# Butcher block Finish



## Holiday121 (May 11, 2018)

Well first off I would like to say I am unfortunately that part of the generation that lacks the woodworking and tool capabilities.

I want to finish a Butcher Block table top to use for a custom computer desk.

This is the actual block
https://m.lowes.com/pd/The-Baltic-B...cher-Block-Birch-Kitchen-Countertop/999931664

Would like some tips on what to do to prep and use.
1. Should I sand? And if so what Grit?
2. If I stain will it still look nice? I see most people use oil.
3. Poly finish?

Types of product suggestions would help to as well!!

Thank you so much for the help!


----------



## Ron_J (Sep 22, 2014)

I am currently sitting at a desk that I made for that same thing. It cames with a fairly smooth finish, but I sanded it anyway. I don't remember exactly what grit I used, but I'd guess 120 then 220. This particular desk was a quick and dirty one that I finished with minwax poly shades. I used a dark shade on it and it looks fine.


----------



## difalkner (Nov 27, 2011)

Welcome to the forum! When you get a minute go ahead and complete your profile with first name and location. You can add your name to your signature line and it will show in each post.

Are you designing the desk or are you following plans? Let us know how we can help. Plenty of folks here who have done this sort of thing for years so there's a wealth of good info at your fingertips.

David


----------



## Holiday121 (May 11, 2018)

Thanks for the info.

Honestly I am just buying the top to finish. I have the base it’s going to sit on already.

I need to buy a sander to do the actual sanding as well any suggestions.

Keep in mind I am no expert at any of this stuff.

Would you mind posting a picture of your top?

I will complete the information later . Unfortunately a work on lunch


----------



## Holiday121 (May 11, 2018)

I been reading up on finished. There are water based and oil. Which is better to go with.

Anything from Sherwin Williams or Home Depot that you can recommend or Lowe’s?


----------



## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Holiday121 said:


> I been reading up on finished. There are water based and oil. Which is better to go with.
> 
> Anything from Sherwin Williams or Home Depot that you can recommend or Lowe’s?


A water based finish isn't as durable as it's oil based counterpart. Oil based finishes though are not very suitable for light colored wood because they have a yellow cast to them and will continue to yellow as they age. On wood stained medium to dark in color the yellowing doesn't really show. Water based finishes tend to make wood look very bland. When using a water based finish on light wood it is recommended to use a natural stain to bring out the grain before finishing. Having said that though the linseed oil contained in the stain is incompatible with a waterborne finish. The linseed oil would need to fully cure before topcoating and this might take as much as a week. Also with water based finishes the water tends to raise the grain making for a lot more coats and sanding between coats to achieve the same finish as you could get with the oil based finish. One option to prevent the grain raise is to use a dewaxed shellac such as Zinsser Sealcoat for the first coat and then finish with the waterborne finish. This also has the benefit of providing a barrier coat for the linseed oil so you didn't have to wait a week to dry. 

Finishes are so similar I don't care about brand, it's the type of product I look for when selecting a finish. Not every finish is right for every application so the use it's for is all I consider.


----------



## Holiday121 (May 11, 2018)

Let’s say I was to buy this.
https://m.lowes.com/pd/The-Baltic-B...cher-Block-Birch-Kitchen-Countertop/999931664

And I wanted to end up in a darker color. Which route would you take.
Remember this is for a computer desk not to eat off of as well.

I was looking at lumber liquidators and they have some walnut butcher blocks but more expensive .


----------



## Holiday121 (May 11, 2018)

Don’t forget I am completely new to this stuff. I mean I am literally about to go and buy my first sander as well.


----------



## WesTex (Jan 5, 2014)

There may be some blowback on this post because this will be a desktop & therefore subject to dings & scratches, but I suggest you consider Watco Danish Oil. It’s available in different shades (natural, walnut, cherry & others) & is very easy to apply. The rub is that it is not really hard like polyurethane & some of the film finishes, so it’s thought to wear faster. It also doesn’t handle liquids as well as some film finishes. The good (besides being beautiful) is that it’s much easier to repair minor problems. 

There are a good many oils available that can give beautiful results. Those that say that some oils impart a yellowish cast aren’t just yanking your chain, particularly in the oil based film finishes. That’s only a problem if you don’t like the warm beauty of the golden tones. 

Another member here, Jay C Whitecloud, can school you on traditional finishes. 

Your sander. I think general consensus is that if you have only one, then a Random Orbit Sander, often referred to as an ROS, is a first choice. They come to fit every pocketbook, from Harbor Freight to Festool & beyond. A decent ROS hooked up with a shop vac & GOOD sandpaper with the proper grit will give excellent results to anyone willing to learn how to use it. Follow that with a bit of straight line sanding using a person powered sanding block and GOOD sandpaper of the proper grit. Research sanding before doing it. 

Or you can use scrapers to smooth the top and eliminate some problems caused by sanding. Scrapers are cheap. Scrapers on flat surfaces are easy once you learn how to prep them. 

Practice your finishing, sanding, &/or scraping on scrap before tackling your desktop. 

Keep us posted, and we like photos. 



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Terry Q (Jul 28, 2016)

I don’t think you need to buy a sander for this project. The panel, I’m sure, is pre-sanded. What sanding remains can easily be conquered with hand sanding. You could probably start with a little light sanding at 150 or 180 grit. Between coats of finish you will need to do some more light sanding with 220 or 280 grit.



In woodworking there is always more then one way to accomplish something.


----------



## Holiday121 (May 11, 2018)

Thanks for the responses.

As far as the oil. Should this be done outside or can this be done in a basement?

I have a 4 year old and of course if there is fines would not want her to breathe it in.

The rings and scratches are not a major major concern to me.

I kind of like the glossy look to but will probably just go the watco oil as suggested.

If I were to go the glossy look what would you suggest. 
I see some use a poly over it.

What about pre conditioner as well? Should that be used first?


----------



## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

You might want to try Watco Butcher Block Oil which is advertised on the very same Lowe's page as the counter top.
No stain. Enjoy the natural warmth of woods.

If you don't want fines (sanding dust) then don't sand it.
Plus, sanding will only shred the surface to a pulp, anyhow.

Use cabinet scrapers which actually plane off microscopic cuttings/shavings. 
That's smooth = a cut surface not a shredded surface.

After the first finish coating sets up hard, I would use the very coarsest steel wool (Bulldog ***X here).
The strands are flat, they cut off raised grain like a million chisels and they do not shred the surface like sandpapers always will.

Four coats of MinWax Tung Oil Protective Finish will give you a tough, water-resistant finish that is so glossy, it looks wet.

Apparently the automatic ****o detector is screwed up so tight that I can't type a string of capital x's.


----------



## Holiday121 (May 11, 2018)

If you think I can get away with not sanding I would rather not because I really never fine finished anything.


Is everything like the scraper available at Lowe’s?


----------



## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Birch is one of those woods prone to go blotchy. If you are going to stain it or use a walnut Watco finish you should first use a wood conditioner. You might also need to use a dye stain if the color comes out too light. A wood conditioner is a sealer which makes the wood resist stain. Try it out on the underside of the top first to find out if you need to modify the conditioner. Sometimes you have to thin the conditioner a little to achieve the color you want. 

A danish oil finish isn't water resistant. If you plan to set a cold drink on the desk it will easily waterspot. If this is an issue you might consider using a film finish such as an oil based polyurethane.


----------



## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

This forum software will not allow me to PM. Not unexpected.

I live in a little mountain village and don't often get to a city to snoop around in a big place like Lowe's.
A new Lowe's opened in the city that I usually go to but I've never been in their store. I can't walk very far any more.

I can buy MinWax TOPF in the village Home Hardware store (or it gets "picked" and is on next week's truck!)
Search the Lee Valley catalog to see what the cabinet scrapers can look like.
Good discussion of care and use (simple) in the late Leonard Lee's book: The Complete Guide to Sharpening.

I cut up the hard steel banding that is used to strap slings of lumber with aircraft shears. Maybe 3" pieces.
I chalk up a mill file and make my own cabinet scrapers, a dozen at a time.

As you can imagine, wood carvings don't have many flat surfaces.
Mostly all I ever do is the steel wool trick after the first finish coat.
That smooths everything. Mostly because scrapers really don't work well at all on soft woods. Birch? Yes they do.
With TOPF, it's hard enough to scrape when you can't smell it. I brush it on.
Most people don't fondle wood carvings too much so the surface texture doesn't need much smoothing.


----------



## Toolman50 (Mar 22, 2015)

Holiday, 
I suggest you don’t buy a sander. Your piece is sold as a flat top and pre-sanded to some degree. Yes, it needs more sanding and further prep, but you can actually damage the flat top quickly with an electric sander. An electric sander can quickly cause dips in a top in the hands of a novice. I suggest you block sand the top by hand. This is not hard. You simply wrap your sandpaper around a flat block and sand back and forth with the grain. Sanding blocks can be purchased, but any perfectly flat board will do. If you start with 150 grit sandpaper and sand through 220 grit you will be ready to apply the finish of your choice.


