Vintage butcherer block

Kbeitz · January 31, 2016, 03:23:02 PM

We had an old store burn down in the square of our town of Millville pa.
I was watching them ripping what was left of the old place down one board at a time.
They dragged an old butcher block counter out of the basement.
I stopped and bought it for $20.00. I was able to save a 14 foot chunk of it.
To my surprise it was put together with square nails. Now thats gotta be old.
Looks to be white oak. Needs refinished but thats the fun stuff.

lowpolyjoe · January 31, 2016, 07:33:56 PM

Shame about the store. Great catch you got there.

Dave H. · February 01, 2016, 12:09:22 AM

ironically the store says "fireside video". cool save on the butcher block.could it have been a piece of a bowling alley at some point?

Kbeitz · February 01, 2016, 01:19:03 AM

The butcher block was part of the locker meat plant that it use to be.
I remember my Mom and Dad buying all our food from this store when it
was called Bakers Economy Market. I'm sure I ate meat that was cut on this board.

drobertson · February 01, 2016, 10:30:19 AM

sad story for the folks and building, and I would say it looks more like maple, good save there,,

sandhills · February 01, 2016, 04:46:10 PM

That's a shame it burned but just plain neat you saved that part of it. A good friend of mine and his inlaws bought the old hardware store here and awhile back I got a tour of the basement (which I didn't even know existed), I need to get a few pictures, the building dates back to 1902? I think, so there's a few watzits down there

.

Al_Smith · February 01, 2016, 07:44:48 PM

FWIW most butcher blocks were made from hard maple .

samandothers · February 01, 2016, 08:30:28 PM

Neat old photo. Like the phone booth next to it.

Kbeitz · February 01, 2016, 11:47:22 PM

Quote from: Al_Smith on February 01, 2016, 07:44:48 PM
FWIW most butcher blocks were made from hard maple .

I'll get another picture when I get it sanded. Looked like oak to me.

Kbeitz · February 02, 2016, 06:16:48 PM

Today I scraped about a ton of mud off the board. I started to sand it.
The wood seems to have a lot of oil in it and does not sand very good.
I did not get a chance to take more pictures but I now think it's a
mixture of all different kinds of wood.
More pictures will come.

Bruno of NH · February 02, 2016, 08:03:55 PM

Kb
Can you scrape it with a cabinet scraper .
It would look great with the hand scraped look .
Bruno

Kbeitz · February 02, 2016, 09:00:15 PM

Quote from: Bruno of NH on February 02, 2016, 08:03:55 PM
Kb
Can you scrape it with a cabinet scraper .
It would look great with the hand scraped look .
Bruno

Thats what I started out with and it was working better than the sander.
The sandpaper was just loading up and i was useing open coat.

losttheplot · February 03, 2016, 02:53:52 AM

Butchers blocks are made with an end grain top, it keeps the knives sharp longer.
I don't think they would have nails in them.
just saying

Kbeitz · February 03, 2016, 06:28:33 AM

Square nails is all that holds this one together. It flexes when you try to pick it up.
I will take pictures of the broken parts I cut off..I cant imagen how many nails are in this thing.
The building was put up in the 1800's

yukon cornelius · February 03, 2016, 08:27:51 AM

nice save! I cant wait to see the pics when you get it sanded. did it get any water damage?

Kbeitz · February 03, 2016, 08:51:22 AM

Quote from: yukon cornelius on February 03, 2016, 08:27:51 AM
nice save! I cant wait to see the pics when you get it sanded. did it get any water damage?

I think you could put this thing in the creek for a week with no water damage.
Over the years I think it got lard and fat soaked. Makes it hard to sand.
The only finish that I will be able to use will need to be oil based.

51cub · February 03, 2016, 09:02:16 AM

Thanks for saving part of a great old building! Things like that are the way to my heart

petefrom bearswamp · February 03, 2016, 09:40:51 AM

Older bowling alley stuff a friend salvaged was nailed together with many nails.
He learned a hard lesson when ripping the first piece.
He used it for the floor of his camp, looks great.

scgargoyle · February 04, 2016, 06:50:38 AM

It's funny how over the years, the term 'butcher block' has come to mean any wood made up of strips, whereas it originally meant end grain, like losttheplot said. Even manufacturers do it. I'm not sure what the correct name is for a piece made up of strips, rather than end grain. At any rate, that looks like a piece of old bowling alley. It must have been an OLD alley if that piece was repurposed so many years ago! It's cool when you know where your reclaimed wood came from.

Kbeitz · February 05, 2016, 08:23:42 AM

Your right ... Maybe I should say butcher block counter top.
I worked at Grizzly Toola and we sold butcher block counter tops that looked like what I have.
I guess thats why I called it that. I have seen the real thing thats sometimes 24" thick.
I wonder if this peice was made just for this store. How old is the game of bowing ?
I wondering how they put in so many square nails and never split the wood.
Just putting a nail in white oak alone would be a choir.

jueston · February 05, 2016, 09:04:24 AM

Wikipedia says lawn bowling started around 400 CE and indoor bowling started in England in the 1500's
its not very clear on when the modern bowling lane came about, but i didn't read the whole article so it could have been in there.
originally the bowling balls were made from lignum vitae.

i have been told square nails split less then round nails, because instead of pushing the fibers apart then tend to tear them