Salvage wood from an old meat block

[Jim Schwappach]

I have a 30 inch square by 16 inch thick Monarch Meat Block from the Bally Block Company that is about 50 years old. It is starting to fall apart and I wanted to salvage the wood to make an 4 inch thick, end grain table out of the wood. It's made out of hard maple.

The wood has a tapering double dovetail in the rows, then each row is glued together and the whole thing is supported by 4 steel tie rods.

I am hoping to preserve the double dovetail, and salvage as much wood as possible from the original piece. I'd also like to try and break the original glue joints so I can do a full glue-up for the final piece to ensure it's safe for food prep.

My first thought was to try and run the whole thing through a bandsaw along the glue joints, then heat each remaining joint to break the glue joints in the dovetail. The piece weighs about 300 pounds, so feeding it through the saw might be difficult though.

This is my first post on the site--I'd appreciate any thoughts you might have on the best way to proceed.

Thanks,
Jim

[Brian Kent]

That sucker has 100 board-feet of lumber!

I'd recommend removing those steel rods before band sawing!

I can't picture the dovetail configuration and I don't know if you can remove the glue with heat. Can you tell what kind of glue that has?

I would be using a much less delicate procedure just to cut it into blocks and re-arrange into your table shape. We would love to see some pictures of it - now and as you process it.

One more thing - you have a bandsaw that will cut 16" thick? Or will you have that done by someone else?

Oh yes… Welcome Jim! Where are you from?

Brian

[John Bush]

We had an old, well used butcher block that developed a bit of a rancid scent when kept in a heated house, also got some sun exposure. It dissipated over a number of years and is OK now. Sounds like a great design idea. Be sure and take pics and share with us.

[Jim Schwappach]

Will definitely post pix as the project progresses.

I'm not sure what kind of glue is holding the thing together. It's at least 50 years old, so I'm sure the glue is something toxic and permanent. Although where the block is failing, some of the joints have already broken free. I'm hoping that when I take out the tie rods, maybe the whole thing will just fall apart.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

Don't have a big bandsaw, but there is an artist that rents out time on his 30" saw right down the street.

I'm in Northern California, about 40 miles north of San Francisco.

[Brian Kent]

Wow. That artist is a good friend to have.

My vote is for the thing to fall apart into nice even pieces as soon as you remove the rods.

[Mike Cutler]

Jim

Sounds like a nice project, should be a stout table when finished.

One word of caution about reusing old butcher block, and refinishing cutting boards for that matter, the accumulation of years of cleaning agents in the wood can create a significant respiratory problem when sanded as it becomes airborne with the dust. ( You would think it would be the actual meat cuttings)

Be careful sanding/planing it when you get to those phases of the project.

[Larry Fox]

We had an old, well used butcher block that developed a bit of a rancid scent when kept in a heated house

This was my first thought when reading the OP as well. Something to think about before you invest oo much time into it.