Cutting board; end grain and straight border?

[Michael Drew]

I made an end grain board for a friend and the traitor showed it to more friends. Now I'm making end grain boards for several friends this season..... I'd like to put a boarder around a couple of the end grain boards to make them 1.5" thick, verse 2". I figured a straight grain border would give these a bit more strength and more resistant to breakage if they are dropped. I then started my usual over-thinking of things and am wondering if the opposing grain structures will cause premature cracks due to different expansion rates. Is this something to worry about, or not? They are going to be roughly 13"X18".

[Mark Bolton]

The border will give them a lot more strength for failure if they are just left quietly untouched by human hands or a knife. Unless you have one of these faux core endgrain boards its doomsday. Always trust your instincts. That little voice is most often the one you should listen to most.

[Michael Drew]

Sigh..... Bummer.

How thick would you suggest I keep these boards to give them enough strength to hold up to repeated use? I am using a combination of Maple, Walnut and Cherry.

[Jim Becker]

The difference in strength between a 1.5" thick end-grain board, assuming it's glued up properly, and a 2" board of the same construction "should" be just fine. The board I use is only about 1.5" thick and it even has four little legs. (I did not build it...it belonged to Professor Dr. SWMBO before I met her in the late 1990s and was old then...the board, not her!) It's end-grain maple and rock solid. No border.

[Kevin Jenness]

wondering if the opposing grain structures will cause premature cracks due to different expansion rates

More likely than not.

[Patrick Irish]

Putting a straight grain border around end grain is a no no. They move at different degrees and areas of the endgrain can (will) break at a glue joint. Happened to one of my first boards I wrapped an engrain with a border.

If your strips are square and gap free and well glued, it shouldn't be a problem. You could add a couple thin 1/4" dowels about 2" into the board, cut it off flush then sand. Adds some pop to the edge of the board and will give it some strength.

Typically though you shouldn't have to do anything if it's that thick and oiled well.

[Mark Bolton]

A well made end grain cutting board of pretty much any thickness reasonable should be stronger than any type of unintentional or intentional dropping barring someone taking it out a 6th story window to swipe the scraps off and losing hold of it and falling to its death in which case there is nothing you could do to save it.

The band around an endgrain board just looks pretty. I can imagine why many would want it. But its not feasible unless you have a faux core.

[Michael Drew]

Thanks for the input. I picked up some pretty cool looking exotics this weekend, one being Wenge. I thought it would look pretty as a band/picture frame, but will need to ponder that a bit. Maybe just cut a few pieces and keep the end grain orientation. I also bought some Purpleheart and Paduc, and was imagining different design combinations will all of them.

[Mark Bolton]

Search the archives here a bit and you will find a post that speaks to making those soundly (and you will likely find them far more profitable). You can glue up your end grain boards as normal, re-saw thin slices, then laminate them to a ply core, then band at your whimsy. You will get multiple boards out of a single glue up, AND have the perimeter band to boot. No one is ever going to wear through 1/16"-1/8" of end grain so thats really all you need anyway.

[Alan Schwabacher]

No one is ever going to wear through 1/16"-1/8" of end grain so thats really all you need anyway.

If it's really to be used as a cutting board, don't take any bets. I've seen boards dished more than that from use.

[Mark Bolton]

If it's really to be used as a cutting board, don't take any bets. I've seen boards dished more than that from use.

Ive personally never seen a board from the heaviest of daily users Ive given boards to (including our own) that have any perceptible dish. Even on boards Ive been asked to ship through the sander and re-oil/wax. RE another recent thread, you'd have to be cleavering or using even a long grain board 12 hours a day in a commercial setting to ever dish a board. I cant even imagine how long it would take me to dish a simple 8" wide hard maple long grain board in the shop with a combination of chef's knives, paring knives, etc..

Im sure it can happen, but....