Hardwood bench top

Hi,
New posters here,
I am working on a bench top (2m X .7) made of 200 X50 Qld blue gum (reddish timber) it's leftover from building my veranda 15 years ago (it's very dry, was stacked behind my shed under roofing iron).
It will be used in my shed kitchen to butcher my animals. Doesn't need to be perfect but I would like to have a reasonable flat finish for ease of washing / maintenance. I am planning to finish with linseed oil first then beeswax.
I am currently working on levelling the top using a belt sander. I might have to buy a router and jig to level it if I run out of patience with the sander. There's a few gaps / cracks.
My question is can I use PVA glue mixed the dust from sanding to fill them?

Even though I am using 40 grit sandpaper the wood looks good, by the time I get to 120 grit it should have a great finish.

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Thanks, I couldn't work it out on my phone screen, but I got there eventually on the computer screen.

Am I right to assume that you haven't glued the boards together, yet?

I made a "temporary" desk top from celery top pine in 1983 - 3 pieces 200x35 mm - and I had few tools. Sanded it with a belt sander from rough sawn, Jointed the edges with a 50 mm straight cutter bit in brand new router and straight edge. Glued it up with epoxy thickened to bottled cream consistency with sander dust (same timber). Sanded with belt sander up to 200 grit. The crappy B&D orbital sander didn't sand very well and left swirls - useless. Hence belt. Finished with Danish oil.

PVA is not very good at gap filling; epoxy is much better, and has better moisture resistance properties. Larger cracks and holes can be filled with plugs, Smaller cracks with epoxy; the trick is to get the epoxy as deep as possible into the crack - it both gllues and fills the crack. Dilute to epoxy with 50% acetone, paint over the crack, wait ten minutes and repeat; keep repeating, wicking the epoxy into the crack until it disappears.

As to the finish, I am not sure what is best on a butchering table. My understanding that butchers do not use anything on their blocks - might be worth talking to your local butcher.

+1 for epoxy glue, which will probably fill gaps up to 3mm. I am not sure to what extent butchers blocks are used in shops today. However my FIL was a butcher (and two of my BILs) a while back and his butchers block was raw timber and all end grain on the top. He scrubbed it down with a coarse bristled brush every day.

Your timber is also called Forest Red Gum (E. territicornis) and is extremely hard. It will be a little tough on your sharp knives, but possibly OK in a limited application. Rough Barked Apple was the preferred timber back in the day.

Regards
Paul

It is tough work with a belt sander and difficult to get a flat top.

A router sled is messy but you will get a flat to with less sanding.

PVA and sawdust will work but it looks like you are covering mistakes IMHO.
My preference is Epoxy and Black builders oxide. Black looks more natural on Australian hardwoods. I guess you are making a feature of the defects instead of trying to hide them.

Your surface will get chopped up with butchering so I agree with your oil finish. I prefer an oil that dries, like Danish oil, over Linseed oil that stays wet. Linseed oil seems to attract dust and look dirty to me.

I like the look of the Forest Red gum too,

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bushmiller

... I am not sure to what extent butchers blocks are used in shops today. However my FIL was a butcher (and two of my BILs) a while back and his butchers block was raw timber and all end grain on the top. He scrubbed it down with a coarse bristled brush every day.

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Both butchers near us still have butchers blocks - almost certainly not Rough-barked apple - Angophora floribunda - guess it is a eucalypt? Just asked a butcher and he said "grand dads". But the hygiene issue would be paramount - great uncle was a butcher and I seem to remember the smell of bleach when he did the daily scrub down. Can you add to that?

I was wary about a finish as butchers seem to avoid them.
* Boiled linseed (BOL) applied as the traditional 50:50 mixture of BOL and turps is easy to apply, dries quickly and is easy to touch up. Not sure how it would stand up to the daily hygiene process.
* Danish oil forms a skin because of the varnish or polyurethane in its formulation. This means that any knife cuts will be obvious and that surface skin may finish up in the meat - hygiene implications?

