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Thread: Cutting boards and some questions

  1. #1

    Cutting boards and some questions

    Been playing around with cutting boards. I don't need anymore furniture, but the boards keep me busy and I've been gifting them to family and closer friends. Last two boards I'm having some issues. The 1/4' slats are recessed slightly. I realize that the wood will expand and contract along the length. Unfortunately to get the color combinations I desire I have to mix end grain and edge or face grain. As I'm a bit of a hack when it comes to terminology, the end grain is the end, why I call edge is the 8/4 side and face is across the top

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    I assume the wood absorbs moisture during the glue ups. Those slats really bow when I roll it on. How much time should I give the boards to dry before sanding. I'm thinking those thin slats are shrinking for awhile and maybe I should wait more than 24 hours

    Does the oil cause the wood to swell. The cherry and walnut that are forty five degreed together are end grain and soak up the oil. The yellow heart is edge. The larger boards the walnut slats are edge the smaller board one set is edge the other face. I haven't been paying attention so could it be the oil thats causing the end grain pieces to swell. Once I sand and route I go right to the oil.

    The other boards are pretty good, only the yellow heart is on edge

    IMG_0069.jpgIMG_0079.jpghat.jpg

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
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    Millstone, NJ
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    I know edge and face are slightly different but I haven't had any issue using them interchangeably.

    The brick boards I have made had serious curling on the "mortar" end grain portions but they flattened out and have had no issue for the past few years. I think the little movement on the small pieces cannot pull the larger pieces.

    I dont believe the wood will swell too much if the wood starts at a reasonable dryness.

    I usually wait at least 24 hours after glueup to begin cutting on it. I know 4 hrs is ok but im usually not in a huge rush so I let things fully cure

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
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    WNY
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    9,647
    Those things make me dizzy just looking at them, Steve. Very nice work, indeed, definitely not by some hack, terminology or otherwise.

    End grain blocks are likely going to expand the least because the gluing surfaces are on the edge/face grain faces. Any piece where you apply glue to the end grain is going to suck in a lot of glue/water and expand the most, at least for a short distance. Wood species plays a role in how much. Trying to predict success or failure is probably no better than playing the lottery. I think observation is your best guide. If parts fit together perfectly when dry but not after you apply glue then that's telling you something is expanding more than others. I know some of my friends who make complicated cutting boards do the glue ups in several stages, and let those sub-assemblies dry for several days. They should come back to their starting dimensions once everything comes back to the equilibrium moisture content of your shop.

    John

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by John TenEyck View Post
    Those things make me dizzy just looking at them, Steve. Very nice work, indeed, definitely not by some hack, terminology or otherwise.

    End grain blocks are likely going to expand the least because the gluing surfaces are on the edge/face grain faces. Any piece where you apply glue to the end grain is going to suck in a lot of glue/water and expand the most, at least for a short distance. Wood species plays a role in how much. Trying to predict success or failure is probably no better than playing the lottery. I think observation is your best guide. If parts fit together perfectly when dry but not after you apply glue then that's telling you something is expanding more than others. I know some of my friends who make complicated cutting boards do the glue ups in several stages, and let those sub-assemblies dry for several days. They should come back to their starting dimensions once everything comes back to the equilibrium moisture content of your shop.

    John
    Probably what I'm going to do in the future. Usually the bulkier parts of the glue up sit for awhile. These I glued up before a road trip so they sat for over a month. The 1/4s kick my butt and after the final glue up I get a tad impatient. I'm trying to bang them out as the weather gets cooler down here. Don't feel like investing in AC for the garage. I used walnut for the slats, changed it up as I usually go with the yellow heart. The walnut I used has a nice brindle pattern on the sides. Tried some Brazilian cherry on a couple of boards. Looks nice, but man is it dense

    As far as the hack part goes, I read some of the stuff on here and I'm lost As far as the dizzy goes, if someone buys a board and slices off a finger, send me the offending digit and I'll send them a small board on me.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
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    Upland CA
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    5,548
    It got to me too. I had to give up staring at the pics. What I saw of it looked great, but I now know I will not be trying to do one myself.
    Rick Potter

    DIY journeyman,
    FWW wannabe.
    AKA Village Idiot.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Rick Potter View Post
    It got to me too. I had to give up staring at the pics. What I saw of it looked great, but I now know I will not be trying to do one myself.
    It’s like going to the beach or a pool, don’t tiptoe, just dive in, less painful. Believe me I’ve made more than my share of mistakes. Some bone headed, others just laying out the pieces intuitively rather than where they actually go. Sometimes I catch them early enough to fix other times they end up as give always

    I messed up two boards exactly like the two larger ones I posted. Asked people to find the mistakes and they couldn’t. Bet if they paid for them they’d find them real quick

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
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    Houston, Texas area
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    ​Inspiring, beautiful work Steve.
    Mark McFarlane

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by mark mcfarlane View Post
    ​Inspiring, beautiful work Steve.
    Thank you. Somewhere along the way I found my inner artist. Really enjoy woodworking. Spent. Sixty four years in an apartment not being able to do much. Trying to make up for lost time

  9. #9
    Beautiful stuff ! But it must be difficult to clean out food that’s stuck in the “ Deep Space”.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Mel Fulks View Post
    Beautiful stuff ! But it must be difficult to clean out food that’s stuck in the “ Deep Space”.
    I usually give them to the wives. Most threaten their husbands with bodily harm if they cut on them. I gave one of my mistakes to a redneck buddy of mine. He texted me when he got home. Tried cutting on it and his old lady hit him with a stick

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    N. Idaho
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    1,621
    Great work and pleased to hear you are making up for lost shop time. I sent my mother an end-grain cutting board (that was not nearly so nice) and had to tell her that if I showed up and didn't find knife marks I was taking it back. Otherwise it was just going to live life on a shelf as a nick nack-lol
    "You can observe a lot just by watching."
    --Yogi Berra

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Christopher Charles View Post
    Great work and pleased to hear you are making up for lost shop time. I sent my mother an end-grain cutting board (that was not nearly so nice) and had to tell her that if I showed up and didn't find knife marks I was taking it back. Otherwise it was just going to live life on a shelf as a nick nack-lol
    I’m at peace with it. If the want to keep them as nick nacks so be it. When they start asking for channels for blood and grease I draw the line

    Oddly enough I don’t even own a cutting board. I use paper plates One and done, no cleaning, oiling or waxing

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Lafayette, Indiana
    Posts
    1,378
    Very cool boards here Steve. They are a joy to see. Much nicer than any cutting board I’ve done. So I do not feel qualified to provide feedback on the glue up questions, but your boards are outstanding.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Joe A Faulkner View Post
    Very cool boards here Steve. They are a joy to see. Much nicer than any cutting board I’ve done. So I do not feel qualified to provide feedback on the glue up questions, but your boards are outstanding.
    Thank you. I did find what I was looking for a few days ago. It was a pretty detailed pdf study iirc It discussed expansion in woods due to humidity and showed percentages of expansion as humidity went up. Talked a little about expansion along glue joint and waiting to plane or sand so joint shrinks back to original size

    I’ll just go easy on scraping the excess glue and waiting a decent amount of time before sanding

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