I will start my backsplash tiling today, FINALLY!

Yes, I know, I am slow.  

Part in red, wise man.

I have been very slow working on this.  Still, I haven't silicone-caulked the seams but here is an update - the tiles are in and grouted!

The new counters and tile backsplash have made a significant difference to our kitchen for under $1k.

Looks good, great job OP.

It's done.

The counters are in.  The sink, faucet and drains are in.  The backsplash is in.  The grouting and touch-up painting are done.  The rewiring is finished*.

Everything is better than it ever was before, by far.


*  I could not believe what was in one of the boxes.  It really was incredible how poorly the work had been done.  There were even scorch marks on the outside of the outlets and switches.  The outlet in the photo was not the problem.

Congrats, Trollslayer.

It's always a good moment to finish the project up

I have been wanting to build a bar height kitchen nook-table/food prep area for a while and this thread helped to kick me into gear.  I'm shooting for about 30" x 60".  Wife wanted walnut, so that's what I got last Friday.  Let it sit for a few days and sawed it last night.  Plan to glue it up tomorrow night.  
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I don't plan to use this as a cutting board 99% of the time, but I'd like to have the option.  I'm going to read back through the thread for the food safe finishes that have been recommended.  A year from now I may be hating life, wishing I had listened to the posters earlier in this thread saying how much of a pain in the ass it is to continue applying sealer, but I want to try it.  I'm leaning towards building the legs and footrest out of 1" black iron pipe.

Quoted:
I'm going to read back through the thread for the food safe finishes that have been recommended.  

Real Milk Paint Brand Tung Oil

A year from now I may be hating life, wishing I had listened to the posters earlier in this thread saying how much of a pain in the ass it is to continue applying sealer, but I want to try it.  

LOL, me too.  

If it doesn't work out, I will have a good reason to spend the money for Silastone.

P.S. - The walnut looks like really, really nice lumber.

After reading back through the whole thread, I ordered a qt. of the Milk Paint Tung Oil and a qt. of their citrus diluter.  Hopefully the table will be glued up tonight, sanded by this weekend, then oiled up as soon as I receive the products.

With that much glue in that many joints, you're better off waiting a few more days for the moisture to disperse and equalize in the wood. If you sand it too soon you'll get a ridge at every glue joint. In fact, after your initial sanding to knock off the excess glue and get things flat, it's best to wipe the entire piece with a wet (not soaked and dripping, but not just damp either) rag and raise the grain. Wait a day and do your final sanding (but don't over do it). You'll have an incredibly smooth surface this way.

Also make sure to vacuum, wipe with microfiber towel, blow off with air, and wipe with microfiber a final time before applying finish. It's best to wipe down mineral spirits or naphtha (if you can get that) and allow to dry before applying finish. This last step removes any residual oils from fingers, dust, and contaminants.

It may seem like a lot of work, but the finish is the first thing people see.

That open-grained walnut is going to drink up the tung oil.  Don't be surprised if 1/2 gallon (total) is not enough.

Thanks for all the tips.  So I got it glued up last night.  Are you saying not to do any sanding on it for several days?  I had planned on using a router and sled to get the surfaces ready for sanding and do some sanding tonight.  The buddy that is helping me, that is not a pro but has built several butcher block projects (cutting boards up to islands), says he normally starts working it after 24 hours.

Last night we wiped some of the excess glue off of the top side in hopes of saving some wear on his $150 router bit.  This might have been a total waste of time, but we weren't doing anything else and the kids were having fun playing.
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Yea, by the quantities that you said you used when scaled to my project, I probably need 1/2 again more.  By the manufacturer's recommendations, I'm about right with 1/2 gallon.  I figured I'd just go with it and order more when I inevitably come up short!

I would recommend holding off on sanding for a day or two more. Running the router over it the next day should be fine, but there is still lots of moisture from all that glue (lots of excess putting more moisture into the wood) and if you sand it too soon, you'll get a ridge at every joint line. Not something that will catch a paperclip, but you'll feel it when you run your hand over it. Happened to me once on a small table top, and after I learned what I did wrong I decided to be patient from then on.

You're putting a lot of work into it, and the wood isn't cheap, so waiting two days will pay off in the end.

However, I'm not a professional either and my opinion is worth what you paid for it...

I did my final sanding last night:
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1st coat of tung oil:
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Sorry Trollslayer, this isn't meant as a thread hijack, I just figured it would be more helpful if someone was interested in butcher block stuff to keep it in one thread.

Also, pardon the messy shop, I'm normally a better housekeeper.

ETA: the odd angled miters on the corners are meant to match the bay window where this may be pushed against the wall in my kitchen from time to time.

np, that thing is gorgeous.

Maple is a relatively bland wood, your walnut is not.

Well, if my wife could have found something more expensive than walnut, I probably would have ended up with that!!!  Thanks.

There's a reason walnut is the most expensive (readily available) American hardwood.

Good God I love that stuff.

That top looks great!

I put the third coat of tung oil on the top side last night and plan to put a third coat on the bottom side tonight.  It seemed like I wiped a lot of last night's coat off while rubbing it in (after letting it sit on the top for forty minutes), making me think it's soaked up about all it's going to.

Last update, I finally got it finished.
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I'm happy with it.  Wife is happy with it.  4 x $120 (ouch) barstools are on the way.
For anyone keeping score at home, my costs were something like $425 for the lumber and help from a buddy assembling ($125 for him and I have about 1/4 to 1/3 of the lumber left over), $60 in tongue oil (I bought a qt. of oil and a qt. of thinner and still have a lot left over), $170 in pipe, fittings, primer and paint.  So if I spent $650ish, if I were able to have cut down some of the waste, assuming that I had all the tools to do it myself, I could have built it for about $450.

As far as time on the top, it was a couple of hours to join, rip and sort pieces, an hour to glue it all up, a couple of hours to run the router sled over it to get it fairly uniform and an hour to run it through a big Grizzly belt sander (that work was all with one helper).  Everything else was pretty much me working solo: an hour to trim the ends and make the miter cuts with a circular saw, a few minutes to chamfer all the edges with a router, an hour to finish sanding with a RO sander, then the minor time spent brushing on tongue oil, letting it set, then rubbing it in/off (x 4 coats on each side).