To fill the small gaps, you mix some of the birch wood sand dust with a small amount of wood glue. Use that mixture to fill in the small gaps and then sand to final finish.
The counter top looks awesome Martin! Well done sir! Something you could still do...I would suggest cutting a radius on the two outside corners on the island. You are going to run your hips into them a lot, and its less painful if you have about a 3-4" radius. You could cut them and then seal the cut areas with your sealant. (Had to do that on my similar counter setup.) Minor detail.
Yup. Use that method a LOT. Works great. The way you did it works, but is probably a lot more involved. Should not seal the bottom side of the countertop to allow the wood to breathe. Definitely use biscuits or dowels to join the sections.
Nice layout. Having a bar attached adds to the homeyness. The extra counter space is always welcome. Pipe clamps can be as long or as short as you need. I have several they work well. You may want to think about putting a radius on the outside corners. People bump into corners.
Your kitchen is going to look beautiful! To clamp the countertops together I recommend cutting out the sink so you can clamp to the hole instead of the full 12 feet across. Keep up the great work!
Wow! That countertop looks as if a professional cabinet maker made it! Are you not telling us something? Lol. Looking awesome as always, coming together nicely, love what you're doing ❤️
Spoiler: Riley did in fact put our biscuits in the slots... but not because you told him to. 😉 The kitchen is looking amazing. We can't wait to enjoy dinner in it with you soon!
Love how it’s turning out! We are a couple of steps behind you on our house Used your lipstick trick for the first time today and it worked like a charm 🥰
Using painters tape also helps prevent a cut from chipping. With the claps you can tie one clamp into the other clamp without drilling hole or taking the end off, just connect one end to the other end and then tighten them down.
Looks awesome mate. Been watching closely with your off grid house and we down here in Australia are looking to do a very similar thing keep up the great work.
To clamp the sections together, you could hot glue some blocks on either side of the seams, clamp the countertop together, then use a hair dryer to soften the hot glue when you want to remove the clamp blocks.
Looks great guys...! We have a butcherblock Island I put together with some cabinets from Lowes and we love it as you will too...! Y'all couldn't of done anything better imo guys...Nice work.!!
Hi Guys, that counter is going to look 'NEW' for about one minute in use. In my dad's butcher shop we did all out cutting on butcher block and cleaned it with saw dust and a wire brush. Once every five years we had the blocks re-cut flat.
Looks great guys. Nice clamp mod. Two comments. You might want to check your local elec. code on dishwasher outlet location. The NEC states that the outlet needs to be accessible w/o removing the appliance. Here in California they are always placed in an adjacent cabinet. Putting a 6’ appliance whip on the DW will give you plenty of reach to plug in. Also, laying down a wide section of blue painters tape B4 an end cut will eliminate the splintering on end cuts. Cheers.
Pro-tip with flipping wood over so you don't get tear out. Could also use blue tape or score with utility knife. Looks great. Awesome clamping rig up. Thanks for sharing
Gorgeous kitchen 💫🥰 soft motivating color, space, closets, corners, eating or all else area, space around, the gorgeous window with the view of the beautiful nature that makes working so much more pleasant ... it all makes it a place you enjoy working in the kitchen and with the family around....wonderful🤗
Couple of ways to clamp and glue your countertop joints. You can buy the clamps for formica countertops and mortise the joint on the bottom, or simply clamp a top and bottom 2 x 4 across the countertop and clamp to the 2 x 4's on each side. I would also use a plate jointer with biscuits to keep your joint level as you glue.
Another way to clamp would be to temporarily attach clamping cauls on either side of the seam with CA glue on top of painters tape. This would let you use normal size small clamps. You can also take some of he fine sawdust from your sander bag mixed with wood glue to fill small cracks and voids then sand when dry.
Marin/Julie, there are are bolts designed specifically for joining sections of worktop called surprisingly, worktop connectors. Home Depot call them miter bolt kits, and cost just under 11 bucks.
Hi Here in the UK the professionals would cut an I shape in the counter top, it is classic style so it has a top and a bottom on the I and then they insert bolts into the slot they have cut meaning they don't have to use any clamps, bolted and glued together.
