I picked up a used GP Factor table (the prior owner upgraded to the one with the cubby). I installed it, and it is terrific.
However, the bamboo table doesn't fit in the slot in the stainless table. It can jam part way in (4" maybe), but it is an interference fit and cant go any further.
Has anyone else seen this, and if so, what did you do?
I see that you got it to fixed it by sanding down the board to make things fit, and that works. But I’m afraid if you flip the board upside-down in the table as it warps for better sliding (which I did pre butcher block oil), or to get a clean side when cook prepping ,which I do a bunch, the sanded edge will only be smooth in the one orientation. Mine too was stiff when I got it, even though new, so I’ve been tuning it for a year.
If it helps you or someone else, here are my solutions for the stiff board/table interface, and for the warping, and for over-insertion issues. They are super easy fixes that take longer to find the tools, than to actually do .
First , de- burr the tables’s lips/edges with a small knife sharpening stone.
Then, slide the board in as far as it goes with light pressure. Put 2 small to medium adjustable wrenches tight on the lip about an inch apart at the tight spot.
Now spread the lip apart a TINY BIT, test and retry until perfect. It’s easy to over-do, and harder to tighten than loosen. Repeat as necessary as you slide the board further in with light pressure, until the board goes all the way through, with just light pressure.
Now it’ll be back to stock. But stock needs help. Because now the board will go easily alll the way through, past the table edge and under the hinge, now interfering with putting the table up.
To prevent this, get 2 little pieces of adhesive loop (as in Velcro) material and place them where they just begin engage your board as it comes to centered on the table.
Now your board will stop where it should, and not as an extra benefit, not rattle on heavy washboards.
To keep the humidity warping at bay, take out the table and put it in the sink (this is messy). Heavily coat the cutting board in butcher block oil overnight. Then, a couple of days later, after the oil is really soaked in and the board is dry to the touch, get a little beeswax bar and dry rub that all over the surface and on the table’s slots/lips. Not only will the cutting board not stain from food, it will clean up a whole lot easier and it will slide in and out of the table like ‘
butta’.
I hope these extra ideas work for you as well as they have for me . I love this table, and with the few tuning steps, it’s one of my favorite mods.
