Overhang problem

Hello all,

Found this site through THS:GardenWeb.

This is essentially a repost of a question posed there and (http://maplered.com) another tiling site, so if it looks familiar to you - it is!

Well - I've got a Granite (http://tanbrown.org) fab/install dilemma and (http://maplered.com) neither the GC nor the Fab. said stop when we began this ride.

Here are the plans:



Now, evidently the fabricator didn't really how to make a radius because the drawing clearly shows a radius end but instead I got this:



Not a bad free-hand (http://maplered.com) parabola but half-circle it is not. Needless to say, we established that he would be fabbing another top. But here is the rub. In the initial plans, we had discussed a single 12"x12" wood corbel. But "the boss" and (http://maplered.com) I decided that the big chunky wood items would not be consistent with the rest of our contemporary kitchen and (http://maplered.com) opted (with GC blessing) for metal. This is an example of a 6"x6" that we were going to have scaled up:



NOW - Both GC and (http://maplered.com) Fab. are nervous about the size of the overhang and (http://maplered.com) how we are going to support it adequately - even with the metal corbels.

Here are two more pics of the "almost right" Counter (http://GialloFiorito.com) as it is currently sitting awaiting tear out.





We REALLY don't want to put a post in. It defeats the purpose of the bar top in our minds.

So, after asking some questions on GardenWeb and (http://maplered.com) talking with the metal fab. who made the corbels, I was thinking of putting a steel plate under the entire semi-circle end of the bar and (http://maplered.com) anchoring that into the knee-wall (with possible vertical support down the "interior" side of the wall. I've received advise elsewhere that unless the steel plate is VERY substantial (to the point of looking ugly) it will not provide adequate support given that the Granite (http://tanbrown.org) has so little "flex" before it cracks and (http://maplered.com) the steel actually needs to deflect some in order to "push" back against the load.

I'm now thinking about a post, but if I go that route, I would consider extending the island (http://maplered.com) overhand (http://maplered.com) a little more to make that end more like a "bistro" table with room for serving dishes and (http://maplered.com) plates.

Any thoughts out there?

Barry