Flattening Cutting Board

[Shane Sura]

Hi folks,
I am having a devil of a time flattening a cutting board I am making. I am making one of the checkerboard courtesy of tWW. I made it out of Purpleheart and hard Maple. I am right after the first glue up and trying to flatten the board. I cannot for the life of me get it flat. I have tried my ROS, Belt Sander, and plane. The Plane takes gouges out of the purpleheart and keeps making it worse and the Belt Sander seems to be taking forever with little progress. Am I missing something or do I just need patience? The plane is really irritating me but part of it is I am still learning to properly use a plane. I would use my planer but the last time I used it on a cutting board it met with a shattering disaster. Any ideas?


Shane

[paul wiser]

is this an end grain cutting board?? if it is good luck. will take a lot of patience and sanding. :)

[Shane Sura]

It will be an end grain cutting board. Right now I am working on the long grain part.


Shane

[Dennis Montgomery]

I know you don't want to hear this, but there are some projects where a specific tool is needed to get the job done right and quick. I make a lot of cutting boards and I wouldn't do them if I didn't have a drum sander. There is just no good way to get an end grain board perfectly flat without one. I burned up a ROS last year trying to flatten a board before I bit the bullet and bought the drum sander.

[Shane Sura]

I was hoping that would not be the case. I would love to have a drum sander but my God how expensive does one tool have to be. I don't even understand why drum sanders are so expensive. It seems to me they would be a similar mechanism to a planer or other such tools but are way over those prices. I just don't see how I can fit that in when I just bought a new TS. What I don't understand is why my Belt Sander is not working well.


Shane

[J. Z. Guest]

Shane, I'm having the same problem. I started a maple/cherry cutting board from Woodsmith a couple months ago, and it is miraculously twisted, even though I jointed & planed all the individual board before glue-up.

I agree with Dennis. Stop wasting your time & energy and take it somewhere to have it run though a drum sander. All my local hardwood lumber stores have this service for a low fee.

One other thing, don't try to flatten it until you've got it ALL glued-up. Otherwise, you're REALLY in for some frustration. ;)

[Nathan Conner]

Hey, Shane. There are several techniques to use. I just finished 4 of those boards, and I found some stuff out that may make it easier.

The first thing to do is go over by your PowerMatic 20" planer.... Yeah, it was a JOY to have the "flattening work" done in 14 seconds, both sides. But it kind of takes the fun out of it. I might as well dump some scraps into a huge machine that spits out perfectly finished furniture while I stand by and drink a Guinness. Actually, that's an idea!

But I digress. What I did before I had one of these is make lots of cross marks with a carpenter's pencil (basically, squiggly big arcing lines everywhere) and then hit it with the coarsest grit ( I think I was using 30 or 50 ) on the belt sander. This left the pencil lines where it was low and let me work my way up in grit as the penciled areas got smaller. Was it perfect? Naah, but good enough for a decent glue up. But just you WAIT until you get to the next glue up - final flattening on the end-grain side requires a REALLY sharp end-grain plane, or a lot of patience.

Another option is to use the router and set up a little "flattening jig" with a 3/4" or so wide flat-bottomed bit. You can find lots of techniques on SMC about flattening large tables using this technique, and I'm sure it would be quick enough to set a little jig up, clamp it in place and take a few light passes with the router to get as close to flat as possible, then finish up with some light passes with 220 on the ROS.

Good luck! And don't forget - if you're taking the router trip, you may want to consider gluing some scrap boards on all 4 edges so that tearout on the ends doesn't become an issue (or a tippy ROS or belt sander rounding down the ends) - DAMHIKT - then you can rip the scraps off at the end.

