Doing research in my off cycle time.

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Something I have been considering is what to do in the kitchen. Now, it is fully functional, more so when clean. So, that is not really the issue. Not completely. What I have a problem with is usable counter space, hence the notion regarding installing an island, perhaps now as a temporary device and later as a stationary piece. (Should I ever get that far, survive my health issues, come up with the money, blah, blah, blah.) I really enjoy butcher blocks, for a number of reasons. So a three inch thick, or thicker, block, on a mobile island, would be a wonderful addition. Not only would it provide "counter space", it would be wonderful to have counter space I could feel secure chopping, cutting, and otherwise slicing away upon.

So, I went shopping. Internet window shopping is not new, though I have not been doing much of that in quite some time. And, that is probably why I have a few coins still in my pocket (for what they are worth, again though... beside the point). First I looked at what a pre-built island or even stand would cost. The going rate for something as small at eighteen by twenty four inches started at nearly $600 dollars. All the starting models included was the three to four inch butcher block on top of four too skinny looking legs. The price for a near island of the thicker butcher block material began at about $1600, then up to topping off my blood pressure. Hmm, nice notion. So, I decided to consider, again, a dyi project and began looking for ideas. I also looked for notions regarding cutting boards and butcher blocks. What I noted in most dyi projects and purchased butcher blocks is that none of what I saw worked with the offered specs regarding butcher blocks.

End cuts were always recommended by dyi'ers and were advertised by sellers. Check, that works. The problem is the recommended size of those end cuts, which was nearly four inches by three inches, was never used in either dyi'ers' plans nor pre-built offerings! Usually what was shown was, say one and three quarters inch by two to three inches on down to one inch by one inch looking end cut blocks. Too picky? Maybe. I also looked at lumber offerings. The only thing I saw in an hour of searching was one offering of four by four by thirty inch blocks, marked as furniture maple. I did not see hard, sugar, rock, or mountain designations and these (I think) were marketed for turning as table legs. Which, to my way of thinking, means they were probably soft maple.

If I get to town today, before heading to SLC, I may stop at a lumber store or two and ask about their stock in, say, four inch by four inch by whatever (at least four inches) pieces of hard maple. My guess, either not available or custom thus much more expensive. I would like to get prices for stock to know if a dyi project is even remotely worth the savings, or if there are any savings. It is so bad today, when everyone will sell you anything and not know what they are really selling you, not care whether it is what you actually need or want, and have a stupid punk smirk on their faces the whole time. They think it is cute to sell in an almost nihilistic manner. Look at the next stranger, after the sale. I swear, they are evil anymore. They think they took you, and probably did.

Why would a butcher block be cheaper to buy than to make? Well, let me see, some place like China where they use questionable wood (might not be hard maple, let alone hard wood), companies who are legitimate finding that millionaires to buy their overpriced goods have disappeared into the woodwork needing simple cash to get by and letting stock go for less than they paid for it as a short term hail Mary, and a few other reasons. Well, that and you almost cannot beat mass production, even counting your time sometimes. All that and the recommended cuts for butcher blocks have to be set aside because the lumber does not seem to be available.

Crazy? Me? Who are you kidding? People are living in a fantasy. They have $1,600 and up pieces of furniture that are, essentially, only for looks. I happened to glance at furniture too. Other than Amish, I saw bedroom sets for $5k, which were... veneer? Really? They are deluded. How many other things do people have, which they think will always work and well, which are frauds? For one, I think of the automobile industry. Most cars, if they are not flat cheap basic models, unless they truly have extra features which add to true utility (where it can go, what it can haul, how many it can haul) is based on a fraud of selling points by slick advertisers. You can almost simply melt most vehicles without all that much heat. Bah! Angry, not crazy. Still, I will stop at a couple of lumber stores and see what I can see.

Oh, and never buy furniture from almost any store if you are looking for anything but trailer trash furnishings. The Amish seem to sell better solid wood furnishings (mostly minus walnut, as it is much harder on hand tools). But if you want pieces that will last, I would recommend estate sales (but look the items over closely, anything made in the last half century is suspect) and the Amish. You will pay much more to the Amish than you will to JC Penney or RC Willey but your furniture will last longer than you will. If your future ends with you, ignore all I say. Though mine, currently, does. I at least pray to change that. And, so, I prepare.