Cutting board question

[Lee Koepke]

Hi everybody!

I am making an edge grain cutting board for a co-worker and got it all glued up and planed, happen to notice an ever so small gap slight snipe issue that I missed before glue-up. Now I could cut the strip back out and clean it up, but I would be sacrificing some width.

Will the wood eventually expand and close the gap? The only way you even know its there is by holding up a light at the perfect angle.

Any opinions? Thanks.

[Robert McGowen]

You are going to know it is there pretty quick once water gets into it. I would just rip it down the gap and re-glue it.

[Lee Koepke]

thats kinda my gut feel. its right at the end as well, and he wants a nice juice groove .... maybe I could market it as "self-draining" ???

[doug faist]

Lee - sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the gap is only going to get worse as water and such get absorbed by the board. Your best bet is to cut the board back beyond the gap and go from there.

If there are snipe issues either in your planer or jointer, make your boards a couple inches oversized to begin with and trim the excess.

Have fun with your project.

Doug

[Mark Patoka]

That gap is not going to close with swollen wood so you may as well recut it. I have a couple boards that are long-grain and only about 1/2" thick. They've warped a little and there is starting to be some splitting/separation of the wood on the ends. They are only for us and made from scraps and get beat up so no big deal but you'll want to do it right for your friend.

[Lee Koepke]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I usually do make them a bit longer, but the ONE board that was shorter happens to be the one that got the ever so slight snipe.

Even when you already know the answer, you gotta ask the question. Its about the 8th board I have done, and the first time this happened.

Have a great weekend all!

[jim gossage]

If you have a bandsaw with a minimal kerf blade you could rip it with that and rejoint both edges very lightly to lose the minimal amount of width (could probably keep it less than 1/16" with a good BS blade).