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Butcher block island
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Increase kitchen workspace with this tasteful maple cart
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By Rick Campbell, photos by Yvonne Duivenvoorden, illustration by Len Churchill
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Portable, stable and elegant. This solid maple island solves the perennial kitchen problem-havingban extra workspace right where you need it
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Build the Base
Begin by cutting the skirts, crossbraces, and legs. If you laminate the leg blanks together from narrower stock, rotate the legs so that the joints face the outside. This is stronger and looks better.
The crossbraces attach to the legs with ebony-wedged tenons that extend through mortises in the legs.
Start by marking the mortise positions on the legs. Centre the brace mortises across the width of the legs and offset the skirts 1/4"on the outside faces. Drill a series of 1/2"-dia. overlapping holes to form the mortise openings. Set the drill press depth gauge just shy of the bottom and finish drilling from the other side to prevent tearout. Clean up the mortise openings with a chisel.
Now prepare the matching tenons. Make the skirt tenons 1/16" shorter than the mortise depth so the shoulders completely contact the legs. The brace tenons should be 1/16" longer than the thickness of the legs and extend slightly proud of the surface. Sand flush after the joints are assembled and wedged. I cut the tenons with a tablesaw, starting with four cuts to define the shoulders. Continue by sawing the waste from the tenon cheeks, leaving them slightly thicker than needed. Finish up by paring material from the cheeks with a sharp chisel to create a snug fit within each mortise. If you make the shoulder cuts 1/32" deeper than required, it will be easier to remove material from the corners when you chisel.
Complete the tenons by cutting notches for the hardwood wedges. Drill a 1/8" hole at the end of each notch so the wood doesn't split when the wedges are taped into place. Dry fit the base together and if everything looks good dismantle, glue the joints and reassemble with clamps. Before setting aside to dry, glue the wedges in place and check to make sure everything's square. Once the glue dries, sand the ends of the brace tenons flush with the legs.
Next come the nine shelf slats for the lower shelf and the two rack slats. Trim the ends 45°, then cut 3/4"-deep notches to fit over the braces. The wine rack slats should be easy to remove so make these notches 1/16" wider than the others. Install the shelf slats with glue and #8 x 1 1/4" screws. Counter-bore into 3/8"-dia. holes for tapered plugs.
Attach the top with metal clips fit into slots cut in the skirt sides using a biscuit joiner. The slots allow the top to move freely as it expands and contracts, while the metal clips hold it firm.
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