Best way to square end grain edges of cutting board

[Alan Lightstone]

Building a large cutting board for my kitchen. I have the center cherry boards glued in place, and sanded flush after glue-up with my drum sander. The problem now is squaring up the end grain edges of the board.

The thickness of the board is about 2.25", which exceeds the capacity of the board on my crosscut sled and my table saw. My Kapex can cut that deep, but not that wide a cut (It's about 15" wide now).

I could use a long flush trim bit on a router to smooth up the ends (? big time tearout), but how can I make all the sequential cuts to turn it into a true end-grain cutting board? I could square the edges without cutting, but then it would be face grain, and this one will get used for cooking and chopping.

And I do have a wide variety of planes (#3 - #8), so I could plane the edges, but I think that could cause massive tearout. Plus, it still doesn't solve the more basic problem of having to cut into 3" tall strips to rotate and make it an end-grain board.

Here's a picture of where I am at:
311811

Suggestions?

[Prashun Patel]

Rip it against your rip fence. As long as you remove excess glue so it rides flat and straight without rocking, it will be a safe cut. It will be wide enough to do safely. You can either rip the skinny or cut off side against the fence.

thats a mighty thick board. If you find it too heavy for kitchen use then slap a front vise on it and use it in the workshop!!!

[Dan Hahr]

Rip the sides parallel. Crosscut as high as it will go and then just flip it over and crosscut the remaining 1/4 inch or so. My table saw cuts 3" thickness, so it would be one pass at maximum depth for me with my 3/4 inch sled base. I might cut a hair proud and use a block plane to take it perfectly flush but I wouldn't bother if you are just going to cut them up and make an end grain board.

Dan

[Wade Lippman]

I've cut 18" stuff many times on my kapex. Cut as much as you can and flip it over. Assuming it is well set up, just put the kerf between the lasers and it is good.

This is a good excuse to buy a track saw though.

[Alan Lightstone]

I think that there's no way, even with a stop block, that I'll get the Kapex to cut in two passes accurately.

I'm thinking that rip fence it is.

But the end isn't even, so I don't think that first cut will ride evenly against the rip fence, so still not sure how to square off that first cut. I'm thinking maybe use a router with a straight bit on the Festool track to square off the first end, then I can go to town having a square surface on the rest of the piece on the table saw. Not sure how much tearout I'll see that way, though I can put a sacrificial piece at the end to help.

I don't think my Festool TS55 can cut that deep (1-15/16" max, at least the new model is). Knew I should have bought the TS75.

[Michael W. Clark]

But the end isn't even, so I don't think that first cut will ride evenly against the rip fence, so still not sure how to square off that first cut.

Use carpet tape and attach a straight board that overhangs the uneven end and rides against the fence. It will need to be 90 degrees to the other sides.

[Brian Holcombe]

Try this method;
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/6AB9A61B-1003-4E66-8C0E-96A866BA0349_zpsv7s0odi8.jpg (http://s27.photobucket.com/user/SpeedyGoomba/media/6AB9A61B-1003-4E66-8C0E-96A866BA0349_zpsv7s0odi8.jpg.html)

This works fine on end grain as well, however, you must relieve the far edge (small miter) to minimize the possibility of the edge splitting off.

[Prashun Patel]

You can use your miter gauge and miter fence in reverse to cross cut the first edge. However because you will not have the trailing edge supporting the piece, you should clamp it to your miter fence.

the router method could work too if you are cool running end grain over the router.

[Alan Lightstone]

Lots of good suggestions, guys.

Here's what I did. I swallowed hard, and ran my #8 jointer plane lightly over the end grain, then followed with a #5. This got one edge relatively flat.

Then I went to the tablesaw and made sure the long grain sides were square and parallel to each other. Then I took several very light cuts and squared off the end grain. Fortunately had virtually no tear out with the planes. Kudos to Rob Cosman teaching me how to make them amazingly sharp, even if they were Lie-Nielsen not Veritas or Woodcraft planes.

I eventually chose 2.5" as what the final thickness will be for the cutting board (2.75 rough, with lots of room for final sanding once all the pieces are glued together.

I thought of using the miter gauge, but it hung too much off the table at the start of the cut (this is a big board), so I didn't feel comfortable with that. Even though I mentioned a router on several of my posts, I had real misgivings about that approach (though I will use a router to round off the corners and provide handles later).

