What should I make with this (gloat)

Like most wreckers, I scrounge a lot of material, whether it's pallet wood or a decent scrap of lumber in a neighbor's garbage, I'm always on the lookout for something I can use.

Today was my biggest score ever....

A dead restaurant in the neighborhood is getting gutted. I managed to intercept some maple butcherblock countertop on the way to the dumpster.

It's scuffed up big time on the top. The bottom is weathered and grey. It was sitting outside in the rain, etc for at least a week or two. It's old and smells kinda like rancid grease. It's rotted out on one edge where it appears to have been butted against a wall. It's broken into three sections and has some nails toed into it where it appears to have been patched long ago.

BUT.....

It's 2-1/4" thick. Each piece of maple in this is 2" wide and runs the full length. The original counter was about 3-1/2 - 4 feet wide. by 7-1/2 feet long. The three sections are about 14", 15", and

17" wide.

The biggest section is going to be my new workbench top after I clean it up. (How I'm going to fit it in a 13" planer is still a puzzle) I might cut the narrow piece into some mongo cutting boards for friends and family.

That still leaves a piece 15" wide and 7-1/2 feet long and 2-1/4" thick. Way too thick and heavy for a shelf or bookcase, any ideas out there?

Y
Reply to
Yitah
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the workbench idea is good....that's what I did with my huge 9 foot $30 butcher block. Anyhow, you can make a jig for your router that will route the surface of your butcher block flat. The routers runs along a movable track and cuts a flat surface using a regular straight bit. Maybe JOAT or somebody can point you to instruction on making this jig. They are great for planing all kinds of stuff

you could also use some of it to make a writing desk, bowls or plates, toilet seat, vise jaws, industrial strength shelving, radius (arched) sanding blocks, solid-body guitar or (get this) I hope I'm not going on a limb here....a cutting board!! =)

Reply to
Jonny Durango

Build a nice workbench top out of it.

Neander it with a hand plane.

Trivets? Tabletop? Four squares of this these joined together would be a fairly large tabletop for the kitchen/dining room/patio.

Greg G.

Reply to
Greg G.

This is a good idea. If you do it, consider investing in a bit like Jesada's tenon cutter that has some downshear to the face edges. This gives a better cut surface than the usual straight-sided cylinder.

Nice piece of scrounging !

-- Klein bottle for rent. Apply within.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 04:02:07 -0500, Yitah wrote: Why not clean the top up with a plane and cut it up into cutting boards and sell them on ebay?

Reply to
myxpykalix

I don't know about that but that sure was a nice find!

Reply to
Anthony Diodati

Rent a floor sander. My boss farmed out some mechanic's bench top refinishing to a local sub for cheap $. I know it must have been fast if the subs did it. They looked like they were done with 16 grit then varnished. Good enough for dropping truck tranny's on. No reason you couldn't do the same with finer grits then finish with a ROS.

Good Luck!

Reply to
dustin pockets

Great idea. I think i can get one from ACO for less than $20. I'm also thinking I might be able to take it to a local mill to have them put it through their drum sander, though I probalbly have to clean it up good before i take it there.

I also have a 14" hand plane which i might use - funny how you forget your hand tools when you get some with plugs.....

Y
Reply to
Yitah

I look for things like that for some heavy duty decorative work in the house. Our home has a sort of rustic look, so even though 2 1/4 is pretty thick, you may be able to rough it up and is it for small beams. Not sure if you get where I'm going here.... so, yeah the benchtop sound great!

George

Reply to
Halon1211

I have a similar gloat from when I bought my house. My real estate agent negotiated with the old homeowner to remove a huge pile of old paint cans stacked on top of what looked like a few dressers (that they were to remove as well). Low and behold on closing day all of the trash was still there. I negotiated $300 of the final house price since I now had to remove the stuff. Once I got rid of the paint cans (1 hours work) I found a 10' x 3' x 2 1/4" maple top attached to the two scraggaly dressers. There was even two electrical outlets run to the dressers. I now have a great workbench that I was paid $300 minus

1 hours work for.... I will eventually make a real base for it but the scraggaly dressers are working fine for now.

Reply to
John

I'd say that is a gloat of very notable magnitude ... might be one of the best of 2003, IMO. You indeed suck!

Reply to
Swingman

Indeed,

Reply to
Anthony Diodati

I once found a 7' long X 30" wide X 2 3/4" thick Maple bench top in a dumpster next to where I was working. The kind they might have along a wall in a school wood shop. Had to end up selling it when I moved though. Broke my heart. Tony D.

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Reply to
Anthony Diodati

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