flattening a cutting board

[howard s hanger]

I just finished building a cutting board which measures 13 x 19. Unfortunately, I wasn't careful enough to make sure during the glue ups that it was perfectly flat so now it has a bit of a wobble when laid on a piece of granite. It's too wide to fit on my 12" J/P. What is the best way of flattening the board? Fortunately, it's about 1.4" thick so I will still have plenty of board left. Ideally, I think I should find someone with a 16" jointer to flatten one side so it can then be run through a planer. I don't have to take much off but I want it to be perfectly flat. It's an edge grain variety so I don't have to worry about tear out. Ideas?

[Steven Hsieh]

It is end grain cutting board?

[Huck Schwee]

http://blip.tv/the-wood-whisperer/episode-6159726

[howard s hanger]

Edge grain. Very light passes through a planer could work too I suppose, as long as there isn't enough pressure to push the board flat as it's going through the machine.

[Mark Patoka]

You could try flattening it with a router setup. I've seen those setups where you place the cutting board between two flat, parallel rails/pieces of wood. Mount the router to a large flat board that rides on those rails and just go back and forth with a straight bit to flatten it. Flip the cutting board over and repeat.

[Howard Acheson]

Take it to a local cabinet shop and have them run it through their belt sander. It's worth a couple of bucks to have it done right.

[Prashun Patel]

I prefer a belt sander to flatten a cutting board - edge or end grain. It's the fastest way. You could use a handplane on edge grain, but edge grain on some woods can be tear-out prone for me, so I prefer the belt sander.

[Dell Littlefield]

I nearly destroyed a lunchbox planer trying to flatten an end grain cutting board. There was one piece standing proud that I didn't see. I will use one of the other methods in the future.

[Troy Turner]

Take it to a local cabinet shop and have them run it through their belt sander. It's worth a couple of bucks to have it done right.

+1. Shouldn't cost a lot. Hopefully they could get it done and let you watch at the same time.

[Stew Hagerty]

How about a pair of winding sticks and a handplane?

[Cary Falk]

I would use a router and sled. If you have access to a drum/wide belt sander I would get on side somewhat level with a hand held belt sanded and finish the rest of it up with the wide belt/durm.

[John Lanciani]

I hate to harp on it but this is the reason why it's a good idea to put your general location in your profile. I've done a bunch of stuff like this for fellow creekers when they're close by, and I'm certain that I'm not the only nice guy here. If we knew where you are someone would probably step up and help.

[Cary Falk]

I hate to harp on it but this is the reason why it's a good idea to put your general location in your profile. I've done a bunch of stuff like this for fellow creekers when they're close by, and I'm certain that I'm not the only nice guy here. If we knew where you are someone would probably step up and help.

I would run it through my drum sander if you were close. I am guessing you are not. Hardly anybody lives up here.

[Mel Fulks]

It is a unusual cutting board to stay flat. I don't like sandpaper on them because the grit stays in the wood and dulls the knives . I would scrape the board ,then glue on some wood or cork feet about one eighth inch thick. Adjust the height of the feet with a chisel ,then test the board on some sandwich material.

[Steven Hsieh]

how big is the gap?

[howard s hanger]

The gap is about 1/8" of an inch. My local woodcraft has a Performax 18-36 I'm sure tbey would let me use. If not, then Woodworld has a wide belt sander too. I normally make the boards less than 12" wide so I can make sure it will fit through the planer but I deliberately made it wider and longer this time. I did it in two glue ups and then flattened. The problem occurred when I glued the two halves together. Next time, I'll dowel the two halves together to guarantee it remains flat.

[Steven Hsieh]

There is no need to use dowels. You need to make sure there is no gap during glue glue up.

I like to do a practice clamping, without using glue.

what clamps are you using?

1/8 is not bad

All cutting board will warp over time.

Is it warp in the middle?

[howard s hanger]

It's more like a little twist. opposite corners are slightly high so that's where the rocking is. Driving me crazy! Using Jet Parallel clamps.

[Steven Hsieh]

You have two options

Hand plane it flat
or use the jointer

[Jim Neeley]

You'll have a tough time flattening a twist on a belt sander, unless you build a jig to hold it from rocking as it goes through. My recommendation would be to start with a sharp hand plane and plane diagonally, from high corner to high corner, until it will set "flat', if slightly concave. Then either:

Flip it, plane flat (using a jack or fore plane and winding sticks) or..

run it through the sander on the other side, finally flipping it back to sand the planed side.

I'm of the "use no grit on a cutting board" school, although either will work. I think using a sharp plane will be faster than building a jig for the initial work.

Just my $0.02.. YMMV..

Jim

[Bill Huber]

I make a lot of end grain boards and now and then I get one that will not set just flat like I like.

I put plastic feet on all my boards, when I have one that will not set flat like I like, I just sand a little off the feet until it sets flat.

Some people do not put feet on their boards, the reason I do is so air can get under them and dry any moisture that may be left after cleaning

[Brian Brightwell]

I make a lot of end grain boards and now and then I get one that will not set just flat like I like.

I put plastic feet on all my boards, when I have one that will not set flat like I like, I just sand a little off the feet until it sets flat.

Some people do not put feet on their boards, the reason I do is so air can get under them and dry any moisture that may be left after cleaning

Sounds like a good simple fix. And I wanted to see if I have my location listed. And I do.

[howard s hanger]

I make a lot of end grain boards and now and then I get one that will not set just flat like I like.

I put plastic feet on all my boards, when I have one that will not set flat like I like, I just sand a little off the feet until it sets flat.

Some people do not put feet on their boards, the reason I do is so air can get under them and dry any moisture that may be left after cleaning

That is what I ended up doing. Screwed four feet onto the bottom and placed some spacers under the opposite front and back corners and now it's solid. It didn't take much but I'm much happier with the outcome.

[Clay Fails]

I agree with the idea of winding sticks and hand plane. You should have a flat board in no time with this method. Do be aware of tear out with end grain. A scraper might be useful.