Re: How much expansion to allow for counter top
"RJ" Whelan
>Bill,
I, too, have a butcher block counter top (adjacent to the prep sink). I used 12/4 QS maple to make up the top (26" wide by 36" long). It moves like crazy - at least 1/2" from smallest to largest.
I attached the back with screws (like your plan). I laminated a second piece of material to the back of the top edge of the face frame and routed several deep mortices through the backing and about 1/4" into the face frame. There are several blocks (with long tongues)screwed to the under side of the butcher block and these tongues fit into the deep mortices in the face frame.
The nice thing about attaching the top this way is the ease of removal to scrape or plane a fresh surface. My counter has been in for about 5 years and I've cleaned it up twice (it started out about 1/2" proud of the surrounding counter and after two touch ups I've removed about 3/32" - I figure it'll outlive me.
Although you didn't ask about surface treatment, I'll tell you what I did, and have been very please with. After planing the countertop smooth I rubbed it down with perafin wax (canning wax) and ironed it in (set an old iron to "cotton" and keep it moving until the whole top takes on an even color (do not use SWMBO's good iron for this - if you do, you will have created an "old iron" to keep in the shop - very useful for drawer slides and sides). After the wax hardens, scrape almost all of the surface wax off using a card scraper (no burr) and then rub the top down with burlap. We do a lot of cutting on our board and I have to wax the counter about every 2-3 months.
Goes without saying - don't cut meat, fish or fowl on your board as it's next to impossible to sanitize a 90# cutting board.
Nice looking kitchen btw ... rj