[David DeCristoforo]

Good thing you didn't post in the "neander" forum! The belt sander is your "best" option. But you gotta remember that this is just like any other tool and any other process. You have to "get the hang of it". Nathan's pencil line thing will be a huge help is seeing where the high spots are. And now (another drum roll) the "secret". Get yourself some 50 or 60 grit belts to "rough it down" with. This will leave hella deep scratches that you will have to sand out but at least you won't be there for a month trying to grind the thing down. And if you really want it "perfectly flat", re-read Jeremy's reply

[Greg Cuetara]

One idea....if you take a few longer strips...by about 6"-8" off each end...even 12" if you have long enough scraps. Glue them to the sides of your cutting board and then put it through the planer. Take a million passes on each side, meaning take very very light passes as the end grain is hard to cut. The boards you glued to the sides will allow the infeed and outfeed rollers to take hold of the board and run it through the planer safely. I made an end grain board for christmas and when I first put it through the planer it shot back out and almost hit me...I put a few strips on the sides and it went through smoothly. After you get to your final thickness take it over to the TS and cut off the strips then you only have to sand the edges. Voila and there you go another masterpiece cutting board.
Good Luck,
Greg

[Dan Barr]

The following book has a plan on haw to make your own thickness sander. this is a worthwhile project considering that it will come in handy in the future and is going to be cheaper than buying a drum sander. only downside is that youre going to spend your time building it.

-It is one of the ones from "The Workshop Companion" set.
-Title: "Sanding and Planing"
-Author: Nick Engler

Page 95 (or chapter 7)

you can pick this up on amazon for $2.64 and shipping

Here is the link to the amazon page.

http://www.amazon.com/Sanding-Planing-Techniques-Woodworking-Companion/dp/0875965822/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208319455&sr=8-1

ciao,

dan

[glenn bradley]

I was hoping that would not be the case. I would love to have a drum sander but my God how expensive does one tool have to be. I don't even understand why drum sanders are so expensive.

I am with you there. Drum sanders are one of the tools that really needs to be re-priced. Maybe once upon a time they were expensive to make but come on. I have seen $1000 units that were distressingly poor in quality.

I'm thinking if they dropped the price 20% they would sell 50% more of them. Oh, and as long as I'm dreaming, make the $1000 ones at least as well as a $300 planer will you?

Sorry, feeling grouchy I guess.

[Joe Chritz]

If you are sanding end grain it takes forever to sand. Even finishing up after a drum sander takes some time.

I use a drum sander but if you don't have one and want to save your sanity take your board to a cabinet shop and for $10 they will most likely sanding it for you on a wide belt.

Sharp blades and tiny cuts and you can use a planer but one "oops" and you are back at square one.

Joe

[Dave MacArthur]

I'd go with a router sled for this. Rip 6 boards out of MDF; put two side vertical rails on an MDF base just larger than your cutting board, make the side rails just 1/2" taller than your cutting board when laid in there. Screw them onto the sides of the base.

Now screw the other 4 boards into what looks like the frame for a skinny cabinet door. Lay it on top of the base and side rails, stick your router on top of it in the slot, adjust your bit down to lowest part of the cutting board, fire it up and start sliding it back and forth. Take you 10 min to build the jig and 5 min to flatten the board without issues.

[Peter Quinn]

Another vote for take it some where. When I make passage doors in my small shop I take them to a millwork shop, pay the $75/hr shop fee to have them run through the wide belt while I drink my coffee, and leave smiling. It takes them minutes to do what would take me hours or days. Plus it makes me feel modern, i say to my self "My company is out sourcing certain aspects of the project for increased productivity."

Its easier to avoid mistakes than fix them, so a careful analysis of how you arrived at this twisted place may be in order. I start with accurate milling, careful layout and controlled glue ups, but sometimes things still get off, or the darn wood moves a little, or the gremlins get back into the shop before the glue has set. When making 'adjustments' to the visible face of a work piece the belt sander is always my last option as it tends to add as many problems to the process as it eliminates.

I have a drum sander but it has its limitations too. You said you used a 'plane' which leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Which plane, how well tuned and with what skill was it operated would be my first questions. If hand work is your passion I say either invest in some very good planes (scrub, low angle jack, smooth and scraper for example) and get ready to learn a lot, or out source the rough stuff and get on to what you enjoy. Leave that belt sander for blind work.

[J. Z. Guest]

I'm glad I read this. I hadn't really considered the router flattening jig option.

For me, this may be worth considering, as I'll have to spend a few hours and probably at least $20 in gas to get to the hardwood lumber store. I wonder if I could build a jig in that amount of time?

I'm continually amazed at all the woodworking tasks that can be accomplished with a router. The only catch is that most of them require a jig, which means more time wasted on side tasks and less time spent on the actual project.

