[OP]
Member
Good morning. I have recently began making cutting boards as gifts. I have noticed that after glue up some of the boards have very small, but noticeable, ares where the joint is not perfect and you see a small thin opening. I am wondering how others deal with this? Do you scrap the whole broad? can you fill it with something?
Oh, they are edge grain boards.
Thanks
Contributor
I would rip the board at the bad joint and re-glue.
Member
Actually I let my pride dictate my course of action. If I can't redo the joint, as suggested above, I'll scrap & start over, unless I can repurpose the board to a smaller cheese board.
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"We Live In The Land Of The Free, Only Because Of The Brave"
“The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living."
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Contributor
If this method will spoil the intended design there are methods, such as a clever re-design or ripping out an entire strip and replace, to cope. For instance, if the crack is only at the very edge, perhaps you could cut a half moon shape out of the edge and replace. Do this at other areas as well to balance. You might think about inserting some strips at other angles. There are ways to recover from most challenges.Originally Posted by Dan Hulbert
Contributor
When I was teaching Shop we would fill gaps in cutting boards with epoxy. If I were making gifts I would redo the joint.
Contributor
I'd be more interested in why there were gaps in the first place. What went wrong to start with? What will be done to correct/prevent the root cause? That's where the bigger focus should be. With regard to the gaps - they either bother you or they don't and the answer to that will dictate your action amongst the ideas offered here by others.
As in many things a picture would help us define "a small thin opening". Take one of the offenders and flood the area in question with mineral oil (I assume you would flood the whole board prior to completion). If the gap is very minor the swelling of the fibers may take care of things. If not, a board with an area that can trap food is not good; repair or replace at your judgement.
Since you have multiple boards with the problem you probably want to fix the process instead of continuing to fix products. Make sure that the pieces to be glued fit together nicely without glue or clamps.
CB-wal-pad (5).jpg
Gaps can come from a poor initial fit.
Increase the number of clamping points or use curved cauls to assure even pressure across the joint.
clamp spacing.JPG
Whatever the cause, correcting the process beats fixing a problem every time.
"A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".
– Samuel Butler
Member
Glenn, what is that orange wood?
[OP]
Member
Glen,
See the pics. I would love suggestions how to correct the process (I do not have a jointer).
20171201_091707.jpg
20171201_091705.jpg
Here's the short version of my process:
Stock through the thickness planer
Cut the stock to length
Rip the strips for glue up
Glue
(sometimes I take the strips and run the face (the gluing surface) against the blade of the table saw and take off like 1/64)
Other than that I am at a loss
Help?
Padauk; orange when fresh cut turning through purple all the way to chocolate brown as it reacts to exposure.
"A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".
– Samuel Butler
As you state, face jointing is your missing step. Without a reliable reference surface all following steps can potentially add cumulative error. This can be amplified by the rotating, re-cutting and re-rotating of parts when making end grain boards.
The secret to success for me in making my boards is accurate milling. A planet sled can be made in hours and will pay dividends for years to come. I’m at my day job but will try to post more pics.
"A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".
– Samuel Butler
Contributor
When reading your process it seems you rip the boards then do the glue up...I pretty much follow the same process as you but after I rip the boards i run that edge through the thickness planer then do then glue up and everything joins up nice and tight.
[OP]
Member
Are you suggesting I can joint the face with my planer using a sled?
Yes, I did this for quite a time whilst I saved my pennies for a good jointer. I'll send you a PM.
Last edited by glenn bradley; 12-01-2017 at 12:36 PM.
"A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".
– Samuel Butler
Member
Yes, you can and I'm sure Glenn will provide more helpful info on how to make a planer sled. It basically amounts to shimming the top of a board that might be cup/crowned or twisted to minimize the amount of material removal to optimize the amount of useable material (thickness) left that you can work with.
This can be done with wedges or adjustment screws and there are a number of plans available on line. This is the one I built (https://www.google.com/search?q=plan...q8ELEMS8c9dXM:) It can be much simpler than this design, but I tend to complicate.
I believe Glenn has photos of the one he made, or it may still be available from an earlier post he made. You're in good hands with Glenn!
Oops! Looks like Glenn already posted his design/make pictures. Time to wake up Al.
Last edited by Al Launier; 12-03-2017 at 10:06 AM.
Thoughts entering one's mind need not exit one's mouth!
As I age my memory fades .... and that's a load off my mind!
"We Live In The Land Of The Free, Only Because Of The Brave"
“The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living."
"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." Winston Churchill
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