Hello all, I have to make an plain sawn white oak countertop/bar top for a basement kitchen. It will have to go into the basement in two pieces as that’s the only way to get it in. It’s roughly 16” wide and is L shaped. One leg is 132” long, the other is 116”. The outside corner of the L has a radius. They would like to top out of solid wood, but I don’t see anyway to joint the corners without having movement issues. What I have done in the past is to make something like this in 3 sections, two straight legs and a strip glued radius corner, joined together with dominos and countertop bolts. With this top being 16” wide, and a very tight radius, I don’t see me being able to make the corner piece. Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas? The pictures show what they are asking for. If I need to tweak it some to make it work, the architect is open to ideas. Thanks

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I think I'd be looking at trying this in two sections with a 45° seam half way through the radius corner. That is the seam would go from the 90° inside corner to the center of the radius, just as you would find on a post formed counter. That way you can make two full length straight counter sections and temporarily attach them together in the shop to cut the curve. Then separate them for delivery.

The trick to doing this would be a sliding dovetail joint to bring the corner together. The problem would be that expansion and contraction are going to be trying to force that seam open and I don't know if the sliding dovetail is going to be strong enough to overpower the resulting gap. The thicker the counter top the heavier the dovetail will be, thus adding strength. Given the risk I would be hesitant to try this for a customer unless I could convince the architect to go with rift sawn white oak.

BH Davis

How about 3 pieces. Two straight legs and a corner pie section with the grain direction at 45° Push for rift oak to minimize the expansion. Glued Domino on the outside of the joints and expansion fit on the inside with countertop fasteners drawing them together.

This is what the flooring guys did. The shrinkulator says it will move 1/8” for quarter sawn, and a 1/4” for flatsawn white oak. I still think that’s to much to miter.

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I would do this with 1/8" shop sliced veneer over MDF - two pieces with thin 1/8" edge band to deal with the radius, joint at the corner, edges first, faces after, finished all the way around.
Domino the joint, or some kind of mortise and tenon affair. I would explain to the customers why I prefer this method and typically they are good once they understand. We usually make the veneer a little thick for glue up, then sand the faces to an 1/8" so they don't move.

You are right - 16" is too much to hold a tight miter.

I would make the face of the top out of 1/16" or slightly thicker veneer. This will allow a stable core with edge bands, then your faces. The bottom face is only there for balance. If your 'boards' are 3" wide, make them all the same, and glue them down in lengths. Make the corner so it will "knit' thru the corner. You will have a sawtooth edge on both halves, with some veneers loose. Get your tops into the building, set them, lay up the veneers, then finish. Far easier said than done, I realize. But given the parameters, I think it is the only way to do the job and get spectacular results.

All solid wood construction will require the much simpler butted top into another.

two legs 45 at the corner with biscuts and countertop bolts. Put it together dry in the shop cut the radius in it. Apply plenty of glue and tighten up the bolts and you are done. There is no need to worry about contraction or expansion, one end is free and leave an 1/8 gap at the wall (caulk) for any expansion there. The joint will never open up as long as you climatize to the house before installation and set it with silicon that will allow it to expand and contract with the humidity.

Douglas - I think you need to be more specific: Does your method allow for expansion at the miter or not?

As each half of the miter expands (or contracts), what happens to the miter? A simple thought experiment will tell us that solid wood will not stay tightly mitered should the RH parameters change.

Your experience may be satisfactory, or customers have not complained. I suggest there is no avoiding the science on the subject, lotsa glue notwithstanding.

Well, the owners where going to have a party, and needed the top put in. I did the best I could, epoxy, half laps, and domino’s to try to keep it all tight. Time will tell. The builder told me not to worry about warranting anything, it was more important to keep the customer happy. Thought I would follow up, thanks for all the insight on this thread.

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