Making an end grain cutting board

[Mike Henderson]

I've been doing a lot of cooking lately and want to make a couple of end grain cutting boards. Seems like a simple project but I have some questions for those who've already been down that road.

1. What's the best wood to make a cutting board out of? Maple?

2. After you glue up all the pieces, how do you flatten the cutting board? Since it's end grain, running it through the planer might not work well. Do you sand or use a hand plane? Or what?

Mike

[Dave Lehnert]

I made one out of Cherry, Walnut and Maple. If you have your saw set up correct a ROS is all you would need.

[Paul Symchych]

I've made a bunch of them. Largely maple with strips of cherry, walnut or sometimes wenge thrown in for color. Whatver is around. A good way to use up those long skinny scraps that I can never throw out.
Some ideas: http://www.toolcrib.com/blog/2008/10/20-free-cutting-board-plans-the-4-that-blew-my-mind

As Dave said, ROS may be enough or a belt sander if it is REALLY uneven. Shouldn't be too bad though. The planer could be dicey.

You'll get a lot of heated opinion on finishing. Mineral oil [laxative] from the drug store is best. Just no cooking oil that will go rancid.

Edit to add: look at the 'how to' in #7 on the link above.

[Dave Lehnert]

The one thing I will add. I got the clamp pressure too tight. It caused the wood strips to bow and made the pattern off a bit. This was on the glue up after the strips were cut from the one in the photo.

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[Andrew Hughes]

I made three last christmas.From hard maple i ran them thru my planer with a Byrd head lite passes.

[Sean Kinn]

I flatten with a Lie Nielsen jack plane. The real key is to keep things as flat as absolutely possible during the glue-up. I've gotten in the habit of only gluing up a max of 4 pieces at once so that I can focus on getting the alignment perfect. I'm just not good at wrangling a dozen pieces of wood (slipping and sliding from the glue), and a few clamps at the same time.

[Dave Gaul]

Can't go wrong with maple & walnut to start! With accurate stock to start with, you should be fine. My first attempt had to be cleaned up with a belt sander. Had I been more careful in preparing stock, it would have been much easier.

There is also a free download for a program that helps you design them. Search/google "cb designer"

[Mark Patoka]

I've done one in cherry and walnut. Most people do use maple. A belt sander and ROS should be all you really need to flatten it.

[Keith Harrell]

My first one required a belt sander to get flat. I learn quickly to pay more attention in the glueing up of the board.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Only made a dozen or so - 8" x 12" through 24" x 36". All HM. Lessons learned:

1] I read this somewhere - maybe thru a link here to an article somewhere - from a guy that makes beautiful end-grain coffee tables etc. - Be sure to alternate grain direction on adjacent blocks, or - over time - the blocks will delaminate. I read this in the exact week that a couple 12 - 18 month old boards started to delam....right where the block's grain were aligned impropery [improperly per the article]. Rip, replace, refab......no problems ever since that.
2] Judicious use of belt sander to flatten. First time, I used surface planer >>> Holy Crud!!! Scraps of that misadventure still sitting in that pile right over there where I'm pointing - used for whatever blocks, offsets, any-old-thing where HM seems appropriate. Sheeeesh.
3] Also - used Stanley #80 and LN large scraper plane to just put a nice "finished" look on them after belt sander [and, IIRC, a bit of touch-up with ROS]. Didn't really scrape to flatten - just to take the slightest shavings off the surface.

I am not a cutting board expert - don't claim to be - just relating my lessons learned.

Oh....yeah....one more thing.....If I was trying to make one out of HM that is "elegant" I would spend a lot of time selecting rough lumber for color, and then selecting the cut blocks for color once again. However, over a few years, as they get "seasoned" the golden/amber color tends to even out the color differences.

