The key point is that nobody actually lives in a cathedral. Don’t priests and so forth live in the rectory or convent?
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See, now we’re adding a third category! Pretty soon we are going to hit one that is going to exclude châteaux from the category of castle.
For me the defensive function is absolutely key to the definition. But we might be getting a bit off topic here. Is there an architecture thread where we can continue this?
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Now we’re debating what is or isn’t a castle…
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We don’t even need to. The three criteria I interpret from Wikipedia are residence, walls, and dominance of the area. I’m cool with that.
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Well, I don’t, that’s the problem. But yeah, let’s leave it at that. If you want, though, there is a space to continue:
https://bbs.boingboing.net/t/buildings-and-buildings-accessories/
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This one manages to have round walls while not being round:
(Still holds bad memories for some of us.)
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I remember when this topic was about kitchen cabinets. Those were the days.
Anyway, here’s a castle made from cardboard boxes, possible from a kitchen
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Whoever made that castle, now I want to see their kitchen!
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Whoever it is seems to have power over all the refrigerator deliveries in the area - some kind of fridge magnate
Hott Fuzz is a great movie
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Unless it’s Anton Jackson’s place. Remember, he was the host of This Ol’ Box:
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@anon87143080: Yes, darn it, I’m not done with K cabinets!
Butcher block definition: has it drifted? In the 80s I though people insisted it had to be end-grain. But today wood-strip counters regularly get labeled butcher block.
I specify end-grain for the food prep countertop in my document (see note) about our remodel.
(Note) Hey, anyone want a 180-page PDF to look at? It has pictures! I simply don’t understand why no one wants to read it, including my spouse /s
Edge grain butcher block has always been a thing.
Thing is that end grain is significantly more expensive, and I don’t think you can make it in standard sizes then cut it down as needed.
End grain is just the nicer option. It looks nicer, it’s better at holding up to knife cuts and other hard use.
But it’s not exactly practical and affordable for most these days.
I think the bigger issue is that with widely available, affordable pre-cut edge grain sections these days. A lot of them aren’t made from materials not suited to food prep.
And I’m pretty sure the entire point of butcher block counters is it’s a giant cutting board.
Ikeas are now veneer over composite, many are actually partially hollow. The solid ones you see frequently use the wrong wood. Either stuff that’s not clearly food safe. Or too soft, like poplar. Open grain/porous like Ash. Or they’re otherwise sealed or stained or resin impregnated.
Any of that’s fine for just aesthetics, counters and table tops. But it’s not neccisarily functional as a work surface.
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Thanks for details! I think maple is hard enough, don’t you? I’ll watch out for seals, etc. We plan it only for our small island (food prep), a simple rectangle. It’ll be one of our splurges. (No one can predict our taste. For instance, for the other countertops we really prefer laminate, and while some floors will be expensive, others will be upscale sheet vinyl!)
It’s very liberating to ignore “resale value” – we plan to be dead when the house sells, and being child-free means the price/ease of resale only matters to a bunch of charities. (I realize the likelihood is really selling for long-term care, but I refuse to care about the difference in price/ease).
Maple is the classic, and the hardest hard wood traditionally used for this. It’s usually rock maple, but I think any type of maple is good to go.
Beech and birch are both a bit softer but plenty hard, and just as common. Also cheaper. I do think birch can often look better than rock maple.
Walnut is apparently the softest hard wood traditionally used.
You need to avoid anything with an open pore structure and any soft woods. They’ll absorb moisture and go moldy. A lot of specialty woods may not be food safe, down to allergy concerns. The rule of thumb is trees edible stuff comes from. So mainly nut and fruit woods, plus birch and maple. It needs to be closed grain, and have a high janka hardness.
Oil finishes are apparently OK. Maintenance is usually done with mineral oil, and it’s common enough to finish with a drying oil like Tung oil. Watco makes a food grade butcher block finish that’s mostly tung. I’ve used it when making or refinishing cutting boards. It’s apparently good for periodic refinishes on counter tops.
Food safe waxes like beeswax and carnauba are fine as well.
You just want to avoid anything with like hard poly coating, or resins or plastics at all. Or anything that seals long term. Oil soaking into the grain is what seals off knife cuts to keep it sanitary, looking classy and prevents splitting.
I’ve never really caught anything about stains being unsafe, and there are some tinted oil products meant for counters and cutting boards.
But it’s not gonna hold up particularly well once you start cutting shit. And bare wood will darken over time with use and oiling a couple times a year anyway.
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I prefer a cutting board I can wash in the sink. I have a IKEA kitchen island that I will use bare, if it makes sense to. But no way am I using a knife on it directly.
Most of Ikeas countertops are veneer over composite, maybe all of them these days. They definitely won’t hold up to knives, and aren’t really suited to being used as a direct work surface in general.
Which is again fine. It looks good, and a lot of people don’t do that anyway.
Personally I prefer a real butcher block work surface, because I do use them as a work surface. And do use knives directly on them.
There’s shortcomings to butcher block as a material otherwise. It’s expensive, it requires maintenance that other materials don’t. There’s a chance of cracking or splitting. It changes color over time.
And even in terms of utilitarian work surface. If you are into baking, pastry and confection that means something very different. Metal and stone are a lot more useful there.
I checked back in and see some talk of castles.
Our favorite castle(okay, only castle we’ve visited) is Casa Loma in the middle of Toronto. We’ve visited that one many times.
Fun story about the castle eventually bankrupting the guy who built it. These things happen when you spend 250 grand in 1911 for gold nameplates for your horse stable.
Also something about X Men being filmed there.
[quote=“Ohdatmo, post:98, topic:211649, full:true”]
and I had a significant number decide that they hated it after some use, because stuff would fall off when it was spun while searching for the item that they wanted.[/quote]
How hard were they spinning it, do you think? I’m picturing a level of force equivalent to starting a merry-go-round rather than a lazy Susan.
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So, you mean a motivated Susan?
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Ha! This effect fits in the category of, “if it CAN go wrong, it WILL go wrong”.
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