End Grain Cutting Board minimum thickness???

[Gary Kittleson]

Ok, so I'm going to join the ranks of the many who have made cutting boards for christmas gifts. However, I know that my wife dislikes the bulk of the end-grain cutting boards I have seen...but she does prefer the end-grain over the long-grain. So, how thin is too thin? I'm planning on a board similar in desing to the infamous woodwhisperer...not exact, but similar. I'll rout around the bottom, which will give the appearance of being a bit slimer, but how far can I take this? What would be the minimum thickness I should use (height from table up...)

The board will see normal 21st Century usage - cutting some meats, lots of veggies...but no heavy carcass chopping.

Thank you for your patience...

Gary

[Bill Huber]

I am not sure how thin you could go but I make all of mine at 1 1/4" with a round over on them and that works very well. I think that is the same that Marc uses on his.
I have also added a juice groove on mine with is really nice to keep the juice from running off the edge.

Here are some of mine, I have made about 60 of them by now.

http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber/cutting

[Sean Walker]

I am not sure how thin you could go but I make all of mine at 1 1/4" with a round over on them and that works very well. I think that is the same that Marc uses on his.
I have also added a juice groove on mine with is really nice to keep the juice from running off the edge.

Here are some of mine, I have made about 60 of them by now.

http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber/cutting

Just wondering how you make the juice groove? Do you use a trim router to do this? Your cutting boards look awesome!

[Michael W. Clark]

You can also round over the top and bottom to take away some of the visual heft. May even do a large chamfer on the bottom to make the side look thinner (similar trick is often employed for table tops). If you made it thick enough, you may be able to "resaw" it into two thinner cutting boards. It would take a good bandsaw set up or cut all 4 sides at the TS, then finish with a hand saw. You would have some sanding/scraping/planing to do, but less labor than cutting and gluing up another board.

Mike

[Prashun Patel]

"but less labor than cutting and gluing up another board."

Flattening and end-grain cutting board is a bear. I humbly suggest that gluing up multiples is easier than resawing one into many.

I'm sure the thickness of a typical end grain board is the same reason a workbench is often desired to be thick: the mass serves well to maintain stability and take abuse when pounded. It also provides some buffer for periodic reflattening or sanding.

Besides that, though, the wood expands little in its length, so it should not be unstable. I have one cutting board that is about 7/8" thick maple and it has been pretty stable.

[Bill Huber]

Just wondering how you make the juice groove? Do you use a trim router to do this? Your cutting boards look awesome!

I have tried different things and this has always worked out the best for me.

I use 1/2" or 1/4" MDF and make a template for each board, I cut the template 15\16" smaller all the way around or 1 7/8" shorter and nearer then the board. Layout marks 15/16" in from all sides and then using double sided tape, tape it to the board on those marks.

Using a 3/8" round nose bit, a 7/32" OD x 5/8 ID bushing in my small PC router with the plunge base cut the groove.

If you look at that cutting board link I gave you, the last image on that page has shows the way I cut them.

[Michael W. Clark]

Flattening and end-grain cutting board is a bear.

Prashun,
I haven't built nearly as many of these as Bill and I am sure we probably have different work practices. I find that most of my time is consumed trying to get the deep scratches out after I've flattened it. I use a belt sander with 60 grit to flatten and remove all the glue squeeze out. Then go to a Rotex and step up through the grits. The last ones I probably sanded with the Rotex twice as long as the belt sander and found that I still missed some of the scratches. All this elbow grease required to sand or flatten will probably warrent a thicker board rather than a thinner one.

[Jim Neeley]

Back to Gary's initial question: how thin is OK?

My wife is asking for a round one large enough to hold an extra-large pizza (18-20" diameter) and wants it as thin as possible due to weight. I'm curious what others have experiencd.

[Joe Angrisani]

Back to Gary's initial question: how thin is OK?

My wife is asking for a round one large enough to hold an extra-large pizza (18-20" diameter) and wants it as thin as possible due to weight. I'm curious what others have experiencd.

The pizza peel I made is 1/2" think with a chamfer on three sides that goes to 1/8" over 2" (so 3/16" removed over a 2" chamfer on each side), but it's 3- to 4-inch wide quartersawn boards edge glued. I'd never go that thin with an end grain cutting board.

