Butcher block style board questions

[Daniel Hillmer]

Hi,

I’m thinking about making a cutting board out of hard maple. Was thinking of making a rather large one, around 28” x 22”. Any suggestions as to what thickness I should do? 2” too thick or thin?

Is gluing up end grain maple as the face the way to go?

Also what is the word these days on wood cutting boards? Years ago there was a lot of press that cutting boards should no longer be made from wood because of sanitary and bacteria conditions – is this still the situation? Also If I do make a board, are there any food grade glues that I could use or would Tite Bond be ok?

For joinery, is clamping sufficient or would pocket hole be reccomended? I see that Kreg has stainless steel screws – anyone ever done this? Are the Kreg screws considered food grade safe?

Thanks for any comments or suggestions.

[Robert McGowen]

As large a board as you are planning on making, I think 2" thick would be just fine.

Maple with the end grain up is a great choice of wood.

Everything that I have read shows that wood boards are more sanitary than those made from plastic or other materials.

I would use Titebond II glue. I have never used any screws or mechanical fasteners, as they do not allow any wood movement and might lead to the board cracking since it cannot move.

Good luck with your project.

[Daniel Hillmer]

Thanks much Robert!

I'm still kind of green to woodworking. I remember reading somewhere that it's a no no to run a glued up panel or board through a surface planer. Is this the case? Even if I only shave off just a very thin amount? Is it the glue that can damage the knives?

[Jeff Duncan]

Thickness can be wherever you want it, but generally you'll want it thicker if it's end grain. I also would not recommend using screws that's just overdoing it, get clean edges and glue them up...no problem.
As for planing you can definitely plane glued up panels, but the dried glue is a bit rough on the knives. If you can run the boards through at an angle to wear the knives a bit more evenly. Oh that's assuming it's long grain, don't plane an endgrain block.
good luck,
JeffD

[Frank Drew]

Making an endgrain cutting board will be some work, much more involved that gluing up the commonly seen butcher block narrow strip style.

I've made some cutting boards but honestly there's such a selection of well-made commercial ones these days that I'd probably save my woodworking time for a less easily available project.

[Daniel Hillmer]

Making an endgrain cutting board will be some work, much more involved that gluing up the commonly seen butcher block narrow strip style.

Not sure what you mean here? Actually maybe I mis spoke about what I want to make. All I really need is a cutting board to chop onions, veggies, herbs, etc – I don’t plan on taking a meat cleaver to it to hack apart chickens or steaks. I wanted to make it big because it's always a pain with small cutting boards when half the food falls off the board while chopping large amounts.

Would the narrow strip style be OK for this? By narrow strip style do you mean gluing up the face of the grain rather than end grain?

[Dick Bringhurst]

2" will be ok but very heavy. I use Titebond III, it's water proof but do not put in the dishwasher or soak it in the sink. Treat it with mineral oil and wipe it clean after use. Dick B.

[Frank Drew]

Is gluing up end grain maple as the face the way to go?

Daniel,

What I meant was that if you intended to have the work surface be endgrain, that would require umpteen small blocks and would be a great deal more work than gluing up 15-20 strips.

Depending on how it's been cut, a long grain piece of wood can have flat grain faces (growth rings parallel to the face, the surface you're looking at) and "quarter-sawn" faces (growth rings perpendicular to the face, and this isn't the same as endgrain.) For a hardwood cutting board, orienting the boards so that the "quartered" face is the work surface would be preferable, but not absolutely essential.

[Mike McCann]

You should check out the wood whisper . com web site it has a great tutorial on building an end grain cutting board. It is the podcast called a cut above.

[Davis Jefferies]

How about making a butcher block counter top. Anyone ever try this? I am toying with the idea since I have a ton of maple. Would need about 20 linear feet, 22 inches wide.

[Bill Huber]

I think end-grain cutting board are really great, I made 30 some of them and Christmas and they are all in use and doing very well.

I use hard maple and purple heart in different configurations and the boards are around 1 1/4 thick. The best size is around 11x15, that is a good size for a counter. I used Titebond III for the glue and it has held up just great.

As has been stated take a look at Marc pod cast and he will show you how to do it.

On the planner, I ran all of the boards though the planner after I glued them up, very very light passes and had no problems at all. When I say light passes I mean there was times I had to use a push board to get it all the way though.

Here are some of the boards I have made.

http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber/cutting

[Lee Koepke]

Not sure what you mean here? Actually maybe I mis spoke about what I want to make. All I really need is a cutting board to chop onions, veggies, herbs, etc – I don’t plan on taking a meat cleaver to it to hack apart chickens or steaks. I wanted to make it big because it's always a pain with small cutting boards when half the food falls off the board while chopping large amounts.

Would the narrow strip style be OK for this? By narrow strip style do you mean gluing up the face of the grain rather than end grain?
long grain cutting boards are just fine. again, as much debate about this as SawStops, but for what you mentioned, long grain is just fine. As others said, no mechanical fasteners are needed or recommended. As I build something, I typically take the 'scraps' and start planning a cutting board..... keeping in mind i really have only done like 2 'real wood' projects.