You could have used pipe clamps for 12’ you could have used a 10’ and 3’ pieces of pipe coupled together. I also noticed you receptacle for the dishwasher should be put in the cabinet next to the dishwasher and the receptacle under the snack bar should be on a separate circuit from the dishwasher. I love your videos. I found you page last summer and binge watched to catch up. Now I can’t wait till Saturday to watch you new video. Keep up the good work
FYI... To prevent chipping on your cuts you can score the cut line with a razor knife first, (favoring the good edge). It works well. A bit of glue and fine saw dust from what you sanded fills gaps and will take stain, (whereas wood glue doesn't). If you have a dishwasher that front vents upwards, you might want to seal that under counter area really well. The steam can expand the grain of the wood and swell it. Even some aluminum tape under the top and held back from the face edge so that you can't easily see it can act as a moisture barrier to prevent swelling. That's a really nice finish on that top!!! Nice work Folks!!! 👍👍
May be too late, but I’d consider rounding the corners on the end of the bar that sticks out past the cabinet. I’m the type that would catch my hip on it walking by.
If you want to fill any gaps in your worktops, use the sawdust from your sander, mix with a bit of glue, add like a paste to the gap, let it dry, then sand over it.
I would use a Kreg jig the best part is no clamps needed. As for buying the tool Kreg has many more uses then a biscuit jointer. Another glue up option is to use two or three dibs of hot glue to give a more instant stick untill the wood glue sets up. Loved the wire option you came up with, I’ll use that idea in the future. If safety Sally approves!!
we are currently renovating our kitchen, from wiring to new benchtops. Something that jumped at me to ask. Since you raised one of the cabinets, are there kickboards to match the new height or do you have a 'Marty Method' :)
A very sensible kitchen layout on the cooking side and what everyone needs / wants a large counter top over all. As for the dishwasher when rinsing dishes and transferring to the dishwasher either the floor or the counter top will get wet.
@Jim Maher What ever, we tend to have a very clean kitchen and a very clean dishwasher. And after years of building homes I have never seen a dishwasher anywhere except next to the sink.
The solution to that is don't rinse the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. If you wash the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher then what does the dishwasher do?😄
I originally came to this channel for a little solar system guidance. If you keep this up, I'll be selling my house in the burbs and building a cabin in the woods somewhere.
Super glue and blue tape and add clamping blocks on either side of the seems. You can then use standard clamp lengths. Just don't apply to much pressure so it doesn't pop the tape off.
For your long clamps cut some plywood strips - coat strips with polyurethane - and insert into inside of bars. Makes them at least 50% stronger. See Paul Sellers video on doing that. I have about forty assorted clamps like that and am very pleased doing that.
Hi Martin, on the countertop, Cutting the edge where the joint is at, If you take a razor knife and pre scour the cut line since it is a cross grain cut it will not splinter the wood as the saw cuts. Leaves a splinter free edge. Again thanks for the great videos
since you installed your cabinets before your flooring; you'll need to keep the area below your dishwasher bare like under the cabinets, otherwise, you'll have an issue of your dishwasher fitting under the butcher block counter top. The tolerances between the height of a dishwasher and a standard countertop is roughly 3/16ths of an inch in order for the manufacturers mounting bracket to fit under the countertop. Therefore, most contractors will install flooring under the lower cabinets.
After applying the glue and inserting the biscuits, instead of the clamps you could have used pocket screws on the underside of the counter and those would hold the joint closed while the glue is drying and also reinforce the joint. Maybe I am wrong but in my opinion that would work as well.
I would use counter top joiners that you router into the underside of the counter top. I personal use a ratchet strap joined to itself to clamp large projects.
I’ve made hundreds of cutting boards. A great trick for hiding gaps in those seams is to squirt some glue down and brush some of your sanding dust in. Then sand it. In many cases, the gap will disappear.
What are you doing to keep the countertop overhang from tipping? I realize one end is connected to the rest of the counter (along the outside wall). The concern is that when the college kid comes home and decides to sit on the countertop, there may not be enough support to keep it from pulling the cabinet away from the floor. Just curious...
You can take two and hook them against eachother to clamp large things. I would imagine you could use that method with more clamps is needed to get them longer. Or you could just get large pipe clamps
The other way a lot of woodworkers do it is the blue tape trick. Put the tape on the counter and a scrap block of wood. Put superglue on the blue tape and stick together (tape superglued to tape. This will hold for clamping.
From a mom's point of view if you have little kids that are counter top height they could hit one of two of those corners on the breakfast bar especially if the kid is on the run. Is there any way to round those corners a bit??? Even when we had our granite installed I asked them to round corners and I am so glad they did. Love the butcher block counters they are gorgeous.
