What Wood for countertop

I have made a few wooden counter tops and would go with oak or hard maple. If you have one made make sure they seal the wood before they put any finish on it. The biggest issue with a wooden counter top is water and heat from cooking. There are a few products on the market that will stand up to anything you throw at them but they are very expensive. Good luck with the project – post some photos!

-- Those that say it can't be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

The boat industry uses alot of teak. You might try a boat manufacture or marina for a source. I believe Teak is kinda soft and might be concerned about that.
Good luck

With teak, you’ve got the oils of the wood to think about, teak can be a little harder to glue, and there’s a number of tricks for that. Personally, I’m a fan of butcherblock counters, which usually works best with a harder wood like hard maple. In my parents house, they’ve had one for over a decade, and often has standing water on it, and has some damage due to that…but largely the fault is with the people who made it, as the sealer they used simply wasn’t up to par….and that they didn’t maintain it at all doesn’t help. But I’d still go with the maple butcherblock, finish with a good sealer and/or mineral oil, and be sure to re-coat it on a regular basis.

If you aren’t going the butcherblock way, you could also consider getting a big ole slab of wood of some kind. I’ve been thinking about a counter out of a huge slab, which I’d coat with a restaurant finish, a self-leveling clear resin which is pretty much impervious to anything (other than heat, which I’d imagine would still fry it). Type of wood pretty much depends on what slabs you can find in your area.

-- "That which has in itself the greatest use, possesses the greatest beauty." - Unknown Shaker

I think I would go with Maple also, or alteast some type of close grained hardwood. Oak the grain is too open and would probably be next to imposible to keep clean, I supose you could use a grain filler on it before applying a finish, but I really don’t think Oak is the answer.

I’ve been looking at doing these as well…..not sure on the type of wood to use but a friend of mine has made a couple of these and he uses a product called Waterlox to finish them out and they look beautiful… here is a link to some information…I know I didn’t help with this question but maybe your next one??? :-)

-- Todd, Oak Ridge, TN, Hello my name is Todd and I'm a Toolholic, I bought my last tool 10 days, no 4 days, oh heck I bought a tool on the way here! †

Hard Maple

-- http://www.furnituremann.ca/

The thing about hard maple is its availabilty to be purchased in laminated slabs ready to go down.

-- miles125, Alabama.."Architecture is frozen music""

whatever wood you use go with an epoxy coat. just guessing that you don’t have the ability to spray the catalyzed stuff. or the correct facilities to do it safely. that is nasty stuff.

Any hardwood works.. what is more important is the finish.

I always finish all sides when it is a counter since moisture can get in from the sides.

Good luck.. It can be a great look when its done

-- making sawdust....

I have teak counters , they are not soft . There are many types of oak that can be used for butcher block/counter tops. We commercially make them here primarily from closed cell oaks (white classification) such as blue oak, but we also offer them in open celled oaks (red classification). You want to be careful of the type of glue used (FDA approved for indirect contact with food) and certainly the finish needs to be non-poisonous to humans. The way the wood is prepped, pre gluing, and the way the wood is finished is dependent on what wood you use for the countertop. Any and all of these woods mentioned make good countertops. Also, we have tried selling teak on this chat site. 0 takers.

Hard maple is my wood of choice, but cherry, walnut, and lyptus are also great options. I have built butcher block tops from all of the above, and have also built out of softer woods like alder and soft maple. The latter dent easily, and I wouldn’t recommend; I was just giving my clients what they wanted…

Regards, JM

-- Jarrod, Taos, NM http://jzmurphree.wordpress.com/

Hi Jim, I think there are things you first should consider. Is this in the Kitchen? What kind of usage are these tops going to see? Do you have wood floors, tile, what color are they, and the cabinets? You want to be sure what ever wood you use flows with the decore. Also need to think about the finish for the tops. To me this would also depend on where the tops are going.
With all that said, I would use maple in the Kitchen. :)

Here is a tid bit of info for cutting boards:
Wood boards actually absorb the bacteria into the wood. After the surface of the wood has been cleaned and dried, the bacteria near the surface dies. It turns out the wood near the surface forms a hostile environment for bacteria to live in. There are lots of bacteria living in the cutting board, but about 1/8 in. below the surface. (If your board is pine, the natural pine oil in the board can serve additionally as a disinfectant.) This is deep enough that a heavy handed chop into the wood is unlikely to release bacteria (unless the wood splits). If your cutting board fits in your microwave oven, heating up the board in the microwave for 30 sec. or so will completely cleanse the board of bacteria, inside and out.

On the lines of what Bently said. I was a meat cutter for 17 years and quite a few years ago wood chopping blocks and wood cutting tables were banned for cutting on in the shops because of what Bently mentions. But I’m thinking that you won’t actually be cutting on the surface and you’ll have a seperate cutting board.

I once saw a counter top that was unfinished pine. It had the klitchen sink right in the middle of it. Sure it was discolored and scratched, but it was fifty years old. Any expert will tell you this is a bad idea. Maybe we don’t need to pay so much attention to “experts”. Including me…I’d vote for Hickory, Ash, even Purpleheart.

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

If you are worried about water consider White Oak.

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

I vote for Trex, lol, just kiddin. But it does have wood in it, lol. Heck, I don’t know, I’ve seen stranger things I guess.

I found this site while looking around. It shows different woods and their hardness. This is a co. that makes tops.
http://www.devoswoodworking.com/Wood_Countertops_Samples/WoodsAvailable.htm

See what you think about this link. http://www.totallybamboo.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=22
I ordered their samples a while back and they are beautiful, the options are cool, etc. They seem to be super hard and durable too.

-- ~ Inspiring those who inspire me ~

I used a removed bowling alley. So I go for hard Maple.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †