Making an end grain cutting board

[Tom Scott]

I have done about 8 over the last couple years in both cherry and maple, approximately 12"x20". I wasn't going for a specific pattern, so didn't worry about alignment or grain direction too much...made the process a lot easier. I also ran mine through my lunchbox planer (thus the limitation on width) with no problems other than some chipout at the ends, but I rounded over edges anyway so it wasn't a problem. They were then sanded smooth with ROS. I've used both TB II and III, with no issues from either. As others have said, I used the mineral oil and wax mixture for finish. No problems with any of them
I will say they are time-consuming and messy (I don't skimp on glue), but they did turn out very nice and were well received as gifts.

[Kent A Bathurst]

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.

[Jake Elkins]

I made a monster of a board (end-grain) a while back: 23x36x5 or so with walnut and h. maple. Might as well been a coffee table. I was having a really hard time getting it flat using the usual (belt sander, jointer plane, ROS). I am not sure what the problem was, I have never had a hard time flattening a non-end grain board before. It was too big to run through planers and the nearest drum sanders. After some head scratching, I attached some 60 grit to the smooth side of a 45 pound barbell weight back from my lifting days. I anchored the board on my table saw, placed the weight on top, attached a rope handle, and just slid the weight back and forth ad nauseum. This was beneficial in two ways: First, it was a great workout. And second, it was nuts flat.

As an aside, I aligned the grain similar to what Kent has suggested. No problems yet.

[Kent A Bathurst]

.......I attached some 60 grit to the smooth side of a 45 pound barbell weight back from my lifting days. I anchored the board on my table saw, placed the weight on top, attached a rope handle, and just slid the weight back and forth.........

OK, Jake - you win re: most creative solution to a difficult problem. I like it.

[Kent A Bathurst]

OK - found the article....FWW #205 in 2009....must be losing my brains - thought for sure it was older than that. In any event, a brief quote:

"The greatest challenge to this work is wood movement. Wood always expands or contracts with changes in humidity. The solution is balancing the construction—arranging the parts based on grain direction. You could put the pieces together without considering their orientation, but that randomness would lead to an unstable slab. For example, instead of deliberately arranging annular rings so that they alternate in direction and restrain each other’s movement, you could end up with a row of end grain that all moves in the same direction. If you compound the problem in the adjoining row, the laminations will pull apart in about one year’s time. "

Where mine delaminated, I had the grain all lined up in [at least part of] one course, and also in the adjacent course. Not by plan, as noted - I just glued stuff up, and that's the way the cards hit the table. Live and learn.

[joe Katzenberger]

Good evening, I will be making some end grain chess boards with walnut and hard maple and with the "squares" about 1.75" +/-. What are your suggestions for a chess board thickness? Can I get by with 1"? I usually use TiteBond III. Thanks, Joe

[howard s hanger]

I have made several over the years using purpleheart and maple. Now I use walnut and maple. Purple heart is too brittle and it chips easily. I have had no issue running end grain boards through my planer. It does have a spiral head (A3-31) and I take very light passes. It may chip a little but I always either round over the edges or chamfer them. Up until now, I haven't paid that close attention to the grain sequencing but I will. I have never had one delaminate. I did find out early on your table saw has be set up perfectly or the pattern will not line up. Same for your jointer and planer. Everything has to be 90 deg square. Use plenty of glue as any glue starved area on a joint is a potential problem. With modern glues, the joint is stronger than the wood so there would have be a lot of movement to overcome the strength properties of the glue, especially with an end grained board since they are glued together along the flat grain. I finish with a few coats of MO and then final coat with a commercially produced MO/beeswax.

[Steve Milito]

I made several that I gave away as gifts in 2007 / 2008 made of cherry and maple. I used titebond 3. I'm the only one who abuses my cutting boards (actually probably the only person who actually uses them as cutting boards) by throwing them in the sink, leaving them wet, not oiling them enough, but none have delaminated.

[Carl Beckett]

These are my all time favorite butcher block patterns:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ntly-completed

[Jay Jolliffe]

I read the same article & I think it was in FWW

[Alan Schwabacher]

I looked up the article Kent cited above, and am trying to make sense of it. The author did seem to have experience with table-sized endgrain boards.

If you were able to orient all the grain of species with similar coefficients of expansion in parallel orientations, the block should expand and contract as a unit, and I would not expect it to break apart. However, if as is almost inevitable, some of the grain were oriented in a different manner, the large movement in one direction might exacerbate the stress at the junction. By purposely putting small parts in crossgrain orientation (joining radial with tangential faces,) you build stress in throughout the structure but restrict the overall movement so that larger stresses do not build up. It's somewhat analogous to plywood, where the stress caused by true crossgrain joining leads to greater stability, as long as the plys are thin enough that the glueline can restrict the motion.