i know this is right up a couple of folks alley.
i want to make a bathroom vanity. we like industrial, raw wood and metal.
for the top i’m debating between a 2" piece of plywood or getting some butcher block, prob ikea if i use the latter. i’ll also hit a couple wood shops and see if they have anything i can buy in a scrap size and run with that.
if i use the plywood, what would be the best way to treat it so every drop of water that gets on it wont stain it? would a resin be a good choice?
if i go butcher block, or perhaps i shouldn’t, how would you finish it?
size would be approx 22Dx34-ishW. prob a drop in sink.
Forget plywood. Your biggest issue is how many cycles of water exposure you have before delamination.
For a two inch thick top, why not think of a nice piece of live edge wood mounted on metal legs. Lots of Google images for inspiration. Butcher block would be fine as well. Realize you can ship around for different species/colour. So maple to mahogany to walnut to cherry.
For durability and water resistance I would do an epoxy pour. I use Art Resins. Really easy to work with. Expect at least two days. First coat needs 24 hours to seal and hard cute. Next day you can build multiple coats every two hours. Best self levelling of any epoxy.
Please do not use plywood - that would just be a huge waste of time and effort and will need replacing as water seeps in some where.
I am a big fan of live edge mahogany - and even used some blue beetle killed wood in CO to make a cabinet - Epoxy will give you the best protection as well as marine varnish underneath…
Fyi, marine varnish and epoxy did not play well together. Too high am oil content causes lack of adherence with epoxy. I have had to repair and refinish a few of these.
Thanks Jim - good point - I was only referring to the underside of the top - just in case any water seeped and ran around the live edge - would that be ok? Not on the top or edges?
Personally I would do an epoxy pour both sides. If you finish wood two different ways on different surfaces you change the movement of the wood between two surfaces because of differing responses to humidity. In the case of a slab surface you would look at cupping and twisting issues over time. Not recommended.
Have you considered concrete? I think that could work really well with wood and metal on the cabinet end. You could build the form figure out the dyes and integrate metal inlays.
I have not played with it, but a vanity will be my first foray. I don’t like wood in wet spaces/surfaces.
Personally, I’d avoid wood entirely as an option if possible, unless it’s for a powder room or guest bath that doesn’t see a ton of use and moisture.
Also, like someone else said, try concrete. It’s super inexpensive, and labour intensive, but pretty straight forward. There are tons of how-to videos out there.
the sink will be concrete. we like the mix of concrete and wood here.
this is a different wood than i asked about, i think. i know it’s not plywood.
do any of you guys know what the wood in this pic is?
i never would have thought about treating the bottom of the wood, thanks so much for that. in retirement, which is a few years away yet, but it seems to be approaching quicker than
expected, i’d like to make furniture and item out of concrete, wood and metal. treating the bottom is good intel. thanks.
If I am seeing that correctly it essentially is plywood. It looks like part of an LVL (laminated veneer lumber I think?) Structural framing beams. I made a few large benches out of a similar product (PSL, looks like a beam made out of wood chips) for the lobby of a hot yoga studio once. They seemed to hold up alright, but if you ever get a sliver from one of those in the back side it would be a doosey.
holy cow, i thought that wasn’t plywood.
i’m going to do some looking for the woods you guys have suggested.
i was thinking i’d only need to do a resin pour/cover if i went the plywood route. i’m not going there, so thanks much for this suggestion.
is there a wood i could/should use that wouldn’t require a resin or epoxy covering? just a stain of some sort.
If I am seeing that correctly it essentially is plywood. It looks like part of an LVL (laminated veneer lumber I think?) Structural framing beams. I made a few large benches out of a similar product (PSL, looks like a beam made out of wood chips) for the lobby of a hot yoga studio once. They seemed to hold up alright, but if you ever get a sliver from one of those in the back side it would be a doosey.
Looks more like glulam (glued laminated timber) to me. The difference to LVL is that it’s not produced from very thin layers but from larger pieces of timber glued together. You still get the benefit of different grain directions which gives some degree of protection against (excessive) warping, but a look that is closer to solid timber (and it’s cheaper than solid timber, of course).
Hard to say which kind of wood was used in the picture, it was probably stained to achieve that color.
the sink will be concrete. we like the mix of concrete and wood here.
this is a different wood than i asked about, i think. i know it’s not plywood.
do any of you guys know what the wood in this pic is?
i never would have thought about treating the bottom of the wood, thanks so much for that. in retirement, which is a few years away yet, but it seems to be approaching quicker than
expected, i’d like to make furniture and item out of concrete, wood and metal. treating the bottom is good intel. thanks.
Looks like LVL but it is hard to tell from the picture.
Interesting look, what with the concrete and wood and cast iron pipe.
I’m not sure that the optimal location for toilet paper, though.
did you make that from scratch?
those are professional looking, looks great. very clean.
i like the rustic look, that way my errors and lack of skill doesnt stand out as much.
Yeah, the painted portions are poplar and the bench top is walnut. It looks a bit darker in that picture, and walnut gets more honey tones with age. The material pre and post planning is in the two first pics along with a bench for the same room. I like shaker/mission styles (which are sort of pre-cursors to the modernist look). They require a whole lot less talent than the stuff that Jim makes.
