Project Information
This was born out of necessity. Since we have an older house, our sink does not have a built in drainboard. We actually looked and looked for one and none could be found. Apparently everyone either already has one built in or they don't use one anymore because they have a dishwasher.
We had neither and didn't want to add a dishwasher. We've moved away from using one quite a long time ago as we prepare for the day when we will live ( again by necessity) off-grid on our forest property. Reducing our dependence on convenience appliances is part of our training for the next transition.
Finding designs for these is also difficult.Not many people make them. I did finally find one and this is an adaptation.
The challenges in a drainboard are
1) it will stay wet for extended periods of time and only on one side
2) wood movement and warpage
3) drainage and spillage
4) effective drainage off of the edge and not to the underneath of the board.
To address these design issues, I used edge glued strips of NZ red beech for the main board, which is water resistant. The front of the board has a breadboard end, pegged. Underneath there is a "drip edge", a shallow groove to channel the dripping water into the sink instead of underneath the board. Around the perimeter there is a NZ Rimu edging to contain the water and keep it from spilling off the edge. Finally down the center there is a series of grooves and the whole thing is tilted at a slight angle.
So far, it seems to holding up though time will tell whether the design works completely.
Finished with multiple applications of linseed oil and the top surface is waxed. As someone noted, this is hardly a finish to last. In that regards, a polyurethane would be better, however red beech is sufficiently weather resistant to survive decades staying completely wet and the finish was more for looks than anything functional.
We had neither and didn't want to add a dishwasher. We've moved away from using one quite a long time ago as we prepare for the day when we will live ( again by necessity) off-grid on our forest property. Reducing our dependence on convenience appliances is part of our training for the next transition.
Finding designs for these is also difficult.Not many people make them. I did finally find one and this is an adaptation.
The challenges in a drainboard are
1) it will stay wet for extended periods of time and only on one side
2) wood movement and warpage
3) drainage and spillage
4) effective drainage off of the edge and not to the underneath of the board.
To address these design issues, I used edge glued strips of NZ red beech for the main board, which is water resistant. The front of the board has a breadboard end, pegged. Underneath there is a "drip edge", a shallow groove to channel the dripping water into the sink instead of underneath the board. Around the perimeter there is a NZ Rimu edging to contain the water and keep it from spilling off the edge. Finally down the center there is a series of grooves and the whole thing is tilted at a slight angle.
So far, it seems to holding up though time will tell whether the design works completely.
Finished with multiple applications of linseed oil and the top surface is waxed. As someone noted, this is hardly a finish to last. In that regards, a polyurethane would be better, however red beech is sufficiently weather resistant to survive decades staying completely wet and the finish was more for looks than anything functional.