[Terry Beadle]

I recently made a end grain chopping board out of some left over black walnut cut offs. It was a challenge to get flat. Walnut end grain ( most end grains for that matter ) are really tough. I used a LN Low Angle Jack, a Stanley 80, several card scrapers, a LN adjustable mouth block plane, and a Japanese standing iron plane. After several hours of not quite getting what I wanted, ie. a flat surface with no tear outs, I made a simple jig similar to the ones shown in other threads here on SMC with a Milwaukee router and a surfacing bit. I took the top 1/16th off the whole worse side in a matter of minutes. Then I went back to a freshly sharpened LN LA Jack and had her done with another 1/2 hour worth of elbow grease.

The original blocks were cut with a band saw. Even with being very careful with the cuts and truing the ends of the stock piece between each cut, there was enough irregularity to the work surface that mandated truing with planes. The router jig was noisy, dusty, and not fun. I guess I'm getting too spoiled with my normal happy hand plane use. Still if I made several of these, the non-permanent jig I put together to true the rough surface would get changed to a permanent jig with happy results more quickly arrived at.

Finish was two heavy coats of walnut oil. Once dried, then a quick rinse with hot soapy water. Add walnut oil once a month for 3 months and after that as need arises.

[Victor Robinson]

I used belt sander + RO to level the boards I made last Christmas. I wouldn't run the boards through the planer - while some folks have success taking very light passes, it's a mishap waiting to happen.

A drum sander is the most brilliant tool in the world if you're making a lot of these...

[Howard Acheson]

Here is some info that may be helpful.

There is a little engineering that needs to be considered when building an end grain butcher block or cutting board. First, choose wood where the growth rings (viewed from the end) run as close to 90 degrees or parallel to one edge. Remember, the expansion/contraction is about double along the annular rings verses perpendicular to the rings. You've got to keep the grain running in the same direction as you glue up your strips. In other words, don't glue a flatsawn edge to a quartersawn edge.

Next, the way butcher blocks are made is to glue up strips of wood like you were making a laminated type cutting board. These laminated panels are then run through a planer to flatten them and bring them to equal thickness. Then the panel is crosscut into strips of blocks equal to the thickness that you want the butcher block to be. These block strips are then glued together again keeping the grain running in the same directions.

Not paying attention to the grain orientation will lead to the block cracking and/or joints being pulled apart.

A type II adhesive will work just fine however, you need to be sure you do everything right to get good adhesion. Your glue faces should be flat and freshly cut. It they were cut more than a few days earlier, freshen them up with about three swipes with 320 sandpaper and block to keep the faces flat.

Generally, threaded rod is not used as maple has quite a bit of movement when it's moisture content changes. Threaded rod would restrict this movement and either deform the block or pull the nut/washers into the wood when it expanded leaving the rod performing no function when the wood later shrinks. Proper gluing will keep the block together.

Finally, it always much cheaper, and a lot less aggrevating to purchase a butcher block than to make one. The firms that specialize in end grain butcher blocks have speciaiized equipment to apply the necessary clamping force, plane the initial boards exactly correctly, plane the first glue up and then clamps to make the final block.

An excellent treatment for wooden food preparation surfaces like cutting boards and butcher blocks is a mixture of mineral oil and either paraffin or beeswax. This is what is used on many commercial wood surfaces. It will last longer and be more protective than just mineral oil. Mineral oil can be found in most supermarkets in the pharmacy section or in a true pharmacy. Paraffin is found in the canning section of the store or in a hardware store.

Heat the oil in a double boiler and shave in some wax. The exact proportions are not critical--a 5-6 parts of oil to one part of wax will work fine. Stir the mixture until all the wax is liquefied. Apply the mixture heavily and let it set 10-12 hours or overnight. Next day do it again and continue until the wood will no longer absorb the finish. Let it set for 10-12 hours and then lightly scrape off any excess. Then buff it with a rag.

Reapply whenever the wood begins to look dry.

Never put a wood board in the dishwasher and don't soak it in dishwater for long periods.

I do flattening with a hand belt sander. I have also used a low angle very sharp plane. If using a plane, be sure to cut from the outside in toward the middle. Planing fully across will generally result is chip out at the edges.