----------



## Holiday121 (May 11, 2018)

Ok I will just do the light sanding route then.

Is this oil and the tongue oil able to be done inside the house ?


----------



## Holiday121 (May 11, 2018)

Actually found the same board at menards for 100 cheaper 🙂


----------



## Holiday121 (May 11, 2018)

So it has arrived in my garage. I bought some 400 grit sandpaper to maybe do a light sand before hand . Do you think it’s needed?

Also I’m not sure if this will give me a dark enough finish. Should I of went with a different kind of watco? I’m looking for more of a dark walnut type of finish.


----------



## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

400 grit is too fine to start with. You need to start with 180 grit, then dampen the wood with water to raise the grain and let dry. Then sand with 220 grit and raise the grain again. Then sand with 400. For what you are doing it's more of a polishing process. Starting with 400 grit would be like sharpening a knife with a real fine stone. It just won't have the results you want.


----------



## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

A cabinet scraper will give you a clean cut surface, as good as a knife. Never any fuzzies.


----------



## Holiday121 (May 11, 2018)

The board says after I open the plastic on it I have to apply the finish within 48 hours. What would be the reason for that.


----------



## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Holiday121 said:


> The board says after I open the plastic on it I have to apply the finish within 48 hours. What would be the reason for that.


It's a recommendation, not a "Have To". It comes down to moisture content. The top is wrapped with plastic and is clean and stable. The longer it sits out of the wrapping increases the chance of a moisture imbalance causing it to warp or get dirty where it wouldn't stain nice. Most people don't understand that you can't take a top like that and leave it sitting flat on a work bench for week or more at a time so they say the top has to be finished in 48 hours instead of explaining why. If a top like that was allowed to sit flat on a work bench air could only get to one side. This would mean moisture from the air could only get to one side of the top and that side would swell up causing the top to warp. You could take that same top and put 3/4"x34" strips of wood under it on the work bench to elevate it where air could circulate and there wouldn't be any more problem with warpage than when the top was still wrapped up in plastic. 

The other issue is stains on the wood. Lets say you unwrap the top and it takes you weeks before get around to finishing it. Every time you move or handle it you transfer hand oils on the wood. Eventually you will get enough oil on the wood that when you stain it the hand oils prevents the wood from staining uniform. The places handled would stain lighter than the rest of it. If you sand the top right before finishing that would eliminate that problem but a lot of people never intend to sand the top. These people then think the top is defective and blame the manufacturer where if they would finish the top soon after removing it from packaging the outcome would be a lot better.


----------



## Holiday121 (May 11, 2018)

Honestly thank you for taking the time to explain. I really don’t want to mess this up. I mean I know it will not be perfect but I would like to atleast have a nice top.

I have not unwrapped it yet. Here is the plan then.
Later today unwrap it and sand it down with 180 grit by hand .
Then you say to damp it down with water. 

Should I take a rag and wet it and ring it out and just wipe the top of it? 

Now you say to let it dry. 24 hours ok? 

After dry sand with 220 and wipe clean with sticky cloth.

Then start the stain process? Do you think that butcher block oil would achieve a darker walnut color maybe or close to? If not any recommendations?

I really appreciate everyone taking the time to help you really don’t know how much it means to me!


----------



## Holiday121 (May 11, 2018)

So this is how it came out. Not fully dry yet but not happy with some of the blotches on the sides. This is the bottom so I really don’t mind.

I used a damp cloth to raise the grain I am wondering if I should use a pre conditioner on the top.


----------



## Holiday121 (May 11, 2018)

The top cake out better


----------



## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Holiday121 said:


> So this is how it came out. Not fully dry yet but not happy with some of the blotches on the sides. This is the bottom so I really don’t mind.
> 
> I used a damp cloth to raise the grain I am wondering if I should use a pre conditioner on the top.


The blotches is what the pre conditioner is suppose to control. Since you didn't use the conditioner on the underside you don't have anything left to test with. If you use a conditioner on the top side you can expect the color to be lighter.


----------



## Holiday121 (May 11, 2018)

So I conditioned the top and it came
Out much much better. Sides not to well I sanded them down a little and restrained. For
My first go it’s not to bad.

Now I am going to apply this.

1. How long after stain should I wait to apply?
2. After first coat it says 2 hours before next coat. So after 2 hours I can sand with 320 and apply the next coat? Same for 3rd coat?


----------



## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

Bush Rule out here = when you can't smell it, it's ready for the next coat.


----------