To fill the small gaps, you mix some of the birch wood sand dust with a small amount of wood glue. Use that mixture to fill in the small gaps and then sand to final finish.
The counter top looks awesome Martin! Well done sir! Something you could still do...I would suggest cutting a radius on the two outside corners on the island. You are going to run your hips into them a lot, and its less painful if you have about a 3-4" radius. You could cut them and then seal the cut areas with your sealant. (Had to do that on my similar counter setup.) Minor detail.
You could use a ratchet strap like you use on your trailer to secure items,to join the two worktops. Great videos as usual.
Yup. Use that method a LOT. Works great. The way you did it works, but is probably a lot more involved. Should not seal the bottom side of the countertop to allow the wood to breathe. Definitely use biscuits or dowels to join the sections.
I was thinking the same thing 🙂
Rumor has it, is that Bob Vila, watches your show to learn how to do home improvements. Carry On!
Well said. Hehhehehe
Nice layout. Having a bar attached adds to the homeyness. The extra counter space is always welcome.
Pipe clamps can be as long or as short as you need. I have several they work well.
You may want to think about putting a radius on the outside corners. People bump into corners.
Your kitchen is going to look beautiful! To clamp the countertops together I recommend cutting out the sink so you can clamp to the hole instead of the full 12 feet across. Keep up the great work!
Never mind, I didn’t finish watching the video. Didn’t realize you already finished it 😂
You guys are doing amazing work! The counter tops are so pretty. I can't wait to see it all done!
You've done a great job on the countertops!! I can't believe what a huge difference it's made!!
Wow! That countertop looks as if a professional cabinet maker made it! Are you not telling us something? Lol. Looking awesome as always, coming together nicely, love what you're doing ❤️
Spoiler: Riley did in fact put our biscuits in the slots... but not because you told him to. 😉
The kitchen is looking amazing. We can't wait to enjoy dinner in it with you soon!
The kitchen is coming together nicely. I LOVE the countertops! ❤
No
Your home is coming together nicely. Your attention to detail shows in each process.
This was such a fun video to watch! Great job in the kitchen! I love the butcher block!!
What a beautiful countertop, love it and your layout is fantastic. I really do love the sink cabinet, gorgeous.
Love how it’s turning out! We are a couple of steps behind you on our house Used your lipstick trick for the first time today and it worked like a charm 🥰
Using painters tape also helps prevent a cut from chipping. With the claps you can tie one clamp into the other clamp without drilling hole or taking the end off, just connect one end to the other end and then tighten them down.
Looks awesome mate. Been watching closely with your off grid house and we down here in Australia are looking to do a very similar thing keep up the great work.
To clamp the sections together, you could hot glue some blocks on either side of the seams, clamp the countertop together, then use a hair dryer to soften the hot glue when you want to remove the clamp blocks.
It's Looking amazing guys! I can't wait to see it with all of the appliances in and flooring done.
You guys are doing an amazing job! Keep it up!
Wow! That's a beautiful countertop. You guys are doing a great job. Love watching.
Seal/fill the knots with clear epoxy, sand smooth, then put poly right over the top of the epoxy. Looks really good and it's smooth!
Looks great guys...! We have a butcherblock Island I put together with some cabinets from Lowes and we love it as you will too...! Y'all couldn't of done anything better imo guys...Nice work.!!
The counter top looks amazing and I love the wood!
The counter looks great. Great job Martin.
Love the butcher block counter tops. Keep up the great work.
That's a beautiful countertop! Great job! :)
Hi Guys, that counter is going to look 'NEW' for about one minute in use. In my dad's butcher shop we did all out cutting on butcher block and cleaned it with saw dust and a wire brush. Once every five years we had the blocks re-cut flat.
You guys are doing an amazing job 🙏🏻🤓
I've watched you folks do stuff that makes me feel squimish ,but you always end up making it look professional,love that butcher block,
Looks great guys. Nice clamp mod. Two comments. You might want to check your local elec. code on dishwasher outlet location. The NEC states that the outlet needs to be accessible w/o removing the appliance. Here in California they are always placed in an adjacent cabinet. Putting a 6’ appliance whip on the DW will give you plenty of reach to plug in. Also, laying down a wide section of blue painters tape B4 an end cut will eliminate the splintering on end cuts. Cheers.