My first and only cutting board was cherry and maple. Long grain, and roughly 1 1/4" thick and 11x16.

[Steve Schoene]

Thick lumps of glue are what might be rough on planer blades, but glue in a reasonably tight glue joint won't be a significant problem.

[Brent Dowell]

All I really need is a cutting board to chop onions, veggies, herbs, etc – I don’t plan on taking a meat cleaver to it to hack apart chickens or steaks. I wanted to make it big because it's always a pain with small cutting boards when half the food falls off the board while chopping large amounts.
Would the narrow strip style be OK for this? By narrow strip style do you mean gluing up the face of the grain rather than end grain?

Daniel,

I've made cutting boards both ways. The main advantange of the end grain board is not so much for 'hacking' things on it, as the way the wood fibers are arranged is supposed to be more gentle on the knife and allows it to stay sharper longer.

That being said, nothing wrong with a edge grain cutting board, and a lot easier to make. My personal opinion is the end grain boards should be 2 inches thick, min.

And edge grain board, heck, I've got a hard maple one thats pretty big that is only 3/4" thick and I use it every day.

I like making cutting boards, because you can put a personal touch on it that you don't find in the ones you get in the stores.

Have fun with it!

[Howard Acheson]

Here's some info relating to making a true butcher block however much of it is relevent to making an end grain cutting board. The key is that you first glue up a an edge to edge panel of appropriate size and thickness. Then you cross cut strips sized for the thickness you want the board to be. Then glue the strips together end grain up to make the board. Pay close attention to the grain direction of the end grain and try to pick stock that has a straight end grain.

There is a little engineering that needs to be considered when building an end grain butcher block or cutting board. First, choose wood where the growth rings (viewed from the end) run as close to 90 degrees or parallel to one edge. Remember, the expansion/contraction is about double along the annular rings verses perpendicular to the rings. You've got to keep the grain running in the same direction as you glue up your strips. In other words, don't glue a flatsawn edge to a quartersawn edge.

Next, the way butcher blocks are made is to glue up strips of wood like you were making a laminated type cutting board. These laminated panels are then run through a planer to flatten them and bring them to equal thickness. Then the panel is crosscut into strips of blocks equal to the thickness that you want the butcher block to be. These block strips are then glued together again keeping the grain running in the same directions.

Not paying attention to the grain orientation will lead to the block cracking and/or joints being pulled apart.

A type II adhesive will work just fine however, you need to be sure you do everything right to get good adhesion. Your glue faces should be flat and freshly cut. It they were cut more than a few days earlier, freshen them up with about three swipes with 320 sandpaper and block to keep the faces flat.

Generally, threaded rod is not used as maple has quite a bit of movement when it's moisture content changes. Threaded rod would restrict this movement and either deform the block or pull the nut/washers into the wood when it expanded leaving the rod performing no function when the wood later shrinks. Proper gluing will keep the block together.

Next you need to consider a finishing treatment. An excellent treatment for cutting boards and butcher blocks is a mixture of mineral oil and either paraffin or beeswax. This is what is used on many commercial wood surfaces. It will last longer and be more protective than just mineral oil. Mineral oil can be found in most supermarkets in the pharmacy section or in a true pharmacy. Paraffin is found in the canning section of the store or in a hardware store.

Heat the oil in a double boiler and shave in some wax. The exact proportions are not critical--a 5-6 parts of oil to one part of wax will work fine. Stir the mixture until all the wax is liquified. Apply the mixture heavily and let it set 10-12 hours or overnight. Next day do it again and continue until the wood will no long absorb the finish. Let it set for 10-12 hours and then lightly scrape off any excess. Then buff it with a rag.

Reapply whenever the wood begins to look dry.

Never put a wood board in the dishwasher and don't soak it in dishwater for long periods.

[Mike Sery]

What's a good source for different designs?

[Lee Koepke]

What's a good source for different designs?
i did a search on google for cutting boards. interesting designs.

personally, i laid out the wood strips i had and kept moving them around until it looked good to me. it took me longer to decide my VERY simple pattern than it did to make it .. haha ...

oh, i almost forgot .... Howards post above is VERY good to read and listen to. esp the finishing part. when you shave in the wax, lean towards doing a lighter cut first otherwise it doesnt soak in as well ..

[Gilbert Vega]

I have made several end grain cutting boards and depending on what the use is intended, have made them anywhere from 7/8" up to 2" thick. Here's one I just finished that is intended to use as a cheese cutting board. It is about 7/8" thick and mesures 8 1/2" x 12 1/2". I used Mesquite and Maple.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3013/2633134900_cca2f08fb9_b.jpg

[Daniel Hillmer]

OMG, gone for two days and when I come back this thread is HUGE. Thanks so much everyone for all the great advice, info, comments! I'm sure I'll be going over it several times the next week or so!