Across Grain cutting board in Planer a no no?

[Patrick Irish]

My cutting board will be dry in a few hours and after I square the ends it will be 13x17.5".

The 13" side is across grain and the 17.5" is with the grain.

I have a Ridgid 13" planer like the one below. It's a 2 knife setup. It's rare been used.

Can or should I pass this through the planer? Will it destroy the cutting board? I don't have a drum sander but can belt sand it or even use a router sled planer jig I made if the power planer will for sure cause problems.

[Mike Hollingsworth]

It's wood. No Guaranties. But...
I'd be willing to give it a light pass if knives are sharp and true.

[Al Launier]

This is an are where you should tread carefully. Most woodworkers, injcluding me, would not plane cross-grain as this could cause damage to your work, possibly to the planer. Although more costly, could you find a local source to drum sand it?

[Prashun Patel]

Against popular advice, I do this sometimes on end-grain boards (I think that's what you mean). It can cause excessive wear on the blades, so I do it as little as possible. Here are the caveats:

Take extremely light passes.
The trailing end will blow out and tear horribly. So, glue on a sacrificial backer to prevent this. Glue that backer with the end grain facing to the sides not upwards, so it does not blow out as bad. You can cut this sacrificial backer off at the tablesaw after.
Beware that if there are nicks in your blades you will leave scratches or track marks on your piece that can be very difficult to remove and may only appear after a coat or two of finish. So, plan to sand.

[Cary Falk]

If you are around the Portland OR metro area I would sand it for you.

[Jon Nuckles]

How uneven is your surface? If you have places where pieces are off by 1/4" or more, then you might save some work by running it through a surface planer cross grain, but you do risk causing damage that will be harder to fix than what you have now. If you have a hand plane, this is the time to put it to use so you can plane with the grain. If you don't have a hand plane and are reasonably proficient with a belt sander, that would be my second choice.
It doesn't sound to me like you have an end-grain cutting board, but Prashun's warning about blowing out the back side is still accurate if you do try to run it cross grain through the planer. I might just push a piece of the same thickness through the planer, tight against the cutting board, to minimize the spelching. It may not work as well as gluing a sacrificial piece on, but it is easier and you can always cut off the spelched end if it doesn't work.

[Martin Wasner]

I'm not sure I'd do it with that planer. Even if it goes well, the finished cut won't be fantastic. If you've got a jig made to use the router, that's probably your best bet.

I'm with Cary, if you were around here I'd just gun it through the sander for you.

[Philip Rodriquez]

I have only made 7 end-grain cutting boards but I have used several methods. Materials used have been Hard Maple, Bubinga, and Purple Heart

My first approach was using my Performax 16/32 with an 80 grit belt. It took forever because I had to take 128th of an inch per pass and the board still required a hand sander because of the belt tracks the Perfomax will leave behind. Using higher grits adds time and does not improve results when working with the Performax on end grain.

My second approach was to use my 3HP, 15" planer, equipped with a Byrd head, and the results still require sanding. Additionally, I lost about 3/4" off the end of the board due to blow-out. The results required hand sanding.

My preferred approach is a router sled followed by some hand sanding. I strongly suggest a Festool Rotex sander as it literally cut 2 hours or more off this part of the job. I have a RO125 and NO affiliation with Festool.

I would suggest a router sled followed by some sort of power sanding.

[Tony Zona]

For such a task, I use an orbital sander, as low as 80 grit paper if needed to start and the sanding disk not orbiting freely. It cut more this way.

Then move up to the finer grits with the disk allowed to orbit freely.

[Ellen Benkin]

The answer is NO!

[Bob Falk]

I have done it on walnut end grain cutting boards and if you glue sacrificial boards to each side (I make the boards on two parallel sides about 12" longer than the cutting board for easier feeding) and as has been said, take VERY light passes....works fine with minimal sanding, in my experience. Check out mtmwood on youtube....he has a video on doing it safely and has some awesome cutting boards.

[William C Rogers]

I don't use a planer as I use my 19-38 drum sander with 80 grit. I usually only need to take off about 0.030" each side. After the final pass, I angle the board with out changing the sander setting. Takes about 30 minutes. I finish with abnernet using a Ceros sander 80 through 220 grit. Easy enough for me. If I didn't have the sander I would consider a router sled.

[John Conklin]

I remember in high school shop class someone did that. I'm sure the kid was trying to take way too much in one pass, but the bang left 1/3 of the school thinking that the Russians were attacking.

I've got a drum sander so I'd never attempt it.

[Ben Rivel]

I have done it on walnut end grain cutting boards and if you glue sacrificial boards to each side (I make the boards on two parallel sides about 12" longer than the cutting board for easier feeding) and as has been said, take VERY light passes....works fine with minimal sanding, in my experience. Check out mtmwood on youtube....he has a video on doing it safely and has some awesome cutting boards.
I was just going to suggest that. He plains end grain cutting boards all the time but almost always has sacrificial ends glued onto them to prevent damaging the edges.

[Patrick Irish]

I got lucky and the $10 harbor freight hand plan I bought and spent hours polishing and tuning up worked perfect and flattened both sides great. Didn't have to use the planer. I read some horror stories about planning across grain and end grain and thought if I take a light pass several times, didnt have to risk it.

Now the fun part will be in the morning when I have to sand the end grain. I might ask the local cabinet shop how much for a few passes. It's a small 11"x17" board.

[Bill Orbine]

I got lucky and the $10 harbor freight hand plan I bought and spent hours polishing and tuning up worked perfect and flattened both sides great. Didn't have to use the planer. I read some horror stories about planning across grain and end grain and thought if I take a light pass several times, didnt have to risk it.

Now the fun part will be in the morning when I have to sand the end grain. I might ask the local cabinet shop how much for a few passes. It's a small 11"x17" board.

It the chances you take on the gamble and what you do to prevent catastrophe. It's a risky move without proper preparation. You lost the chicken game and veered off. Not a bad choice, either.

[Yonak Hawkins]

I've done it without real issue. The surface doesn't turn out as smooth as planing with the grain and, as you might guess, the refuse are long strands that, for me, got kind of hung up in the dust collector duct. ..But I had to do it that way and my objective was achieved.

[Keith Westfall]

The 13" side is across grain and the 17.5" is with the grain.

I read this as NOT an end grain board. I have done this through my 13" bench-top with no issues. Light passes as it will generate LONG and stringy 'chips'. Check your DC often (if you have one) to make sure it's not plugged.

End grain is a different can of worms....