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Thread: Project: Commissioned Kitchen "Continent"...you know...a very big island... :)

  1. #1
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    Project: Commissioned Kitchen "Continent"...you know...a very big island... :)

    Today was the day that I had the pleasure of delivering and installing a "very large" kitchen island top for a major kitchen remodel that friends commissioned me to make. I've been calling this the "kitchen continent" since the beginning because of it being larger than a mere "island". I was very excited when they asked me to contribute to the project for sure and their plan really was a transformation from "dank and dingy" to "open and airy". This slab was constructed from Vertical Grain Douglas Fir and measures 51" wide by 81" long and is 1.75" thick. The (final) finish is Target Coatings EM800cv...more on that later. When the entire kitchen project is completed, I'll post a final-final photo or three, but will still start out with a few at the end of placing and securing the island top today. I'll then follow with a bunch of commentary and photos from the build.

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    Making a large slab isn't "rocket science", but the "large" part does enter into the fun. The material for this monster basically came in to the supplier as 16' boards which were halved before loading them onto my trailer. Accordingly, here's an exciting "baby picture" of the project.

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    Each of these boards were flattened at the jointer and taken through thicknessing so they could be sorted and arranged to provide the best overall grain and color pattern for the large surface. That created several barrels of nice shavings...very quickly, I might add.

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    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  2. #2
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    Before the final sorting, I straight-line ripped the boards on the slider and then did a parallel rip using my "Fritz and Franz" jig. I've mentioned in other threads that with flat boards that have been thicknessed so both faces are parallel, this ripping on the slider wagon provides "glue read" edges that are perfectly perpendicular to the faces and perfectly straight.

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    At that point I could play with the boards with them laid side by side cross-wise on my bench. This exercise is important to provide the most optimal grain and color pattern for the finished surface as well as in this case to get two outside boards that favored a rift-pattern at the edge which in turn made the visual of "vertical grain" run around the edge of the workpiece. I also marked the boards such that I could trim off a little on either or both ends to also improve the overall composition.

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    At this point the material was ready to work with. The workshop, however, needed a little help to accomodate something this large "on" my bench for glue-up and clamping.
    Last edited by Jim Becker; 12-15-2017 at 5:19 PM.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  3. #3
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    The solution was to extend my bench and I did that using my MFT. By placing two of the long pieces of d-fir on my bench and clamping them down with a couple of hold-fasts, I was able to establish the exact plane that the add-on surface would need to be co-planer with for the assembly. I also adjusted the height of my bench down so that it was close to, but slightly higher than the MFT as the starting point for shimming things co-planer. Level really didn't matter, but co-planer was essential to keep the workpiece flat through glue-up and clamping.

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    The glue-ups were done in sections on the extended bench with several that were two boards and one that was three boards. This made things easier to handle by one person. As the sections came out of clamps, there were scraped to remove excess glue and then stacked and stickered elsewhere in the shop until I was ready to put things together for the whole top.

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    Last edited by Jim Becker; 12-15-2017 at 5:28 PM.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  4. #4
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    Once all the sub-assemblies were ready, it was time to move on to the final glue-up. I will state here that in hind-sight, I should have created two partial slabs at this point and then taken them to a wide-belt to completely level them before putting together the full-width slab. Nobody locally that I could find has anything remotely large enough to run something 51" wide. But it wasn't a horrible thing to surface with my Rotex, either...

    Before beginning to slather on any glue at this point, I did a test assembly just to be sure everything was the way I wanted it to be, including the proper order of the sub-assemblies to get the planed grain and color distribution. Since I only have four 5' K-Body clamps, I relied upon my backup pipe clamps for both the necessary pressure and also to actually support the slab on the bench...my bench is only 30" wide. I also applied BowClamps as cauls to help keep it as level and even as possible. I was happy with things and then applied the glue "generously" and clamped the whole thing up nice and tight.

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    A day later, I removed the clamps after inserting some wood blocking under the slab to support it full width once the clamps were removed. I will mention here that I removed one end of the clamp mechanism to allow me to slide the whole pipe out without having to lift the slab with my third hand while manipulating the clamp. From there, it was a sanding exercise, starting with the Rotex as mentioned to level and flatten it. That wasn't too bad of a job as the material was stable and very limited amounts of it had to be removed..the cauls did their work.

