# help with butcherblock



## montel (Feb 23, 2011)

Hi, 
I am making a butcher block that is 14ft long by 20 inches wide. It is for a shuffleboard table. All my pieces are about 8ft long 1x3's of maple. I have a 12" plainer and a 6" jointer. 
I am just wondering the best way to go about putting this together. Can it go together in four 5" pieces then glue all that together?
I can access a 20" planer if I wanted to run the whole thing through a planer. It just has to be really level.

thanks ​


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## hawglet (Feb 15, 2010)

being what it is I would take advantage of the larger planer it I were you. You could fit it up in pcs. either way but it would be best to plane the entire thing I think. I'm guessing you'll need to go very small amounts down the entire thing to avoid tear-out but someone with more knowledge will chime in with time.


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## Rick C. (Dec 17, 2008)

I agree with hawglet, there are other ways but if I had access to a 20" planer I'm on it. Remember that with a planer one surface needs to be flat or you'll never get it straight. You may need to hand plane one side to get it flat. Before glue up make sure all your boards are the same size, use cauls on top and bottom between the clamps to keep you glue up flat, I use wax paper on the cauls to keep them from getting stuck to the butcher block. I'd plane no more than 1/32" off at one pass.There are a lot of folks on this site with more knowledge and experience than myself, this is just what I do with what I have.


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## Starkey (Mar 1, 2011)

USE THE 20. It may be a pain to haul your piece around town, but the time and headache will be worth it.


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## oldtoymaker (Mar 1, 2011)

I would consider a trip though a wide belt sander instead of a planer. There will be no chance of chip out using this method. They will probably want to remove the glue squeeze out as this will load the belts, or possibly chips the blades if run through the planer


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