Butcher Block Top Reglue

good choice

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

acetone is a good solvent for animal and vegie oils. Toxicity wise it is benign, but highly flammable. Use good ventilation to eliminate the flammability issue.

Re: Butcher Block Top  Reglue

Dick Coers

Is it completely split off, or just a crack? I have no idea how you can get inside the joint and wipe it off if it's a crack. Solvent will thin the contamination and will also drive it into the pores of the wood. Can't imagine glue sticking at all, especially water based adhesives. A more permanent option would be to cut through the split on the table saw, then glue it back together.

Re: Butcher Block Top  Reglue

Woodie49

I cut the Joint open.

Re: Butcher Block Top  Reglue

William Duffield

I fixed a cracked teak butcher block starting with your method. Then I cleaned all the newly cut surfaces with acetone. Finally, I quickly glued it back together with West System epoxy, before any more of the natural oils in the teak worked their way back to the surface. (I think someone had left it on edge in a partially filled sink. It wasn't the cook. She knows better.)

Re: Butcher Block Top  Reglue

david weaver

That should probably be fine. I might think (if I were in your shoes) of first clamping the joint overnight a couple of nights on sections of old dry paper bag or paper towels to see if I could extract as much oil as possible. Not knowing what the oil is (assuming mineral oil or something non-drying), I'd want to have as little on the surface as possible before the acetone.

if you clamp cut segments of a paper bag in the gap overnight and they show no sign of oil, you'll know you're in good shape.