Cutting board glue up question...

[Tim M Tuttle]

Morning all,

I am wanting to make a cutting board like the one in the picture below. Seems easy enough, just make two cutting boards, cut them at an angle, and then glue up the opposite ends. However, I realized that by doing this the long, angled glue joint will be end grain to end grain. I know that's generally frowned upon but in this case there would be a large amount of surface area for the glue. Think that would be okay in this instance?

Thanks

397595

[Zachary Hoyt]

I think it will hold at first, but if the cutting board is dropped on the floor it will break if the joint is unreinforced. I do a lot of segmented glue-ups for banjo rims and the end grain joints have some strength but even a quite minor shock impact will break them. Once I glue the rings of blocks into overlapping layers they are very much stronger even if dropped.
Zach

[Art Mann]

I agree that just a butt joint is going to be weak and will probably fail eventually. This looks like a good application for dowels or possibly floating tenons.

[Pat Barry]

Join using biscuits.

[Kim Gibbens]

Long spline or dominoes.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I have a jessem doweling jig and that's what I would use- or similar, such as the other above mentioned solutions. You need something in that joint.

[Nick Decker]

Another vote for dowels. The Jessem jig is top notch.

[William A Johnston]

Another vote for dowels or a spline. That's a cool looking design.

[Gary Ragatz]

Maybe a through-spline the same thickness as one of the narrow pieces in the cutting board surface - make it a "feature"?

[Zac wingert]

Maybe a through-spline the same thickness as one of the narrow pieces in the cutting board surface - make it a "feature"?

Agreed. Question is, which of the two woods to use, because it won’t follow the reciprocal design of the piece. It even looks like the feet on the backside are opposite. Maybe a third wood, piece of something like wenge.

[Joe Hendershott]

Good excuse to buy a Domino- if you haven't already.

[Tim M Tuttle]

Good excuse to buy a Domino- if you haven't already.

A domino sure is tempting. I am mainly worried about going through all of the trouble and then not getting the two pieces to line up exactly.

[Pat Barry]

A domino sure is tempting. I am mainly worried about going through all of the trouble and then not getting the two pieces to line up exactly.
Regardless of whether you use splines, biscuits, dowels or dominoes, you will need to do a bitif leveling after glueup if you want a 'perfect' flush joint.

[Tim M Tuttle]

Regardless of whether you use splines, biscuits, dowels or dominoes, you will need to do a bitif leveling after glueup if you want a 'perfect' flush joint.

I assume you're referring to thickness? No problem with that. It will be small enough to go through the planer. I am mainly worried about getting the stripes to match.

[David Ruhland]

Following...

[Jim Becker]

A domino sure is tempting. I am mainly worried about going through all of the trouble and then not getting the two pieces to line up exactly.
It's remarkably easy to use the Domino system (or biscuits for that matter) and have things line up perfectly...you index off the same face when you cut the mortises on both sides of the construction.

[Nick Decker]

A good dowel jig (Jessem) also will reference off the same face. The lateral registration (getting the stripes aligned) will depend somewhat on you being careful. I don't own a Domino, but isn't that the case with it as well?

[Tom Bender]

Make it with the weak joint then flip it over. Rout out half the thickness over most of the area, staying clear of the edges. Fill with a solid piece.

[Thomas L Carpenter]

How about a giant half lap joint, if that is the correct term for it. The colors would be reversed on the back side.