[Mike Henderson]

My thanks to everyone who responded. Your advice is consistent on how to do it, which is good. I'm not going to make the boards immediately but will in the next few months.

I appreciate you sharing your knowledge and experience.

Mike

[John TenEyck]

Walnut is beautiful, but is not a great choice for an end grain cutting board because it is an open pore wood. Closed pore woods are better choices, especially if you are going to cut meat on it. Maple is one of the closed pore woods, and the choice of many for cutting boards of any type. I have a drum sander, and is a thing of beauty for flattening end grain cutting boards after glue-up.

[John Nesmith]

I've made a few, and ran them all through my planer without problems. That was before I learned not to do that. I got lucky, I guess. Next time I will use a belt sander and ROS.

As to finishing, I agree with the mineral oil/parafin wax mixture. That's what I have used on all my cutting boards for years. Works well.

[Joe Spear]

Has anybody ever tried leveling on a router table by raising a surfacing bit slightly and sliding the board around over it?

[Dave Gaul]

Has anybody ever tried leveling on a router table by raising a surfacing bit slightly and sliding the board around over it?

Interesting thought. Not impossible, but not as easy as it sounds. Your table would have to have an "outfeed" platform of some sort, some type of "shim" to keep the cutting board at the correct height as you remove material, much like the split tables of a jointer.

[Joe Spear]

I forgot about the shimming aspect. But you could attach rails to two parallel edges of the board to keep it level, not unlike the jig you would make for a handheld router. You could take a sheet of plywood, attach side rails of the proper thickness (a hair and a half less than the cutting board thickness), hot-glue or double-stick tape the cutting board to it, flip it over, and rout away. And my router table is huge, with enough space before, after, and to the sides of the bit handle a board about 2 1/2 feet square.

[Chris Fournier]

If you've got a light weight planer then your options are limited. I've passed several dozen hard maple cutting boards over my jointer and through my planer. Fresh knives are critical as is leaving plenty of extra stock on the ends to allow for the inevitable blow out. I take off about .010 per pass to keep things safe and effective.

The problem with sanding cutting boards is that you imbed the abrasive grit in the board and that's gross for two reasons, one you end up serving and ingesting this grit and two it is not great for your fine kitchen knives. If this is the only process that you can use then you have little choice. should you be passing your cutting board through a drum sander be prepared to figure out grit, speed and depth of cut to eliminate the burning which happens all too easily.

[Ben Hatcher]

If you are making one from new stock and not from scrap, consider using 8/4 stock. It takes 1/2 the glue ups to make the same size board.

The lesson I learned on my last board is to ensure that all of the pieces fit tightly together without clamping pressure. If you try to close a gap or make something flat with clamping pressure you'll see that gap again a few months down the road.

[John TenEyck]

If you are making one from new stock and not from scrap, consider using 8/4 stock. It takes 1/2 the glue ups to make the same size board.

The lesson I learned on my last board is to ensure that all of the pieces fit tightly together without clamping pressure. If you try to close a gap or make something flat with clamping pressure you'll see that gap again a few months down the road.

All the pieces? In it's simplest form making an end grain board is no more difficult than making an edge grain one except you do it twice. You start out making an edge grain cutting board. You joint/plane that smooth and then crosscut off strips from it as thick as you want the end grain board to be. Then you turn those strips up on end and glue them together. You never have to work with individual pieces.

[Brian Kent]

Hey Mike, if you are ever in the Escondido area, let me know and we can run them through the drum sander.

I made some in walnut and sold them. Made a trio in maple and I use them every day.

Brian

[John Coloccia]

This is a good thread. Cutting boards are so simple to get right...and also simple to get wrong. I need to build a couple too so I'm enjoying this :)

[Mike Henderson]

Hey Mike, if you are ever in the Escondido area, let me know and we can run them through the drum sander.

I made some in walnut and sold them. Made a trio in maple and I use them every day.

