Bamboo!
I don't do much fabrication these days; it just doesn't pay like repairs, however, when I got a chance to fab some bamboo, which I've never done, I couldn't resist.
Of course the sink cabinet was delayed and uninstalled at template. The customer said she wanted the sink centered under the window, but I've learned that what customers want and what gets installed can be completely different. I marked the sink center from the window, but I roughed out the bamboo slabs long and cut the sink cutout onsite so I'm ready for whatever.
The cutout has been cut, sanded, and test fitted. There's going to be a random butt joint, but that's life. I've got 130" run and the slabs are 96 1/4". Note the tiny plastic laminate shim stack just above the left sink front corner. You can install your cabinets however you please, but my tops have to be on plane or my butt seam is doomed. And the sink flange wouldn't fit snug against the top bottom.
The top sections are laid on the siliconed sink flange and their's plenty of methacrylate squeeze-out at the butt joint. (It's the same stuff I use for solid surface; here I need color match, water resistance, and quick set-up.) A piece of scrap with a divot ground to jump the squeeze-out is hot melted to the deck to clamp and hold the pieces dead flush. Bar clamps pull the sink snug to the bottom of the top. Ooohh, lookit that bubble.
Tung oil finish, first coat, it won't be quite that glossy. Again, material yield precluded a miter joint in the corner. Symmetry freaks have to pay more for longer joints.
Yes, that's a little black shim below the left sink bottom that I should have pulled before taking the picture.
Bamboo end grain is different than long grain. Can I make 'em match? Sure, but the rabbeting's going to double the cost of the job. I'm going to have her have the cabinet installer caulk or trim my shim gap. It's not my fault he can't read a level. He'll hate me, the tile backsplash guy will love me. The slabs come 26" so there's a 2" overhang, so this gap is only visible when kneeling.
That is shadow, not tool burn, on the second picture in this group. There is no tool burn on this job, unlike some I've seen on Houzz.
5 1/2 hours to finish fabbing and installing a 7' x 11' "L". I'm getting a spanking on this one, but I'm not complaining, unlike the plumber when he has to RotoZip the back of the sink cabinet to install the faucet.
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Regular readers have heard me talk about installing tops "on plane" with each other. As you can see, the aluminum straightedge is tight against the main top and indicates the small top is on plane with it. You can't just copy cabinets at template because they may not be on plane and/or out of square.
On a related note, the stove opening sides must be square to the back wall as well as parallel; never mind what the cabinets are doing. You can't just put the framing square to the wall because the wall may be bowed or dipped so you have to put a longer straightedge against it then check for square.
Yes, that's burned edge just below my elbow; I haven't sanded it yet. Gene's saw blade was dull, mine isn't.
Always "X" your level at stove openings or you'll be getting a callback that somethin' doesn't look right when they slide it in and level it up.
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Scratches don't show up until the first coat of oil is applied. It takes an 80 grit paper to remove them. That would cut a butter dish in a solid surface top. This stuff is hard.
Factory filler; of course it ends up on the highly visible peninsula end. Fortunately I just bought a wood floor repair kit.
This was the only edge tear-out in all four slabs. I buried it in the peninsula seam.
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