Epoxied countertops

[Maggie01]

I had wanted to have epoxied cedar kitchen countertops in the bus. A lumberyard about 40 miles away gave me a great price and told me he had tons of stock and it wouldn't be a problem to get the sizes I needed (6'×2"×25 1/2" and 4 1/2'×2"×25 1/2"). However when I got there he did not have any cedar slabs that were 25 1/2" all the way down. He was so nice and so apologetic that I had driven so far and insisted on giving me two oak slabs (8'x2 1/4"×26" and 6'×2 1/4"×28") for the same price he had quoted me for the smaller cedar slabs. He'd had them drying over a year in his shop and I've had them drying in my shop for about 8 months. Yesterday we decided to start messing with them. After alot of trial and error with a table saw, miter saws, reciprocating saw, and a Makita plunge saw we finally got them cut to length and the back edges cut square. It was a pain though and because of the 2 1/4" depth very difficult to do.

My problem now is how to cut the sink hole out. None of my saws like that 2 1/4" depth. Any ideas?

Another possible problem is possible warping with the movement of the bus. I know other people have used raw edge kitchen counters in their buses though, but can't find what they did to prevent the warping that movement and moisture might cause. I plan on sanding both sides really smooth, taping the front side to prevent any spilling out, then filling any cracks with a deep pour epoxy resin made for deep cracks, sand again, making some relief cuts on the back side to allow movement and relieve stress, then probably use West System Epoxy 105 with 207 hardner, again on all sides. If anyone is familiar with epoxy, do you think this would work to keep the counters looking good in a moving bus? I don't really like the really shiny, plasticky look of epoxy and had thought about just using a marine coating, but am not sure how well that would look or hold up. I know that wood absorbs and releases moisture with temperature changes and that all sides of a slab would need to be treated to stabilize the wood, just not sure what to use.

[Samweld]

chainsaw to rough out the hole then a jigsaw with a long blade to get the corners or maybe a holesaw which wouldnt go through in one pass but with a longer pilot bit you could cut from both sides. Maybe?

[musigenesis]

I don't think your wood will warp from bus movement but it probably will just from continuing to age. You could screw pieces of angle steel across the grain on the bottom to keep it flat and these could be used for mounting it on the base as well. I'm going to be doing exactly this with my butcher block countertop.

[bus-bro]

I'd do the corners with a hole saw from both sides then cut between them with a long enough blade in a recip saw.

[DeMac]

Its good to cut out a smaller 'sink' hole, then enlarge it.
Take a small amount of material per pass. Versus attempting only one cut to the finish size.

Same with drilling,
small hole from both sides then aligning to larger, then hole saw from both sides.

Diablo blades

Please add pictures? It sounds beautiful.

[Danjo]

Originally Posted by bus-bro

I'd do the corners with a hole saw from both sides then cut between them with a long enough blade in a recip saw.

Like this.

I did an epoxy countertop. I did the resin first and then covered it in masking tape for the cuts.

[Ronnie]

Oak will warp if given the chance. Having been drying for a year is good plus the time you have had it. As long as you epoxy top and bottom and edges even where you cut out the sink then it will stay stable. Oak will move with moisture changes, so the epoxy stops that.


Chain saw to rough it out, sawsall will do it to, with a better cut. Still cut it small then go bigger.

[Danjo]

Why cut it smaller? Are you afraid it’s going to chip out?

[Ronnie]

Originally Posted by Danjo

Why cut it smaller? Are you afraid it’s going to chip out?

If using a chainsaw to rough it out, yes it will chip out, especially oak. Sawsall you could start your cut inside of the line then cut to the line. Maybe even clamp a board at the line to prevent chip out and be a guide.

[Ronnie]

I second the hole saw for the corners, nice way to do it.

[Ronnie]

By the way I did use epoxy on mine with the top coat being table top epoxy. Used ceder.

[coachchris]

drill holes in corner and cut with jigsaw or sawzall. Support the bottom with a 1 x 6 and a few short screws so it doesn't fall out or chip on you.