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Thread: Bench Evolution

  1. #16
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    I'm revisiting this thread because I was hoping you could tell me more about your butcher block. Where did you source it from? Any chance you remember which kind of wood it was? I'm guessing either birch or acacia.

    I'm asking because I'm looking at building a new office desk using a wood top and then a fixed support system (from Ikea). Ikea doesn't sell actual wood kitchen tops anymore, so Lowe's seems to be the place to get them, or I pay someone to make me one for a lot of money. I'm looking at something that's not quite as thick as your work bench, but otherwise a similar idea. Buy it, cut it, and then finish it. I was just curious what your wood buying experience was like.

  2. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by gatordev View Post
    I'm revisiting this thread because I was hoping you could tell me more about your butcher block. Where did you source it from? Any chance you remember which kind of wood it was? I'm guessing either birch or acacia.

    I'm asking because I'm looking at building a new office desk using a wood top and then a fixed support system (from Ikea). Ikea doesn't sell actual wood kitchen tops anymore, so Lowe's seems to be the place to get them, or I pay someone to make me one for a lot of money. I'm looking at something that's not quite as thick as your work bench, but otherwise a similar idea. Buy it, cut it, and then finish it. I was just curious what your wood buying experience was like.
    Luckily, we don't have to rely on my memory as I was easily able to look this up in my Lowes order history: The Baltic Butcher Block 96-in x 24.96-in x 1.75-in Natural Straight Butcher Block Birch Countertop

    https://www.lowes.com/pd/The-Baltic-...rtop/999931668

  3. #18
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    Very nice. I was able to fondle an acacia top at the store, and I liked how smooth the wood and joining was for what would be a desk, but the edge would definitely need to be rounded down to make it less sharp on the arms when typing/using a computer. How is the birch? I'm guessing not much different. Also, how smooth is the birch? I'm not looking for perfect corporate office desk smooth, but something that I could write on a single piece of paper if I had to without something underneath.

  4. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by gatordev View Post
    Very nice. I was able to fondle an acacia top at the store, and I liked how smooth the wood and joining was for what would be a desk, but the edge would definitely need to be rounded down to make it less sharp on the arms when typing/using a computer. How is the birch? I'm guessing not much different. Also, how smooth is the birch? I'm not looking for perfect corporate office desk smooth, but something that I could write on a single piece of paper if I had to without something underneath.
    I guess I'm coming up on a year with the bench and I don't have any complaints. It's held up well. I probably needed several more cycles of tung oil and wet sanding to get it super smooth but I got it to a point that I was please with for the garage. I've only added one real dent to it since then. There was one blemish on the finished side that got made worse during sanding. The edge of the sandpaper caught a splinter then peeled it back. Both that chip and the dent I just mentioned are visible in the picture below, but the pattern of the wood and the stain hide them pretty well.



    I had a piece of scrap so I tested writing on it with a single sheet of paper. With normal pressure, no issue, but with a heavy hand it will make an indentation on the wood under a single piece of paper with a ball point pen. I don't exactly pamper the bench, but I do cover it with tool drawer liner when I'm working on rifles, chainsaws, etc.



    All said, I probably wouldn't choose it for a desk top, but I think it's a good choice for a counter top (as intended) or a workbench.

  5. #20
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    Thanks for the info. Sounds like the Acacia is the better way to go, staining it after cutting and finishing it.

  6. #21
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    Ah, I got lucky on my placement of the Inline Fabrications flush mount quick change base plate on my bench. I got a QC mounting plate for my new Dillon 550C and it just barely but perfectly clears the right side "L" portion of the bench.

    Edit: Jerry, you'll notice I've got the roller lever installed already. It's also from Inline Fabrication but very comparable to the Dillon option. I love it.


  7. #22
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    Very clean setup, I approve! I have it down to Dillon, or Hornady for my bench project, but since I have a friend locally who uses Dillon, I’ll probably settle on the blue as well.
    There's no "Team" in F**K YOU!

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