Hello
I have a client that is interested in doing their entire kitchen in unfinihsed hard maple butcher block counters, with the exception of stainless steel near the sinks
we have done butcher block islands, but not whole kitchens
any ideas or advice would be a help
Replies
We've done wood countertops throughout the kitchen few times, although we usually apply a food-safe finish to the surface. Here's one (http://gwwoodworking.com/rook/images/rook2_jpg.jpg), with cherry tops and a walnut feature strip behind a mitered, thick cherry edge. Of course, we allowed for movement at the back of the 28-in-deep tops. They're are fastened solidly only at the front, with sliding intermediate fasteners at the middle and back edge, and we left a 1/2-inch space between the back edge and the wall. That gap is covered with the stone splash. Where end grain pieces meets the "breadboard" front edge, we allowed for movement with a sliding dovetail joint. At the undermount sink (http://gwwoodworking.com/rook/images/rook1_jpg.jpg), we epoxied the end grain. And I'm happy to report that the countertops are still in great shape after over five years.
Gary
http://gwwoodworking.com/