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    The next step was to cut the ends using the track saw. Prior to that, I did a careful measurement of the slab. I found a 3/16" width discrepancy, but chose to not deal with it since it would ultimately be immaterial to the final product. I did compensate for that when I cut the slab to length, using only one edge and a tee-square to mark the line perpendicular to that one edge. Each cut was done in three passes and the track was securely clamped to the workpiece to absolutely insure it didn't move even a proverbial hair between passes of the saw. I also tacked a piece of scrap to the edge where the kerf would come out to insure there was no splintering upon exit of the blade.

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    Last edited by Jim Becker; 12-15-2017 at 5:46 PM.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  5. #5
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    And now we have a completed slab, ready for "mucho" sanding from 80 up through 180. I really like this d-fir...it's not going to be a stranger to my shop going forward, either.

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    From there, it was a matter of finishing. I applied a light, amber-brown dye to slightly darken the material and sealed that with de-waxed shellac. I had decided to try sourcing some finish from the local SW store and be "neighborly" and ordered a gallon of Kem Aqua Plus. It had great promise, but sadly, it just. Would. Not. Lay. Down. 'Thought it was my gun, so I switched to my other gun. Same issue. Tried reducing. Same issue. After about 8 coats and several iterations of leveling with 320/400 and better, I gave up and quickly ordered a gallon of EM8000cv to compete the job. First, second and third coat went on beautifully and the end result is honestly, pretty stunning looking. No, it's not a "perfect" finish, but all those "flattening/leveling" iterations with the original product did pay off by eliminating any telegraphing of the early/late wood which is sometimes a challenge with softwoods.

    After a lot of work, this project was done and just waiting for a delivery and install date.

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    I know it looks "shiny" in the photos, but it's a relatively satin/matte finish up close and personal...exactly what we were shooting for, as it were.

    When it arrived at the clients home this morning, we set the piece on two of the folding work supports that I have been using for temporary work surfaces in the shop, such as for finishing, material storage, etc., These things are great...and at $35 each from Lowes, were a bargain. They easily supported the weight of this thang, too.

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    The cabinet installation folks were working on getting the panels on the gi-hugic (technical term...) refrigerator and freezer modules, so I had to work around that installing the figure-eights, etc., but we eventually got it set. For now, it has a couple of my moving blankets protecting it. The rest of the counters go on in a few days and hopefully, I can provide a final-final photo in the near future.

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    Last edited by Jim Becker; 12-15-2017 at 6:02 PM.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  6. #6
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    Looks great Jim. Well I know how challenging large glue-ups can be when working solo.
    Steve Jenkins, McKinney, TX. 469 742-9694
    Always use the word "impossible" with extreme caution

  7. #7
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    Looks great, Jim. I bet you shop feels twice as big now too!

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Robert Cherry View Post
    Looks great, Jim. I bet you shop feels twice as big now too!
    Yea, when I got back and was putting my tools away, I was like, "wow...where did all this space come from??" LOL My bench was still lowered way down and it made things look even bigger from a perspective point of view.
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    Steve, I remember visiting your shop a number of years ago and remember some of the big things you had done. Sometimes, one has to be creative to get 'er done alone!
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  9. #9
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    Bautiful ! Love the finish.

    Tim

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tim Janssen View Post
    Bautiful ! Love the finish.

    Tim
    Yea, the color of this stuff is beautiful. I really will be using it again, and I hope soon!
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  11. #11
    Love the top. Well matched and beautiful color. But I fail to see how replacing brown cabinets with black cabinets and a continent makes "open and airy". Unless they had several old player pianos in there under a black tarp. Kitchen scientists need to come up with a concept beyond "dark woods are in now" and "light woods are in now".

  12. #12
    Beautiful. I really hope you had some help heaving those boards. if you ever need a second pair of hands for something so big, lmk.

    Where did you get vg Doug fir? I had a tough time sourcing and gave up too soon.

  13. #13
    Beautiful project Jim. Enjoyed reading about your build! I've used d-fir before and enjoyed doing so. It's a lovely wood.

    I like the Centipedes too - will be getting mine out to cut some sheet goods later this morning.

    Fred
    "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

    “If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”

  14. #14
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    Beautiful Jim. The TC CV sure looks great on it. I'm sure that was a relief after all the trouble with the SW's product. Say, what did the Doug Fir cost? I recently paid $11/BF for VG. Thought I was going to pass out when the guy told me the price.

    John

  15. #15
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    Jim,

    That's a gorgeous top! I especially love the color. Thanks for posting all of those photos, too.

    I was thinking while reading your description of keeping the top flat and coplanar that I would have used my domino to help keep things aligned. Is there a reason you didn't use yours?


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