Brian
Thanks, Brian. I'm not planning to start that project for a while but I'll check with you when I do.

Mike

[Ben Hatcher]

All the pieces? In it's simplest form making an end grain board is no more difficult than making an edge grain one except you do it twice. You start out making an edge grain cutting board. You joint/plane that smooth and then crosscut off strips from it as thick as you want the end grain board to be. Then you turn those strips up on end and glue them together. You never have to work with individual pieces.

I'm quite aware of the technique. All of the pieces = all of those crosscut strips. If you make a large board as I did, there are quite a lot of them.

[Kurt Cady]

Be sure to alternate grain direction on adjacent blocks, or - over time - the blocks will delaminate. I read this in the exact week that a couple 12 - 18 month old boards started to delam....right where the block's grain were aligned impropery [improperly per the article

Kent, or someone else, you're going to have to explain this one to me.

Are you saying, that if you're looking at the top of the board, you want the rings to look like this: ()() and not this: ((()))

[Pat Barry]

Dave, nice looking pattern / design. Next time though, if there is a next time, be sure to use a straight, relatively wide board as a reference edge between the clamp on one side and your glue up stack. The wide board will help ensure that the glue up stays straight and is not distorted into a snaky shape due to clamping pressure. The same goes for the first few rows of the finished cutting board.

[Bobby O'Neal]

I made some last Christmas. Walnut and Maple and it went really smoothly. My glue up when better than I could have hoped for and the ROS did the trick for a mild flattening and then scrapers to finish. I did the Wood Whisperer design.

[Charles Goodnight]

OK, I will fess up. I made a bunch of them and (wait for it) sent them through the planer. It worked kinda fine. First, I took very small bites, and second, it chipped off the ends quite a bit. I just sawed the boards a 1/4 inch shorter after I was done, and then finished them up with a ROS. They came out fine. I did do my first one with a hand plane. That also worked, but maple end grain is a lot of work to plane!

I did figure out, that to get the pattern to line up well it was easiest to put the board together in several glue ups. I would glue three strips together at a time, and just keep building up until I had the whole board. That way I had plenty of time and focus to get things lined up and avoid the unfortunate slippage during clamping.

[Tom Scott]

I have done about 8 over the last couple years in both cherry and maple, approximately 12"x20". I wasn't going for a specific pattern, so didn't worry about alignment or grain direction too much...made the process a lot easier. I also ran mine through my lunchbox planer (thus the limitation on width) with no problems other than some chipout at the ends, but I rounded over edges anyway so it wasn't a problem. They were then sanded smooth with ROS. I've used both TB II and III, with no issues from either. As others have said, I used the mineral oil and wax mixture for finish. No problems with any of them
I will say they are time-consuming and messy (I don't skimp on glue), but they did turn out very nice and were well received as gifts.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Kent, or someone else, you're going to have to explain this one to me.

Are you saying, that if you're looking at the top of the board, you want the rings to look like this: ()() and not this: ((()))

Nope. What I'm saying contradicts what Howard said earlier about qtrsawn v flatsawn. A course would look more like this ll=ll=ll. I also usually offset adjacent courses by starting with with a partial block - so from one long row to the next, the glue lines are not in line - they are offset by a half [or partial] block. If you don't use the partial blocks, then the approach is to alternate the grain alignment between adjacent courses.

I can't explain it, because my thinking was in line with Howie's [to the extent I actually thought about it. To be honest, the first couple I did, I paid no attention to grain direction].. But, the article I read was by a guy that did some really elaborate end grain coffee tables and such, and he was adamant about it, and I've had no failures doing it this way - and he had identified exactly where my all my failures were. Dunno where I read the article, but the guy did very elaborate end grain coffee tables and such, so they were pretty good sized, using multiple species.

