End Grain Butcher Block: Glue Up Strategy & Preliminary Design

[John Poole]

I am fortunate to have 1800 lbs of walnut billets measuring 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 14" for the most part -- cost me all of a $120. This was a pallet of rejects from a gun stock manufacturer. So, I plan to make an end grain butcher block that will measure approximately 28" x 52" x 4". My approach is to joint two edges square and then cut the other two to create uniform billets of 2 1/4 or 2" square.

Here's my glue up strategy: Each group of billets, probably 12 in count, would be glued side to side to create a row 28" in length using four maple boards to act as cauls to keep the billets in line. Then I'd glue the 28" x 2 1/4" x 14" rows, one by one or possible by two until I get my 48" length. When completed, I should have 28" x 14" x 52" and I then move that heavy slab (several hundred pounds) to a band saw mill and slice off 4" sections so I end up with three table tops approximately 4" thick.

I'm mindful of the end grain issue and will attempt to keep the billets in a given section uniform so that the billets in the section expand and contract in the same direction. I'd then marry sections together so they are in a uniform pattern so the expansion length and width would be somewhat uniform.

glue_up_billets.jpg

I plan to use Tightbond III -- experience has taught me a lot of moisture will hit those glue joints. I made a 2" thick sample cutting board and then abused it to see how well the joints held up -- I ended up giving it to my son since he did not have a cutting board.

I just wanted to pass this approach by anyone who might have comments or see problems with this approach.

Here's a first draft sketch of the ultimate table:
butcherblock_v1B.jpg

The framing will be square steel tubing, and I have a lattice of steel underneath the butcher block to transfer vertical forces in the center of the table to the edges. The drawer will be Port Orford Cedar and pull through from either side, the bottom shelf will be something more durable to withstand the cast iron cookware and heavy kitchen machines that will be slamming onto it.

[Tom Scott]

I have done some end grain butcher blocks, and have taken a little different strategy. The first step is the same, but instead of gluing up big blocks I go ahead and slice to the thickness I want (just over actually to allow for flattening). I don't know if this is better, but it keeps from trying to handle huge heavy blocks on the bandsaw.

[John Poole]

I should clarify that the "band saw mill" I will use is not a "band saw" such as a Powermatic or Delta, but Timberking 1220 saw mill that is meant for cutting logs into boards. I could not imagine wrestling with over 25 lbs on an ordinary bandsaw. And because of the Timberking 1220's 28" limitation on the throat of its wheel assembly, I'll actually have to keep the width of the table under 28".

[David Keller NC]

John - Hopefully your project is nearly complete by now, but I wanted to comment about the choice of glue. I've made multiples of end-grain cutting boards out of soft maple. While the standard advice for these on the 'net and in magazine articles is to use epoxy because of its water resistance, I chose to use Titebond III because of the expense of epoxy.

It's now been 2 years since I made these, and I kept one for my own use. It sees daily action, and gets washed with hand dishwashing soap and lots of water. To date, there have been no joints opening up or other glue issues, so my conclusion is that epoxy may not be necessary for these.

One other comment - this project is a very good excuse to purchase a low-angle jack plane. The low cutting angle allows a relatively easy flattening of the top surface after glue-up. I tried sanding to do this - the maple end grain just laughed at Norton 3X 60 grit paper. The result after 1/2 an hour of ROS was taking off an almost invisible amount of the blocks that were slightly proud (less than a 1/64 of an inch) of the overall surface, and that's going through 10 sanding discs. I estimated that I would have to sand this cutting board for at least 3 hours to accomplish my goal.

So I switched to a LN low angle block plane with an iron ground to 22 degrees (overall cutting angle of 35 degrees). I had the top perfectly flat in less than 5 minutes. This is one case where hand tools are far superior in effciency to the power tool method.