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Thread: Making an end grain cutting board

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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
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    Making an end grain cutting board

    I've been doing a lot of cooking lately and want to make a couple of end grain cutting boards. Seems like a simple project but I have some questions for those who've already been down that road.

    1. What's the best wood to make a cutting board out of? Maple?

    2. After you glue up all the pieces, how do you flatten the cutting board? Since it's end grain, running it through the planer might not work well. Do you sand or use a hand plane? Or what?

    Mike
    Last edited by Mike Henderson; 07-18-2011 at 10:55 PM.
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  2. #2
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    I made one out of Cherry, Walnut and Maple. If you have your saw set up correct a ROS is all you would need.
    "Remember back in the day, when things were made by hand, and people took pride in their work?"
    - Rick Dale

  3. #3
    I've made a bunch of them. Largely maple with strips of cherry, walnut or sometimes wenge thrown in for color. Whatver is around. A good way to use up those long skinny scraps that I can never throw out.
    Some ideas: http://www.toolcrib.com/blog/2008/10...t-blew-my-mind

    As Dave said, ROS may be enough or a belt sander if it is REALLY uneven. Shouldn't be too bad though. The planer could be dicey.

    You'll get a lot of heated opinion on finishing. Mineral oil [laxative] from the drug store is best. Just no cooking oil that will go rancid.

    Edit to add: look at the 'how to' in #7 on the link above.
    Last edited by Paul Symchych; 07-18-2011 at 11:39 PM.

  4. #4
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    The one thing I will add. I got the clamp pressure too tight. It caused the wood strips to bow and made the pattern off a bit. This was on the glue up after the strips were cut from the one in the photo.

    IMG_0530.jpg267702_1119581728047_1782162723_240245_1941284_n_1.jpg
    "Remember back in the day, when things were made by hand, and people took pride in their work?"
    - Rick Dale

  5. #5
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    Dave, nice looking pattern / design. Next time though, if there is a next time, be sure to use a straight, relatively wide board as a reference edge between the clamp on one side and your glue up stack. The wide board will help ensure that the glue up stays straight and is not distorted into a snaky shape due to clamping pressure. The same goes for the first few rows of the finished cutting board.

  6. #6
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    I made three last christmas.From hard maple i ran them thru my planer with a Byrd head lite passes.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
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    Calvert County, MD
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    I flatten with a Lie Nielsen jack plane. The real key is to keep things as flat as absolutely possible during the glue-up. I've gotten in the habit of only gluing up a max of 4 pieces at once so that I can focus on getting the alignment perfect. I'm just not good at wrangling a dozen pieces of wood (slipping and sliding from the glue), and a few clamps at the same time.

  8. #8
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    Nov 2009
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    Sinking Spring, PA
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    Can't go wrong with maple & walnut to start! With accurate stock to start with, you should be fine. My first attempt had to be cleaned up with a belt sander. Had I been more careful in preparing stock, it would have been much easier.

    There is also a free download for a program that helps you design them. Search/google "cb designer"

  9. #9
    I've done one in cherry and walnut. Most people do use maple. A belt sander and ROS should be all you really need to flatten it.
    * * * * * * * *
    Mark Patoka
    Stafford, VA
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  10. #10
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
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    Hayesville N.C.
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    My first one required a belt sander to get flat. I learn quickly to pay more attention in the glueing up of the board.

  11. #11
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    Only made a dozen or so - 8" x 12" through 24" x 36". All HM. Lessons learned:

    1] I read this somewhere - maybe thru a link here to an article somewhere - from a guy that makes beautiful end-grain coffee tables etc. - Be sure to alternate grain direction on adjacent blocks, or - over time - the blocks will delaminate. I read this in the exact week that a couple 12 - 18 month old boards started to delam....right where the block's grain were aligned impropery [improperly per the article]. Rip, replace, refab......no problems ever since that.
    2] Judicious use of belt sander to flatten. First time, I used surface planer >>> Holy Crud!!! Scraps of that misadventure still sitting in that pile right over there where I'm pointing - used for whatever blocks, offsets, any-old-thing where HM seems appropriate. Sheeeesh.
    3] Also - used Stanley #80 and LN large scraper plane to just put a nice "finished" look on them after belt sander [and, IIRC, a bit of touch-up with ROS]. Didn't really scrape to flatten - just to take the slightest shavings off the surface.