[Larry Fox]

I have never built a cutting board but have done a few shess-boards and if you are working on the long-grain portion as you state I would stick with the plane. It is a little slow going and you really have to be careful to avoid the tearout but the result is worth it.

[Mike McCann]

run it thru your planer since you at the long grain stage.

[Luis Oliveira]

This is what I love about this Hobby, you can take some scrap wood and think of a simple idea like ... a cuting board, which you can buy for about 50$ to $80 for a very good cuting board.
Then you say to your self, I need a belt sander ... that is about 200$
Wait, a drum sander is probably the best: 900$ to 1600$
Wait a router and a jig, ... bits 35$ + 150$ router
Or... you can do the first glue up, drive to a lumber yard and get it flat for $25 + gas both ways + do the second glue up and drive back to the lumber yard and pay another 25$ + gas.

I figure it actually cost you more than $100 to make the cuting board + time. But it is about the quality time you spend doing something you enjoy doing.

[John Daugherty]

I use the planer for both flat grain and end grain. I take really light cuts on the end grain. I finish up with the random orbit.

[Greg Cuetara]

... take some scrap wood and think of a simple idea like ... a cuting board
Then you say to your self, I need a belt sander ... that is about 200$
Wait, a drum sander is probably the best: 900$ to 1600$
Wait a router and a jig, ... bits 35$ + 150$ router
Or... you can do the first glue up, drive to a lumber yard and get it flat for $25 + gas both ways + do the second glue up and drive back to the lumber yard and pay another 25$ + gas....

Ending up with a $50 cutting board you could have bought....Priceless

[David DeCristoforo]

"Priceless...."

Well, don't forget that after the cutting board is done, get to keep the tools. And really, that's all not as much as guys will spend to play a round of golf (excepting the drum sander of course which is probably more like two or three rounds of golf).

[Michael Sobik]

I finished up a walnut and hard maple end grain board about 6 months ago. I don't have a large sander, so I bult the router sled. I had scrap that I used for it. It worked pretty well. The bit can tear out some of the grain so you need to go slow. I just used a straight bit, but a large mortising bit would be better. Takes a little time and still requires some sanding after, but the sucker is flat.

[Stan Tilley]

I'm glad I read this thread even though I don't have a current plan to make a cutting board (I try to read through the new posts every day, if I have time.) I am constantly amazed at how many different ways there are to do a single thing. It is quite a learning experience and I appreciate everyone's input.

But as for flattening the cutting board, although I have flattened other things with an assortment of sanders, planes, planers and routers, you just can't beat a wide belt sander. A local cabinet shop lets me come in and use theirs (I try not to be too frequent about it, as I don't want to wear out my welcome). So, I would find someone with one and pay to use it if I had to. It's fast, easy and perfect.

[Frank Martin]

I flattened the long grain glue up using my jointer and planer. For the end grain portion I used a 4"x24" belt sander with a sanding frame. Didn't take more than 5 minutes per cutting board just to flatten. Then, I switched to rotex sander, followed by ROS for final smoothing. I don't think I spend more than 30 minutes each flattening/sanding each cutting board.

I would say try again with your belt sander. You may need a more agressive belt. I used 80 grit.

[Shane Sura]

Thanks for all the responses. People are definitely right for a $50 cutting board we sure do spend a lot of time. But think about all the fun we have doing it :eek: I was able to get the long grain flat by running it through the planer. I do like everyone's suggestions about a cabinet shop but unfortunately where I live there is not many solutions and I am looking at least a 30+ min trip to the nearest one. Luckily one helpful Creeker who lives nearby has offered his assistance so I will most likely take him up on that for the end grain.

As far as the belt sander I was using a 50 grit belt so thats why I was racking my brain. The plane issue was my own skill both at planing, and sharpening along with the quality of the plane.

Regardless of this project I like the idea of the router jig. Does anyone have any details on exactly the best way to do it? Seems like two equal boards on each side along with two flat and level across for the router to ride across. Seem right? Anything to watch out for?


Shane

[Greg Hines, MD]

One thing on the router rails technique. You need a bottom cleaning bit. Woodcraft sells one here:

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=8225

You also need to make sure that it is sharp and preferably new, at least cleaned up.

Doc