Big cutting board. 24 X 48

[William C Rogers]

My brother wants me to make him a very large cutting board 24 X 48. I have never made one this large. It will be used for fish cleaning in Florida. Questions: Titebond 3 or 30 minute epoxy? Should I run dowels inside? Plan is to do end grain or would side grain be better. Any other suggestions welcome.

[Roy Harding]

Wow. I make a lot of cutting boards (end grain and face grain) - but what you're describing is more of a butcher's block than a cutting board.

That said - aside from size, it's the same animal. I always use a Titebond 3 equivalent, and have never had a failure (for over 30 years that some of my boards have been in use). On the OTHER hand, will this be kept outdoors, and exposed to the weather?

[Andrew Hughes]

I would make it long grain 2 inches thick. If you were to go end grain I would be looking at 2 1/2 thick or more.
Thats a big one and since it's going to see water it needs the extra thickness.
Tight bond 3 is fine as long as your joints are tight.And not trying to close big gaps with big clamps.

[William C Rogers]

The board will be stored indoors and I told him to wipe it down with mineral oil after each cleaning.

[Roy Harding]

The board will be stored indoors and I told him to wipe it down with mineral oil after each cleaning.

Then you should be fine with Tight Bond 3.

Andrew has shared good advice regarding thickness (although for end grain, I'd go with 3" or more - but that's a mere quibble)

[Wayne Lomman]

William, I most definitely would not recommend Titebond 3 for this job, especially if using a dense timber. Epoxy is the best way to go, and slower curing ones are better than fast ones. You won't need dowels either.

End grain is good, but for this size Roy is on the money - at least 3" and preferably 4" thick. Cheers

[Nick Nelson]

24x48 - 4" thick?
I guess that's the good thing about fishing is it's rarely done alone. He's going to need a friend to help him carry the board.

[john bateman]

I would buy one of these and give him half of it:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50267978/

[Prashun Patel]

I'm not sure I'd want to be cleaning fish on a wood board. More functional would be a large plastic cutting board. But to each his own...

I use Titebond III and have not had issues on cutting boards.

I would not do an end-grain board. Too much effort. Do and edge-grain board with a dense wood like maple. Build handles for easy cleaning, and elevate it on rubber feet to allow air flow underneath.

I wouldn't worry about dowels. The face-face glue joints will be plenty strong. You'll basically be making a mini workbench top.

[Chris Fournier]

Plastic resin glue has been my choice over the years (PPR is the powdered stuff, easier to use for occasional users I guess). Unless there is a lot of chopping going on edge grain would be just fine. Plastic would be my first choice in this application.

[Bob Falk]

[QUOTE=Prashun Patel;2582243]I'm not sure I'd want to be cleaning fish on a wood board. More functional would be a large plastic cutting board. But to each his own...

Research studies have shown that the extractives in wood kill bacteria and as a result wood cutting boards are more food safe than plastic, which tends to harbor bacteria in knife nicks.

[larry senen]

My lumber and panel suppier carries a comercialy made butcher block in just that size

[Robby Tacheny]

I'd go for plastic too. I like wood cutting boards, but if it were me the weight of a board that big and upkeep would most likely cause me to stop using after not too long unless I didn't have to move it very far to use it. One mistake and your cutting board is toast. Leave a plastic one out overnight, no issue. The rain will just help clean it.

48x19 Cutting Board = $90

Robby

[Adam Herman]

I would buy one of these and give him half of it:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50267978/

fyi: I would never put partical on a cutting board.
The countertop has a 9/64" top layer of solid oak, over particleboard.

[Bill Orbine]

It has been said that wood cutting boards is safer than plastic because the properties of wood itself is better to kill bacteria. And that plastic boards contains nothing so therefore it needs to be sanitized often. Just saying.....

As for gluing up large cutting boards, you need time. What ever you use, make sure you have enough time to lay out adhesive and clamp together. Use a slow setting adhesive ....OR.... do the glue up in different sections..... Such as make two halves and glue together as one later.