    I am not a cutting board expert - don't claim to be - just relating my lessons learned.

    Oh....yeah....one more thing.....If I was trying to make one out of HM that is "elegant" I would spend a lot of time selecting rough lumber for color, and then selecting the cut blocks for color once again. However, over a few years, as they get "seasoned" the golden/amber color tends to even out the color differences.
    When I started woodworking, I didn't know squat. I have progressed in 30 years - now I do know squat.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
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    Marietta GA
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    Black Walnut Chopping Board

    I recently made a end grain chopping board out of some left over black walnut cut offs. It was a challenge to get flat. Walnut end grain ( most end grains for that matter ) are really tough. I used a LN Low Angle Jack, a Stanley 80, several card scrapers, a LN adjustable mouth block plane, and a Japanese standing iron plane. After several hours of not quite getting what I wanted, ie. a flat surface with no tear outs, I made a simple jig similar to the ones shown in other threads here on SMC with a Milwaukee router and a surfacing bit. I took the top 1/16th off the whole worse side in a matter of minutes. Then I went back to a freshly sharpened LN LA Jack and had her done with another 1/2 hour worth of elbow grease.

    The original blocks were cut with a band saw. Even with being very careful with the cuts and truing the ends of the stock piece between each cut, there was enough irregularity to the work surface that mandated truing with planes. The router jig was noisy, dusty, and not fun. I guess I'm getting too spoiled with my normal happy hand plane use. Still if I made several of these, the non-permanent jig I put together to true the rough surface would get changed to a permanent jig with happy results more quickly arrived at.

    Finish was two heavy coats of walnut oil. Once dried, then a quick rinse with hot soapy water. Add walnut oil once a month for 3 months and after that as need arises.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  13. #13
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    Feb 2009
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    I used belt sander + RO to level the boards I made last Christmas. I wouldn't run the boards through the planer - while some folks have success taking very light passes, it's a mishap waiting to happen.

    A drum sander is the most brilliant tool in the world if you're making a lot of these...

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kent A Bathurst View Post
    Be sure to alternate grain direction on adjacent blocks, or - over time - the blocks will delaminate. I read this in the exact week that a couple 12 - 18 month old boards started to delam....right where the block's grain were aligned impropery [improperly per the article
    Kent, or someone else, you're going to have to explain this one to me.

    Are you saying, that if you're looking at the top of the board, you want the rings to look like this: ()() and not this: ((()))

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kurt Cady View Post
    Kent, or someone else, you're going to have to explain this one to me.

    Are you saying, that if you're looking at the top of the board, you want the rings to look like this: ()() and not this: ((()))
    Nope. What I'm saying contradicts what Howard said earlier about qtrsawn v flatsawn. A course would look more like this ll=ll=ll. I also usually offset adjacent courses by starting with with a partial block - so from one long row to the next, the glue lines are not in line - they are offset by a half [or partial] block. If you don't use the partial blocks, then the approach is to alternate the grain alignment between adjacent courses.

    I can't explain it, because my thinking was in line with Howie's [to the extent I actually thought about it. To be honest, the first couple I did, I paid no attention to grain direction].. But, the article I read was by a guy that did some really elaborate end grain coffee tables and such, and he was adamant about it, and I've had no failures doing it this way - and he had identified exactly where my all my failures were. Dunno where I read the article, but the guy did very elaborate end grain coffee tables and such, so they were pretty good sized, using multiple species.
    When I started woodworking, I didn't know squat. I have progressed in 30 years - now I do know squat.

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