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If you want the benefits of hardwood but in a workbench top that is more affordable and more readily available, look for what’s called butcher’s block. This is something that you can find at your local big box store, but you need to be careful to only buy solid wood. It is also available as a laminate, which is basically a printed skin wrapped around a composite core. You don’t want that at all.
Real butcher’s blocks are made from small pieces of hardwood glued together and then machined flat. Originally they had the end grain uppermost, providing an almost self-healing surface for the knives and axes used by butchers. The downside was that blood and meat juices would also penetrate the wood over time. Modern versions usually have the blocks set horizontally.
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