Good job guys. The counters look beautiful
Love the counter top. Looks amazing
Pro-tip with flipping wood over so you don't get tear out. Could also use blue tape or score with utility knife. Looks great. Awesome clamping rig up. Thanks for sharing
Absolutely beautiful ya'll! I love it!
Wonderful install on the cabinets and countertops.
Gorgeous kitchen 💫🥰 soft motivating color, space, closets, corners, eating or all else area, space around, the gorgeous window with the view of the beautiful nature that makes working so much more pleasant ... it all makes it a place you enjoy working in the kitchen and with the family around....wonderful🤗
It’s going to be a great apartment rental unit! I’m glad you are going to enjoy it first.
I absolutely love the countertops. You will be living in there soon. I have loved watching youbuild.
The countertop looks fantastic!!!!
to join the counter tops together you can use suction cups clamps and that works reallly well.
Couple of ways to clamp and glue your countertop joints. You can buy the clamps for formica countertops and mortise the joint on the bottom, or simply clamp a top and bottom 2 x 4 across the countertop and clamp to the 2 x 4's on each side. I would also use a plate jointer with biscuits to keep your joint level as you glue.
The house is coming together nicely.
Another way to clamp would be to temporarily attach clamping cauls on either side of the seam with CA glue on top of painters tape. This would let you use normal size small clamps. You can also take some of he fine sawdust from your sander bag mixed with wood glue to fill small cracks and voids then sand when dry.
Butcher block counter looks great, nice job ✌🏼❤️🙏🏼
Marin/Julie, there are are bolts designed specifically for joining sections of worktop called surprisingly, worktop connectors. Home Depot call them miter bolt kits, and cost just under 11 bucks.
The Countertops are looking good. I still miss your videos every day. That would be crazy to keep up with I just enjoy you guys.
Hi
Here in the UK the professionals would cut an I shape in the counter top, it is classic style so it has a top and a bottom on the I and then they insert bolts into the slot they have cut meaning they don't have to use any clamps, bolted and glued together.
You could have used pipe clamps and black pipe they work really good - and any length of pipe that you need to make it.
LOOKS AMAZING
GREAT JOB GUYS 👍
A home is looking better when cabinets and work tops go in, well done guy's
Marty, the countertop looks incredible.
You could have used pipe clamps for 12’ you could have used a 10’ and 3’ pieces of pipe coupled together. I also noticed you receptacle for the dishwasher should be put in the cabinet next to the dishwasher and the receptacle under the snack bar should be on a separate circuit from the dishwasher. I love your videos. I found you page last summer and binge watched to catch up. Now I can’t wait till Saturday to watch you new video. Keep up the good work
FYI... To prevent chipping on your cuts you can score the cut line with a razor knife first, (favoring the good edge). It works well. A bit of glue and fine saw dust from what you sanded fills gaps and will take stain, (whereas wood glue doesn't). If you have a dishwasher that front vents upwards, you might want to seal that under counter area really well. The steam can expand the grain of the wood and swell it. Even some aluminum tape under the top and held back from the face edge so that you can't easily see it can act as a moisture barrier to prevent swelling. That's a really nice finish on that top!!! Nice work Folks!!! 👍👍
May be too late, but I’d consider rounding the corners on the end of the bar that sticks out past the cabinet. I’m the type that would catch my hip on it walking by.
Yall did an awesome job, looks great
If you want to fill any gaps in your worktops, use the sawdust from your sander, mix with a bit of glue, add like a paste to the gap, let it dry, then sand over it.
I would use a Kreg jig the best part is no clamps needed. As for buying the tool Kreg has many more uses then a biscuit jointer. Another glue up option is to use two or three dibs of hot glue to give a more instant stick untill the wood glue sets up.
Loved the wire option you came up with, I’ll use that idea in the future. If safety Sally approves!!
The butcher block looks great nice job
we are currently renovating our kitchen, from wiring to new benchtops. Something that jumped at me to ask. Since you raised one of the cabinets, are there kickboards to match the new height or do you have a 'Marty Method' :)
Looks great ❤. I good idea to use next time when you have small gaps, mix the sawdust with the wood glue and force it in then sand.
Pocket screws on the bottom SEEMS like a good way to pull the counter parts together
Fantastic kitchen cabinets great refinishing job
NICE JOB GUYS. LOOKING SOO GOOD. LOVE Y'ALL
Congrats guy's getting the cabnet's mounted and the countertops looks great.. lv ur videos.. Great Job..
