies 11 participants last post by  Aworoeuw 
#1 ·
Well Wednesday we did go up to BIL Jim's place for 2" maple slabs to make countertops for two cabinets in the new Butlers Pantry.

We trimmed the slabs to salvage all we could since this batch was limited in board feet, all about 5' long. Then we planed them to about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4" and ran them thru Jim's jointer.

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The wood chips you see is less the half of what we created.

Also added to the transport were 16x 2 x 6 x ~6 ft sticks for DIL Maria in Milwaukie OR . . . we filled-up with a 'secured load'.

The next morning I found one of the boards twisted so addition planing was done and I have the first two boards at just over 1 3/8". I believe that thickness will stay IF no more twist before I get them glued-up.
 
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#3 ·
Well ~ Update on the maple slabs/boards . . . they're drying. Jim had them in an open area of his woodshop. They've been exposed to our 100% humidity all winter. So no I'm going to dry then for some period of time before I plane them again. Then I plan to glue the boards ASAP, not allowing time for them to twist again after planing.

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Because of 'high humidity' I run a dehumidifier all the time keeping the humidity near 50% all the time. I also have a fan blowing warm dry air across the boards as my shop is heated.


I like that planer be nice to run my 8' x 12" x 2" walnut slab thru. My planer only dose up to 10 " don't know anyone who has one that is like that.
JD4044M ~ I like BIL Jim's planer too, very much . . . better than my fancy Makita. It's very powerful and takes whatever you throw at it.
 
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#4 ·
My Robland K26 has a 10" wide Planer and run by a 3 HP motor. It would be nice if it was a 12" one for some of the wood I have. I have a ton of Cherry Wood to plane for some future project but it is 10" or less wide. This is wood I got from my Father in Law. He had it custom cut from a place back east and shipped to him along with the Oak.
 
#5 ·
What are the tractor, loader and forks in your 3rd picture?
 
#6 ·
I see I haven't updated this post for some time, so here goes . . .

The stack of maple boards has successfully been glued-up into two countertops. Both are a custom fit since the walls in the place are not always straight.

We took the two tops to BIL Jim's place last Thursday. We trimmed and sanded the two and ended up milling them once again to get them flat.

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This first top was stained yesterday with General Finishes Nutmeg gel stain. (This was after hours of hand-sanding.) The staining revealed marks I did not see, but Missey wanted a 'rustic' look, so it's good. (I'll post a picture a little later as I have to go out to the shop to take it.)
 
#7 · (Edited)
Those are gorgeous. Maple is a fantastic material.
Related: I made a large maple cutting board for my wife several years ago, after she "requested" it many times. I recently asked why she never used it after being so anxious to have one. Turns out, she thought it was to pretty to scratch up.

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#8 · (Edited)
Those are gorgeous. Maple is a fantastic material.
Related: I made a large maple cutting board for my wife several years ago, after she "requested" it many times. I recently asked why she never used it after being so anxious to have one. Turns out, she though it was to pretty to scratch up.

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I'm confident they will look great. Missey wanted them to look a little "rustic" so there are marks and such with shading.

I took these earlier this morning. The East top has a single finish coat and the West top is ready for its' first coat after staining. I'll put on four - 5 coats of General Finishes Arm-R-Seal before installing.

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Then there's the "backsplashes" to stain and finish.

First time with maple . . . I like it but 'this maple' has been a challenge . . . as in after milling/plaining to establish flat parallel sides hours later it has 'twisted' once again.
 
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#9 ·
With 24 hrs minimum for drying, and with everything else going on, progress is slow.

I believe this shows three coats of finish on the East top on the right and two coats on the West top on the left. Never the less, each will get five coats and then move to the house for installation.

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Once installed I'll cut backsplash pieces to fit and then stain/topcoat them before installation.

I'm far from a pro just yet but these are lookin' pretty good. I'm very pleased with my 'first efforts' making a top of this size from scratch.
 
#11 ·
I installed the two countertops in Missey's new pantry yesterday. Top's are fastened to the cabinet below and splash boards are glued in place. These two were my first countertops, I learned a lot . . . and onward to the next project.

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#17 · (Edited)
Thanks for sharing these photos! Very interesting. My husband set out to make a countertop for our kitchen, too, but he wants a quartz one. He found an article explaining how do they make quartz countertops and now believes he can pull it off himself, which I really doubt. How would you do it yourself if you didn't have any tools or in-depth knowledge on the matter? He's adamant that he'll manage, so I stopped paying attention to that. I think it'll be easier if we order a quartz countertop from a professional company rather than allow him to spend insane amounts of money on raw materials and tools.
 
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