Grain orientation in end grain cutting boards

[Frank Thompson]

A while back in a thread on building end grain cutting boards two different suggestions were made for grain orientation. The first was to keep the grain oriented in the same direction (don't glue quartersawn face to flatsawn face), so the cutting board would expand and contract as a single unit. The second recommendation was to alternate grain from piece to piece ( =||=||= ) and to offset rows, with the idea this would break up and help resist expansion and contraction, which is exactly the opposite of the previous recommendation. I'm about to begin a large end grain cutting board/cart project and would like to know which approach those of you experienced with building large boards think is best?

[Kyle Iwamoto]

No one? I'll give this a shot. My OPINION, always glue face to face, not face to end. Wow, that came out wrong. I have end grain cutting boards that see almost daily use. I have the CB in a long grain frame. The board does move and the frame miters did eventually seperate, but the board is still in use. Non of the face to face end grain glue ups failed. The frame is biscuit joined to the CB. And the miters splined. THe board is stable, just the miters have gaps in them. The boards are a couple years old. The board is maple/walnut checkerboard, and framed in red oak. Yes, pretty much violated all the rules.

[Jaromir Svoboda]

I do have John Boos end grain butcher block, and it is face to face.

[Howard Acheson]

Go to the Boos site. Boos is one of the largest manufacturers of end grain cutting boards and chopping blocks. You will see that the grain all runs in the same direction. I've never seen it any other way on successful boards. Alternating the grain will lead to damage due to wood expanding and contracting.

[Howard Acheson]

Here is something I meant to post originally.

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 ANSI type II or ANSI Type I (Titebond III) adhesive will work just fine however, you need to be sure you do everything right to get good adhesion. Wood glues are non-toxic when cured. 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.

[Jerry Miner]

I don't know where you got that #2 recommendation (=ll=ll=ll=), but it goes against all that is known and published about wood movement and glue joints.

But it would help us all if you built some of each type, then reported back with the success/failure rate of each, !

[Justin Rapp]

Not to change the subject but looking at Boos site and the above post, I heard using walnut for a cutting board was a no-no?

[Frank Thompson]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Howie I had seen your advise on other threads on this topic and it makes sense to me as a wood worker. The second recommendation was in a thread Making an end grain cutting board and the reply was by Kent. Kent acknowledged it ran counter to Howie's advise in that thread but makes an argument for it. That's why I'm curious if anyone had direct experience with that approach.