It looks really nice it’s coming along awesome
I think the tool you are looking for are called pipe clamps. Their length is based on the length of pipe that is used between the actual clamps.
A very sensible kitchen layout on the cooking side and what everyone needs / wants a large counter top over all. As for the dishwasher when rinsing dishes and transferring to the dishwasher either the floor or the counter top will get wet.
@Jim Maher
What ever, we tend to have a very clean kitchen and a very clean dishwasher. And after years of building homes I have never seen a dishwasher anywhere except next to the sink.
The solution to that is don't rinse the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher.
If you wash the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher then what does the dishwasher do?😄
I originally came to this channel for a little solar system guidance. If you keep this up, I'll be selling my house in the burbs and building a cabin in the woods somewhere.
it's coming together nicely. so exciting!
Super glue and blue tape and add clamping blocks on either side of the seems. You can then use standard clamp lengths. Just don't apply to much pressure so it doesn't pop the tape off.
For your long clamps cut some plywood strips - coat strips with polyurethane - and insert into inside of bars. Makes them at least 50% stronger. See Paul Sellers video on doing that. I have about forty assorted clamps like that and am very pleased doing that.
credit to the videographer in this episode. Some really creative shots this week Julie
Hi Martin, on the countertop, Cutting the edge where the joint is at, If you take a razor knife and pre scour the cut line since it is a cross grain cut it will not splinter the wood as the saw cuts. Leaves a splinter free edge. Again thanks for the great videos
You could always use pocket screws to pull the joints together.
since you installed your cabinets before your flooring; you'll need to keep the area below your dishwasher bare like under the cabinets, otherwise, you'll have an issue of your dishwasher fitting under the butcher block counter top. The tolerances between the height of a dishwasher and a standard countertop is roughly 3/16ths of an inch in order for the manufacturers mounting bracket to fit under the countertop. Therefore, most contractors will install flooring under the lower cabinets.
After applying the glue and inserting the biscuits, instead of the clamps you could have used pocket screws on the underside of the counter and those would hold the joint closed while the glue is drying and also reinforce the joint. Maybe I am wrong but in my opinion that would work as well.
I would use bar clamps. Cheap and you can use the black pipe to make it as long as needed.
They make draw bolts used for joining preformed laminate counter tops. They would work for this purpose.
Looks great! Good progress.
You can glue clamping blocks to the counter. You could use straps. You could use pocket screws from the bottom.
I would use counter top joiners that you router into the underside of the counter top. I personal use a ratchet strap joined to itself to clamp large projects.
I love it you guy's did a wonderful job 🤗❤👍
you did a great job looks so good
Wow Marty. This looks awesome i love it.
I used a sash clamp that fits onto a length of wood, so you can have a clamp with it’s length is determined by your piece of wood
I’ve made hundreds of cutting boards. A great trick for hiding gaps in those seams is to squirt some glue down and brush some of your sanding dust in. Then sand it. In many cases, the gap will disappear.
So nice.. love the Butcher Block. The only thing that would work for me would be to hire you to install it.
What are you doing to keep the countertop overhang from tipping? I realize one end is connected to the rest of the counter (along the outside wall). The concern is that when the college kid comes home and decides to sit on the countertop, there may not be enough support to keep it from pulling the cabinet away from the floor. Just curious...
They better not sit on it. We trained them better than that. 😉 but we will be adding some supports.
Just a suggestion on the back side of the lazy Susan cabinet... frame out a cabinet door for storage access. Butcher block looks nice!
For the counter gluing. I’d suggest ratchet straps the pull them together. 2 or 3 should do.
Martin, I think you kept the sink base so you can annoy the OCD haters! I love it!
You can take two and hook them against eachother to clamp large things. I would imagine you could use that method with more clamps is needed to get them longer. Or you could just get large pipe clamps
You have become quite a craftsman with your lovely assistant. Fine job
The other way a lot of woodworkers do it is the blue tape trick. Put the tape on the counter and a scrap block of wood. Put superglue on the blue tape and stick together (tape superglued to tape. This will hold for clamping.
Love the counter top.
From a mom's point of view if you have little kids that are counter top height they could hit one of two of those corners on the breakfast bar especially if the kid is on the run. Is there any way to round those corners a bit??? Even when we had our granite installed I asked them to round corners and I am so glad they did. Love the butcher block counters they are gorgeous.