I have recently completed a 4 inch thick end-grain maple butcher block counter that is 5 feet by 7 feet. It is for a kitchen and has a food safe oil finish. The top has been moving, cupping and bowing ever since I installed it. Does anyone have experience with a beast such as this? Is there any way to stabilize it and still use it for food prep?
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Did you seal both sides? and ends and sides?.
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Edited 10/31/2005 7:18 pm ET by calvin
most likely the problem i s poor sealing of all surfaces. the beast will live under water if moisture cant get to it. doesnt really matter the moisture content when you seal it (so its not dripping), get it dried out flat and seal the squeeze out of it and it should stay there. soak warm it up slowly till its hard to handle evenly, confirm no warp then seal.if you warm it then the air in the wood will expand, as it cools it will contract, pulling the sealer furhter into the wood. takes a lot of sealer(a good thing) and a lot of patience, a purely objective thing. how in the cornbread hell did you let someone talk you into a 5 foot wide short grain butcher block? good luck
The block has been sealed with mineral oil on top, bottom and sides.
But apparently, not enough.
I've never seen a commercial end-grain butcher block that thin. Usually they are 12" thick at least. Do you have some kind of structural support built under it to hold it flat? 4" thick short-grain that large doesn't sound like it could support its own weight without sagging and bowing as you describe.
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