Jarrah parquetry benchtop

[Harry72]

Soon I will be making my new kitchen, making the carcas's and the doors those parts I can handle the bench top is a different story.
I have a reasonable quanity of jarrah it was my old floor boards joists and bearers(concrete now...)the problem is its full of nail holes, so I was thinking about cutting the jarrah up into parquetry of approx 40x160x10mm.
This way I can recover a fair amount of it without the nail holes, did some experimenting and the SWMBO wants a 1in4 Herringbone pattern(40*160).

Obviously I'll need to glue this down to a substrate, what should I use MDF or ply or combination of both, what glue to use PVR? and what thickness of substrate should I use 25-40mm?

I dont have any experience with jarrah... other than machining it!

Finish will be a generous coatings of sprayed 7008 estipol.
Would this have any movement problems, will I need to allow for movment on the carcas's with the jarrah being glued to a substrate and basicaly being glued soild on top with the 7008 finish.

[Dusty]

Use parquetry glue which allow for a bit of movement as the weather shifts.

Probably best that you don't spray the 7008, or so it say's on the can. Roll it, or apply it with a stain pad.

Still expect it to move in parts particularly seeing that it's liable to get water on it, hot and cold substances on it, and the fact that the temperature in kitchens flactuates more than any other part of the house.

All up tho' it should make a handsome bench top.

Post some pics when your done.

[Harry72]

Thanks Dusty, the 7008 can be sprayed they just dont like DIYers spraying it because of the enviromental aspects.
The top will be sprayed in a proper car spray booth... have friends in the trade!

[Dusty]

The top will be sprayed in a proper car spray booth... have friends in the trade!

Cool, way to go.

[Harry72]

Guys I still need some advice on which glue to use, it must stick jarrah and mdf/ply.
Will PVR do it or will I need to go for a epoxy?
The movement side of things still has me puzzled too, cant seem to find any info when herringbone parquetry is involved, the grain runs in two different directions?

[echnidna]

making the parquetry is an enormous amount of work.
you could use your old flooring and using plug and dowel cutters make plugs with matching grain to fix the nail holes. It would be almost if not totally invisible on the finished top. pretty easy and fast to do.

[Harry72]

Dont want to use my old floor baltic boards for the top as all the doors will be the baltic, I brought all the machines for this very task... and then some!

I dont mind doing the machine work I think the end result will be worth it, will resaw lenghts with the BS, square up 1 side and face on the jointer, parallel the other face in the thicknesser then cut to width on the TS, finaly cut to lenght on the drop saw. Is that the correct procedure youd use?
It didnt take long to make the test pieces from some scraps, two lots one jarrah the other was oregan.

[echnidna]

you're probably going to have to make it in strips.
make them overwide so when all the strips are made you can run them through the tablesaw on a single setup to ensure they are all even.

[Richardwoodhead]

Harry, my advice is to glue with West System epoxy.

. it will be really strong and waterproof etc
. you can add some colouring oxides (just a pinch of red and even smaller pinch of black) and mix in with the epoxy (West System is very "runny" to start) - and you get a liquid Jarrah effect. And since the epoxy is gap filling, any imperfections in the cut timber are pretty much hidden
. You mix in a thickening agent to get the viscosity you want. Or you can leave it runny. Depends on the kind of glue-up you're doing.
. You have great open time with if you use the Slow Hardener. There's no panic with the stuff going tacky on you. And you don't have to clamp (most PVA's have to be clamped - how were you going to handle that re the parquetry?)
. West System sands back beautifully (unlike PVA's). So you can almost bath the surface of your bench top in epoxy, then just sand back.

West System is really a "three" pack glue, because you need to mix in a hardener and fine fibre powder (which they sell with the glue) to "thicken" if you want it less runny. But it's worth the effort. Remember to wear disposable rubber gloves as this stuff can cause allergic reactions if lots of it gets onto skin. And wear a dust mask if you're mixing in the fine microfibre thickener.

You only need a very thin film of the epoxy on BOTH surfaces you're gluing.

But my first thought was like Bob Thomas. I've used old dinged-up and full of holes Jarrah to make quite nice table tops. You just have to clean out the holes then fill them with West System epoxy, coloured to match or blackened to enhance the "rustic" look. Really slap on the epoxy all over your surface to fill in defects. After sanding back it looks great. Sounds "bad" maybe, but actually looks OK in the end.

Richard

[Harry72]

Thanks Rich, were is the west system available from?

[Richardwoodhead]

Harry, I'll post a couple of links for you ... A general one on West System, and a link to the Taunton Woodwork Forum. West System epoxy is pretty popular in the US. If you type in "West System Epoxy Resin Glue" into their archives research box, you'll come up with lots of informative discussions.

I have a local distributor here in WA. I'll try to find out how you can locate a distributor in SA and get back to you.

http://www.westsystem.com/

http://forums.taunton.com/tp-knots