fixing holes after oiling cutting board

[Matthew Daly]

I made an end-grain cutting board and thought I had all the little voids filled with glue (Tite Bond 3) and sawdust. I tossed it into a container of mineral oil to soak for a while. I pulled it out yesterday (It looks great!) but I now see a few more holes between some pieces that I missed filling.

What can I do now? With the board being oiled already, will TB3 and sawdust stick in the holes well enough? CA and sawdust better? Any other options or tricks on how I can fix this?

Thanks!
Matthew

[John TenEyck]

I think you'll have to wait a really long time for the mineral oil to dry out before glue will stick to it. Short of that you could sand it down if that won't cause too much loose in thickness, assuming sandpaper doesn't gum up terribly.

No criticism intended, but it is just a cutting board, and will still be functional even with a few small voids. You could put it into service as is.

John

[Edward Weber]

I'm with John on this, plus the idea of filling voids with glue and sawdust on a food prep surface is not a good idea IMO.

[Kent A Bathurst]

I'm with you fellers

OTOH - you could drill a hole and glue in a dowel chunk - end grain would be "up" and aligned with the main cuting board surface. The glued surfaces whould be below the oil-layer.

Place called Widgetco has lotsa stuff, including end-grain plugs in 5 species [maple, oak, cherry, walnut, mahogany] so I asume you can get a species match. Klingspor's carries dowel rods in those same species, plus birch, if you want deeper patches, or you have a lot to do

[John TenEyck]

I'm with you fellers

OTOH - you could drill a hole and glue in a dowel chunk - end grain would be "up" and aligned with the main cuting board surface. The glued surfaces whould be below the oil-layer.

Place called Widgetco has lotsa stuff, including end-grain plugs in 5 species [maple, oak, cherry, walnut, mahogany] so I asume you can get a species match. Klingspor's carries dowel rods in those same species, plus birch, if you want deeper patches, or you have a lot to do

Maybe not. I once slathered mineral oil on a 1"+ thick walnut end grain cutting board and it started weeping out the other side. The OP soaked his, so.....

John

[Kent A Bathurst]

Eeeeek

Forget everything I said

Live with the defects

[Ted Calver]

I'd just melt some beeswax and fill the holes with that.

[Mike Henderson]

Maybe not. I once slathered mineral oil on a 1"+ thick walnut end grain cutting board and it started weeping out the other side. The OP soaked his, so.....

John

I had the same thing happen. I now do not make end grain cutting boards. If you use them with fatty meats, the oil from the fat gets into the board and you cannot wash it out. I find the long grain cutting boards work as well for cutting and don't absorb meat oils like the end grain ones.

Mike