Wood choice for butchers block trolley

[Quadie]

Hello,

First of, a quick thanks for all the help I've already received from the UKWorkshop forum. It's been a great resource and I haven't even posted yet!

I've just completed my workbench and I'm looking to start my first project. I've always been interested in woodworking / carpentry and I'm using this as a way recreating furniture that may be out-with my price range to buy!

The base of the trolley will be painted and I was looking to make an end grain block for the top but I'm having trouble with wood choice.

I was looking to use dressed red pine for the base and oak for the end grain block - but wasn't sure if these were OK choices. Would this be OK? I'm using pre-dressed as it easier for me as a beginner.

Thanks in advance,

Keith.

 

[Shane]

Welcome!

Oak for the end grain block will look well manky after a while cos of the tanin, IMO you'd be better off with beech. I've also used maple for a butchers block before which worked well

make sure you post plenty of pics 8)

 

[Quadie]

Cheers for that, Shane. The only reason for choosing oak was for the darker colour but there's no point if I'm going to regret it 6 months down the line. I'll have a look at maple prices from the local sawmill.

Picking up the wood this weekend so hopefully it wont be too long before the WIP pics are up.

Thanks again.

Keith.

 

[squib]

Scamore is the trad choice as it has antiseptic qualities.

 

[Quadie]

Does Sycamore fall into the same bracket as Maple? I'll check both out anyway.

Cheers,

Keith.

 

[Shane]

Does Sycamore fall into the same bracket as Maple? I'll check both out anyway.

Cheers,

Keith.

They have their similarities, although sycamore is a helluva lot easier to work than maple, maple is very hard and will take the edges off your tools in no time. I only used maple because that was spec'd by my then boss.

 

[mtr1]

I have a traditional butchers block in my barn, It has a maple surround and a beech block, and its about 150mm thick.

 

[Russell]

I would go for beech for the main part of the block the surround could be a different timber. Definitely would no use oak the tanin would start to react with the steell over time

 

[Quadie]

If I was going for beech, would it need to have a surround? I hadn't planned on a surround as I quite like the look of the side of the blocks - seeing all the grains and patterns of the wood together.

 

[Shane]

Depends on it's depth, I would think it would be too fragile without a surround

 

[Quadie]

The block would be around 50mm. I really only wanted to have it the same thickness as a chunky chopping board. Although they look great, I wasn't sure about tackling real butcher's block - a foot deep hardwood end grain might get away from the 'budget solution' I was looking for!

What I'll do is build the base and then determine how confident I feel about the end grain block. If I go with beech I could make them using left overs from the rest of the kitchen worktops.

Keith.

 

[Lester Burnham]

Ive got a tip for you with this job which you may like.

You can buy a smallish piece of hardwood worktop eg beech, the type that is made up of loads of glued up staves, 40mm staves look good.

Slice equal strips off the worktop, cutting at right angles across the staves. The width of the slices will determine the eventual depth of your block. Then turn each strip up wards so the endgrain is all pointing up, and simply glue them all up again.
Hey presto, a deep end grain hard wood butchers block for not much money.

I did this when working for a cabinetmaker and it worked well.

Have fun.

LB.

 

[Quadie]

Seems like the way to go - cheers for that, LB.

 

[Tony Spear]

I think eople are talking about two entirely different things here.

The OP is discussing what is sold in shops as a "Butchers Block trolley", which actually no such thing - it's really effectively just a chopping board on wheels.

You'll hardly ever see a real butcher's block in use these days, the last one I saw was in Goring-on-Thames about 20 years ago.

I'm not sure of the material (could well have been Maple or Sycamore, or even a softwood) it was about 6 or maybe even 8 inches thick with a 4" strap of steel wrapped around it but it was DEFINITELY NOT END GRAIN. This was for the simple reason that at the end of a days work it was cleaned with a bloody great scraper and over the years the top had become hollow to a depth of something well over an inch. :shock: When it got too hollow it was simply thrown away and replaced with another one.

So, is what you really want is a chopping board on wheels, make it from Maple, Sycamore or Beech end grain blocks and whether or not you use a surround depends entirely on your confidence in your workmanship and your aesthetic opinion.