Regarding the finish, I wonder if it would be better with no finish at all. Anything is going to degrade quickly with bleach and frequent scrubbing.
Just recently discovered that BLO has cobalt and manganese in it, and while not much would transfer to the meat after a while, it could certainly happen if used before the BLO is fully cured.
I found this blog article on BLO interesting and informative:
The Lowdown on BLO – Lost Art Press

My after school job as a kid was in a butcher shop. The block was Qld Kauri. One of my jobs was to clean it down each evening. The block was dusted with flour, then scraped with a metal scraper, followed with a sprinkling of butchers salt that remained on the block until the following morning, when the block was scraped again prior to the days work. The block was free of cracks, so the boiling water treatment was never used. The butcher said, "You only need water when the block is cracked and the maggots go into hiding." To my knowledge no water and no oil ever went on that block. It was as solid the day it was rolled out, as it was the day it rolled in when the shop was being demolished for new development. I was told a local farmer had purchased it for his meat house. He was a little short a---- chap and had a couple of inches sliced off the top to bring it down a bit and give him a new working surface. Probably will be good for another fifty years -- so long as he doesn't oil it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rustynail

... The block was dusted with flour, then scraped with a metal scraper, followed with a sprinkling of butchers salt that remained on the block until the following morning, when the block was scraped again prior to the days work. The block was free of cracks, ....

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You have refreshed my memory a little, Rusty. Great uncle used a similar but different process. Each evening:

• A shovel full of sawdust from the floor was thrown on the block,
• Then the block was rubbed vigorously removing all traces of meat, fat and blood,
• Then block was scraped with metal scraper,
• Then block was scrubbed with warm bleach (?) solution and wire brush,
• Then bench was liberally sprinkled with course butchers salt.
• Next morning, bench was scraped with metal scraper.

Bench top was solid, absolutely no cracks, but a shallow wok shape. Probably dated from late 1800's.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GraemeCook

Am I right to assume that you haven't glued the boards together, yet?
Yes, I have glued them and used 7 dowels in each joints. I also screwed (type 17) 3 cross members underneath (50X35 ironbark).

I made a "temporary" desk top from celery top pine in 1983 - 3 pieces 200x35 mm - and I had few tools. Sanded it with a belt sander from rough sawn, Jointed the edges with a 50 mm straight cutter bit in brand new router and straight edge. Glued it up with epoxy thickened to bottled cream consistency with sander dust (same timber). Sanded with belt sander up to 200 grit. The crappy B&D orbital sander didn't sand very well and left swirls - useless. Hence belt. Finished with Danish oil.

PVA is not very good at gap filling; epoxy is much better, and has better moisture resistance properties. Larger cracks and holes can be filled with plugs, Smaller cracks with epoxy; the trick is to get the epoxy as deep as possible into the crack - it both gllues and fills the crack. Dilute to epoxy with 50% acetone, paint over the crack, wait ten minutes and repeat; keep repeating, wicking the epoxy into the crack until it disappears.

As to the finish, I am not sure what is best on a butchering table. My understanding that butchers do not use anything on their blocks - might be worth talking to your local butcher.

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Yesterday and today I made a jig and started levelling the top with a router, it will take at least a couple of pass, but so far I am pleased with the way it's progressing.
I am yet to source 2 pack epoxy (found food safe epoxy resin but it's in the US)

I only butcher a few time per year, trying to finish this bench as I have a 110kg pig ready to slaughter in a couple of weeks. followed by a cow next month. I will also use that bench for odd jobs (extrating / processing honey, etc.)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gaiarules

found food safe epoxy resin but it's in the US

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That is just marketing hype.

The components and wet epoxy are pretty nasty - read and abide by the safety directions.

Once epoxy cures then it is fairly inert. Very little evidence of problems.

A high proportion of modern boats - both yachts and power vessels - are molded from epoxy. Many people live on them permanently, a lot more live on them intermittenly and a hoard use them for recreational purposes. No issues from the epoxy.

+1 on epoxy with builders black for colour. I used the pretty cr*ppy project panels from the Big Green Store for kitchen bench, headboard, and (soon) dining table. Just used dowels to join panels as required. Each required lots of sanding and filling, but was cheap solution in the end.