[Bill Huber]

Prashun,
I haven't built nearly as many of these as Bill and I am sure we probably have different work practices. I find that most of my time is consumed trying to get the deep scratches out after I've flattened it. I use a belt sander with 60 grit to flatten and remove all the glue squeeze out. Then go to a Rotex and step up through the grits. The last ones I probably sanded with the Rotex twice as long as the belt sander and found that I still missed some of the scratches. All this elbow grease required to sand or flatten will probably warrent a thicker board rather than a thinner one.

I agree that is the hardest part of making a cutting board..... but

Some things you can do to make it easier.

Make sure the cuts are square, not 89.7 degrees but 90 degrees, after a cut you should be able to lay the boards flat on the table saw and bring them together and there will be NO gap at the top or bottom.

I am using some cauls I made, 2 red oak board 2 1/2"x3/4"x20", glued together to make a flat 2 1/2"x1 1/2"x20" flat caul. I have 4 of them, I use two at the start of the glue up to line ends up and then I use all 4 to keep it flat. I put some finish on them and then a heavy layer of un-buffed paste wax, keeps the glue from sticking.

Use a good rip blade, I use a 24 tooth Glue Line Rip from Freud.
Make sure you use cauls to keep things flat and everything in line.
Let it set for an hour or so after the the glue up and then with a good scraper, scrap the squeeze out off.
After the first glue up you can run the board though a planner with no problem. I now have a 10-20 Jet drum sander and that is the best IMHO.

Again use a good sharp and clean rip blade for the second cut. The glue will build up on the blade more then just pitch so make sure you keep it clean.
Use cauls to glue things up, keeps it flat and in line.
Let it set for an hour or so and then with a good scraper, scrip the squeeze out off.
Try using 120 grit on the belt sander it will do better then the 60, I don't know why but it does.
Then go to 150 or 220 with an ROS to finish up.

The scraper I am using now is a paint scraper with a good sharp replaceable blade. I can scrap the squeeze out plus I can also scrap the wood from high areas.
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...1#.ULQigYYzz0M

[Michael W. Clark]

Bill,
Sounds like you have a better system than I do and you have made many more than I have. When I mentioned resawing a thicker board into two, I was thinking it would be easier to glue up a thicker cutting board then resaw it into thinner cutting boards. If you make the initial blank extra thick, you would have enough stock to experiment with board thickness and/or make multiple boards. I would think you could get an idea of the desired minimum thickness before final sanding.

Good tip on the 120, I will try that on the next ones. I have an older scraper similar to that one from HD.

Mike

[Paul Grothouse]

I would recommend a making end grain chopping blocks at least 2-1/2" thick.

[Dave Cav]

I made one last year that's about an inch thick, made from all kinds of stuff. Oak, ash, sapele, maple, just a lot of odds and ends I had around. So far no problems with warping or cracking but we use it for a cheese board, not a cutting or chopping board. The wife said it was too nice to chop on. I used my drum sander to do the finish work on it, then drowned it in salad bowl finish.

[Jeff Bartley]

This is just my opinion but it seems that thickness should be relative to the overall size of the board. That being said I don't think I'd make one thinner than an inch and thicker is definitely better!
Bill- I can second your experience with grits.....anything coarser than 120 just skips over the end-grain. I run mine through a drum sander, then I remove the scratch pattern with a freshly sharpened LA jack plane. It's amazing what a sharp plane can do with end-grain!

[Ken Barton]

The first one I made, I didn't have a lot of wood around, so made it sparingly at 3/4" thick. That was three years ago and it is still going strong. I too used the Woodwhisperer design and as long as it is kept well oiled, we have had no problems. I use the once a day for a week, once a week for a month and once a month forever schedule for putting new mineral oil on the board.

Also, we use it for everything in the kitchen except meat (my wife doesn't think that would be sanitary, no matter what I show her). So it gets lots of abuse chopping veggies, slicing bread, etc. Now, having said that, every board I have made since, is at least 1" think and most are 1 1/4". Any thicker and I find they are too bulky for daily use, can't imagine one 2 1/2" thick, that must weigh a ton!

I did try to use some very thin scraps to make trivets, those didn't work at all (about 1/4"). I ended up making some with a double layer - criss-crossed pattern of the 1/4" strips and they worked for a while, but are too brittle and warp too easily to last.

Good Luck, I find end grain cutting boards to be very satisfying to make and the recipients love them.