[Jake Elkins]

I made a monster of a board (end-grain) a while back: 23x36x5 or so with walnut and h. maple. Might as well been a coffee table. I was having a really hard time getting it flat using the usual (belt sander, jointer plane, ROS). I am not sure what the problem was, I have never had a hard time flattening a non-end grain board before. It was too big to run through planers and the nearest drum sanders. After some head scratching, I attached some 60 grit to the smooth side of a 45 pound barbell weight back from my lifting days. I anchored the board on my table saw, placed the weight on top, attached a rope handle, and just slid the weight back and forth ad nauseum. This was beneficial in two ways: First, it was a great workout. And second, it was nuts flat.

As an aside, I aligned the grain similar to what Kent has suggested. No problems yet.

[Kent A Bathurst]

.......I attached some 60 grit to the smooth side of a 45 pound barbell weight back from my lifting days. I anchored the board on my table saw, placed the weight on top, attached a rope handle, and just slid the weight back and forth.........

OK, Jake - you win re: most creative solution to a difficult problem. I like it. :D

[Kent A Bathurst]

OK - found the article....FWW #205 in 2009....must be losing my brains - thought for sure it was older than that. In any event, a brief quote:



"The greatest challenge to this work is wood movement. Wood always expands or contracts with changes in humidity. The solution is balancing the construction—arranging the parts based on grain direction. You could put the pieces together without considering their orientation, but that randomness would lead to an unstable slab. For example, instead of deliberately arranging annular rings so that they alternate in direction and restrain each other’s movement, you could end up with a row of end grain that all moves in the same direction. If you compound the problem in the adjoining row, the laminations will pull apart in about one year’s time. "


Where mine delaminated, I had the grain all lined up in [at least part of] one course, and also in the adjacent course. Not by plan, as noted - I just glued stuff up, and that's the way the cards hit the table. Live and learn.

[joe Katzenberger]

Good evening, I will be making some end grain chess boards with walnut and hard maple and with the "squares" about 1.75" +/-. What are your suggestions for a chess board thickness? Can I get by with 1"? I usually use TiteBond III. Thanks, Joe

[howard s hanger]

I have made several over the years using purpleheart and maple. Now I use walnut and maple. Purple heart is too brittle and it chips easily. I have had no issue running end grain boards through my planer. It does have a spiral head (A3-31) and I take very light passes. It may chip a little but I always either round over the edges or chamfer them. Up until now, I haven't paid that close attention to the grain sequencing but I will. I have never had one delaminate. I did find out early on your table saw has be set up perfectly or the pattern will not line up. Same for your jointer and planer. Everything has to be 90 deg square. Use plenty of glue as any glue starved area on a joint is a potential problem. With modern glues, the joint is stronger than the wood so there would have be a lot of movement to overcome the strength properties of the glue, especially with an end grained board since they are glued together along the flat grain. I finish with a few coats of MO and then final coat with a commercially produced MO/beeswax.

[Steve Milito]

I made several that I gave away as gifts in 2007 / 2008 made of cherry and maple. I used titebond 3. I'm the only one who abuses my cutting boards (actually probably the only person who actually uses them as cutting boards) by throwing them in the sink, leaving them wet, not oiling them enough, but none have delaminated.

[Carl Beckett]

These are my all time favorite butcher block patterns:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?142454-Butcher-Blocks-I-recently-completed

[Jay Jolliffe]

I read the same article & I think it was in FWW

[Alan Schwabacher]

I looked up the article Kent cited above, and am trying to make sense of it. The author did seem to have experience with table-sized endgrain boards.

If you were able to orient all the grain of species with similar coefficients of expansion in parallel orientations, the block should expand and contract as a unit, and I would not expect it to break apart. However, if as is almost inevitable, some of the grain were oriented in a different manner, the large movement in one direction might exacerbate the stress at the junction. By purposely putting small parts in crossgrain orientation (joining radial with tangential faces,) you build stress in throughout the structure but restrict the overall movement so that larger stresses do not build up. It's somewhat analogous to plywood, where the stress caused by true crossgrain joining leads to greater stability, as long as the plys are thin enough that the glueline can restrict the motion.