I had also thought of the carpet tape method, but worried about it moving. Really shouldn't have, I think that would have worked just fine.

[Jim Andrew]

If I were in your spot, I would consider using a board clamped across the width of the top, and using a hand held circular saw to cut it. If you hold the saw firmly against the board, you should get a good cut. Before I got my Hammer K3 Winner, would have considered that. A standard tablesaw using a mitergauge to crosscut a large piece would just be difficult.

[Kent A Bathurst]

The thickness of the board is about 2.25", which exceeds the capacity of the board on my crosscut sled and my table saw.

What is the base of your sled made out of? 3/4" ply?

YOu could make a one-off sacrificial sled out of something thinner, like 1/8" masonite. Get a runner on it fore ht miter slot, put some straight scrap of anything as the back stop. When you make the cut, you will lose the sled that is left of the blade - no big deal..........

Then you have your one straight/square edge to use against the fence.

One other idea:

No sled at all on the TS.

Take a 24" strip of plywood or MDF. Make sure the long edges are straight and parallel [just run them both through the TS].

Carefully set it up with squares so the there is an edge overhanging the end of the glue-up, and the straight edge of the ply is dead-nuts perpendicular to the glue-up.

Fire in a couple screws to hold it, let that overhanging edge ride the TS fence, and tee it up.

Not like anyone is ever gonna see those screw holes, right?

[Alan Lightstone]

What is the base of your sled made out of? 3/4" ply?

YOu could make a one-off sacrificial sled out of something thinner, like 1/8" masonite. Get a runner on it fore ht miter slot, put some straight scrap of anything as the back stop. When you make the cut, you will lose the sled that is left of the blade - no big deal..........

Then you have your one straight/square edge to use against the fence.

One other idea:

No sled at all on the TS.

Take a 24" strip of plywood or MDF. Make sure the long edges are straight and parallel [just run them both through the TS].

Carefully set it up with squares so the there is an edge overhanging the end of the glue-up, and the straight edge of the ply is dead-nuts perpendicular to the glue-up.

Fire in a couple screws to hold it, let that overhanging edge ride the TS fence, and tee it up.

Not like anyone is ever gonna see those screw holes, right?
Worse - it's 3/4" MDF. Weighs so much I actually installed an overhead hoist over it to lower it to the tablesaw. Woodhaven sled - solid, but crazy heavy.

I think I may use the sacrificial sled idea going forward (there will be quite a bit more cuts for the design.)

[Jeff Bartley]

Allen,
I'd make another cross cut sled, they're so easy to make, why not make a thin one? With a good sled and stop block you can rip the stripes very close to finished thickness. You said you're ripping to 2.75 for a final thickness of 2.5, that's a lot of passes through a drum sander!
FWIW I also use a drum sander to thickness end grain cutting boards but I get my finished surface from a low angle jack with a 25* blade, freshly sharpened.

[Michelle Rich]

I must be the oldest person here, why not a handsaw for the first end? after that it can ride on your fence

[Alan Lightstone]

Allen,
I'd make another cross cut sled, they're so easy to make, why not make a thin one? With a good sled and stop block you can rip the stripes very close to finished thickness. You said you're ripping to 2.75 for a final thickness of 2.5, that's a lot of passes through a drum sander!
FWIW I also use a drum sander to thickness end grain cutting boards but I get my finished surface from a low angle jack with a 25* blade, freshly sharpened.

I'm sure I will use a plane (and already have), but the drum sander is so easy and mindless, I always fall back on that.

I have a number of crosscut sleds, but this, amazingly, is too big for them in one dimension or another.

I think the thin crosscut sled should do the trick. I'll likely cut the strips with the fence, though. It's the squaring up the ends that's the pain.

[Roger Pozzi]

I must be the oldest person here, why not a handsaw for the first end?

He has power tools.:p:p

[Bill Graham]

Alan,

If you want to haul it up to NW Atlanta you're welcome to cut it up on my MFT with the TS-75. Easy-peasy. You just have to drive 14 hours or so. ;)

PM me if you're interested, we'll talk scheduling.

Best,
Bill

[Kent A Bathurst]

Alan,

If you want to haul it up to NW Atlanta you're welcome to cut it up on my MFT with the TS-75. Easy-peasy. You just have to drive 14 hours or so. ;)

PM me if you're interested, we'll talk scheduling.

Best,
Bill

Bill - this post may have been a mistake you will live to regret. I am bookmarking it. ;)