I am torn on this butcher block. I personally had a 1 star experience, but I am giving it 3 stars because I can imagine that the smaller sizes may be actually really nice for some people. Unfortunately I ordered the 98 version to use as a desktop for my home office, and I cant recommend anyone order that size.
I wont go into the details, but it took 2 shipments and over 30 days to get this package to my house. It arrived completely unusable. The package is just not protective enough for how heavy and huge this thing is. Its 8ft long and 120lbs, its going to get dropped at some point. I dont even blame the shipping company honestly! Its only protected with some mediocre cardboard edges along the long sides of the block, and the thinnest cardboard ever (genuinely too thin to use for a cardboard box even) with some plastic for the top and bottom. The short edges dont get much protection at all. I would be surprised if anyone has received the 98 version intact.
I think if I had received this item undamaged it is likely a 4 star product! The wood looks very beautiful, and mine came fairly straight and flat. I think its honestly a high quality product. My only knock on the quality is the awful sanding they did to it. I have attached a picture of it closeup so you can see just how badly they gouged this thing with the orbital sander all over. Youll definitely need to do quite a bit of sanding yourself once you receive it before you can finish it which defeats a lot of the point, but luckily is something that is relatively easy to fix if you have a sander at home.
Overall, if youre getting a small size and dont mind having to do a bit of sanding yourself then it is very pretty. If you need a larger size then youre better off finding something local. Dont bother ordering online.
