Hi Christine-- There is a lot of information on BB countertops on the Kitchens forum. Do a search over there & you'll find a wealth of info, including how to finish them & sources. Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchens Forum

Redstar, My husband has made and installed two lyptus end-grain butcher block countertops for customers. Both families had the countertops made for their island. I have provided a link to his website so you can see the projects. At the top of the web page is an island with no sink. Further down on the page is an island top with a SS undermount sink and follow up pictures after a year's worth of usage. If you will be cutting on this type of countertop, you would want to finish and maintain it with a food grade mineral oil finish. On the top with the undermount sink, the inside cut out edge around the sink was finished with Waterlox as a water sealant. There should be no problem with using an undermount composite granite sink. With the mineral oil finish, dishes sitting on top will not hurt it nor will your crockpot. If you don't plan to cut on it directly, you could have some other finish applied that will seal out water. Hope this is helpful to you. Here is a link that might be useful: Lyptus Butcher Block Countertops

Yes.. it is resolved, they gave me some money back. They promised they will start supplying all solid wood all through since my incident. You should be able to buy with confidence now. It's not veneer in the sense that it is 1/64" thin, the maple is 1/4" with 1" oak in betweem. It's still very durable. I havn't had a problem with it so far. Not that I need to talk about my fix anymore because no one else should encounter this now. It is important you use the butcherblock right away because I waited a bit too long and the store manager was being difficult with me. It took combined effort of the GW "angry mob" until I got a call from their corporate guy :) BTW love my wood counter top, the "sound" especially. This one island counter I created from the LL BB, if I didn't tell, you wouldn't know there is oak inside.

Hello, I was wondering if I could get away with doing a dark walnut Danish oil finish on my oak countertops from Ikea. I know a lot of people use Waterlox, but I'm not up for commitment to a serious finish right now. I would rather do a light sand when I thought the counters were showing their age and freshen up with a new coat of Danish oil. Maybe on a yearly basis? My main question would be if the Danish oil will build on itself over time and will it blend well into spots that have had more damage. Or will it get blotchy and gummy? My other concern that a dark walnut stain on top of oak will be more likely to fade out and be less forgiving than if I just use a natural Danish oil on top of the natural oak? And can I get away with applying Danish oil without a sealer coat on top? I know that this wouldn't be an impervious solution, but my hope is that it will be a forgiving one and I could touch it up as I go? Any thoughts? Thanks*M P.S. The photo is mid-remodel. The cover panels and toe kicks need to go on, the ceiling needs patched/painted, gold hardware goes on the cabinets, trim around the windows/doors, pendant light above the sink, shelving above the long counter, the range hood, built-in kitchen desk, and backsplash tile still need to be installed.... And I was starting to think I was almost done.