Old tools: Planing/finishing a do it yourself butcher block counter top!
Oh my goodness how time flies! Back in September of 2015 I posted about how I built/created my own butcher block for our red kitchen island I had upcycled out of an old radio stand. Finishing said butcher block has been on my list of to-dos ever since: over a year and a half ago! I created my counter top out of 1x2s I found out in the barn, a leftover from my grandparent’s days as wood workers who threw nothing away. Here’s a few pictures of how I built it:
Click here to view the entire post about how I created it. Lots of glue, clamps and brad nails! It was one of those projects that actually turned out as well as I had hoped! Its been good to us all these months but without a flat surface it finally annoyed my husband enough that he grabbed my Grandpa’s hand planers from the barn one morning and got to work!
Hand planing anything is no small task, it takes a ton of upper body strength and watching Joe (my now ex husband) work I was reminded why I’ve been procrastinating on this job for nearly two years. He trimmed the “butt” edges with a skill saw to make the entire top more square and planed and planed and planed. It took quite awhile and it is by no means perfect which is something that I absolutely love. (You can see slight changes in the surface in the after pictures.)
With the planing complete Joe tackled the top with my orbital palm sander working his way down from 40 grit to 220. By the time I got home that night he had also put on two coats of a satin poly acrylic I had left over from another project and OH MY GOSH, isn’t it lovely? I mentioned in some of my past blog posts how bored Joe has been waiting for a big job to start (that kept getting delayed) and this was one of the projects he knew had been on my list for a LONG time. He did most of the work when I was at my day job one day and surprised me with a smooth as glass butcher block counter top when I got home!
I’m Tarah!
There is nothing I love more then making something new and usable again that someone else would have thrown out or torn down. Find out more about me, how I renovated my Grandparents’ 100 year old house and how I am a total DIY fanatic by checking out The story behind Storyhardt Farm You can also find out more about the amazing Grandma behind this blog who moved in to this old farmhouse with my Grandpa nearly 70 years ago!
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48 Comments on "Old tools: Planing/finishing a do it yourself butcher block counter top!"
Nice! Is that fir, pine or?
It is pine 🙂 Thanks!
Lovely job – tell him well done!!
Will do Susan, thanks!
Good for him. That is a such a work out! Looks beautiful too.
Thanks Stephanie!
What a lot of work…. but it is beautiful! 🙂
Thank you! 🙂
It really is gorgeous and I love how the wood came out of the barn! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
Thank you Jann!
Tarah, The butcher block looks great. Pine is one of my favorites. My upper body is suffering from tackling a restoration of a cast iron frypan so I understand taking on handmade projects. Sylvia D.
Sylvia, he definitely got his workout that day but it was so worth it!
Tarah! I love it! I love that you used thin planks. My husband also built butcher block top for our kitchen island, he used some other wood than pine (I don’t remember what) and wider planks. It still looks beautiful, but I am in love with yours! Also, we finished it with a special butcher block oil (safe for food), which you need to re-apply every once in a while.
Hi Nadia, we initially used a butcher block oil too! But, after talking about it we decided (because we don’t do food prep here) that we wanted it to be fully sealed, figured we could keep it cleaner then! Thank you so much for coming by and commenting 🙂
Beautifully done!! Thanks for sharing on the Pleasures of the NW’s DIY Party!
Thank you Helen!
He did a wonderful job, and you are so lucky to have a husband who can do these things.
Thanks!!
Such a beautiful board! And on top of that red….Wow.
I wish I had the skills.
Great job!
Thank you Patricia!
Wow, that looks great. I admit to being a pretty good DIY’er, but hand planing…don’t know if I would take that project on. Good job hubby!
Yup, he found out really quickly why I hadn’t tackled it before and had been putting it off lol it was quite the upper body work out! Thanks for coming by Christine!
Your butcher block table top is gorgeous. Looks like a lot of work went into this project. Thank you so much for sharing with us at Vintage Charm.
Thank you Sharon!
Pretty awesome the way the project turned out. Love your hands on approach. Thanks for sharing at DI&DI.
Thanks Linda!
It’s beautiful, high five Joe!!
Thank you!!
Gorgeous! I can’t believe you made that…I am amazed!
Thanks so much for sharing at AMAZE ME MONDAY!
Blessings,
Cindy
Thank you Cindy!!
Yes this was hard work but worth it.
SO true! Thanks for commenting!
Wow, your countertop is gorgeous! My brother likes to do woodworking, and I’ve seen him using a hand plane, and it’s definitely a LOT of work. Thanks so much for sharing at the #happynowlinkup!
Thank you Leslie yeah I was very glad when Joe took this job on but it was so worth it!
What a labor of love. So beautiful and loving memory of your grand parents.
Thanks for sharing at Over The Moon Party.
Hugs,
Bev
Thank you so much Beverly!
Wow…this turned out SO great!
I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/
Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
Thank you Jess!
What a beautiful job! I am new to your blog and will be back again and again. Wishing you a blessed Easter.
Big Texas Hugs,
Susan and Bentley
Thanks for coming by Susan!
How beautiful! Great project! Thanks for sharing at Home Sweet Home!
Thank you Sherry!
I will feature this tomorrow at Home Sweet Home!
Thank you Sherry!!!
It looks perfectly made! So beautiful! It makes me want a counter top like that now!
Thank you Natalie!
That is absolutely stunning! Thanks for sharing it with us at the Homestead Blog Hop!
Thanks so much Ann!