# How to properly clamp for end grain cutting board



## adrianmcmanus (Nov 9, 2011)

How much clamping pressure should I apply when clamping my initial boards together for my end grain cutting board build? I think I may have tightened them down too much as I noticed the glue up was slightly warped and a few glue joints were weak the next day. I used 3 clamps with cauls. This was my first glue up so I'm sure it was either too much clamping pressure or something else I did.


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## ed_h (Dec 1, 2010)

You don't really need too much more pressure than that required to close up any gap. Really high pressure can squeeze out too much glue.

It's probably more important to have even clamping pressure across the joint. This is the real reason for using more clamps and cauls.


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## HowardAcheson (Nov 25, 2011)

Don't worry about applying too much pressure. If you are using a PVA adhesive (ala Titebond) and hard wood like maple, you want to use as much pressure as your clamps can apply. Titebond recommends 200 psi of pressure for maple and other hard woods. That's fully tightened 3/4" pipe clamps placed every 6 to 8 inches.

Here's some info about making chopping blocks and end grain cutting boards that may be helpful.

There is a little engineering that needs to be considered when building an end grain butcher block or cutting board. The best woods are maple, birch, beech and cherry if you want a contrast. 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 PVA 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.


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## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

You should not be tightening your clamps as tight as you can. Clamps should be tightened enough to close the gap and hold the pieces together. Clamping too tightly will cause too much squeeze out. Also depending on your clamps, you may cause them to flex which may be why your boards bowed. Try using cauls next time.

And for a good tutorial on end grain boards, do a search here and look for Kenbo's tutorial.


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## ed_h (Dec 1, 2010)

Howard describes one popular way to construct endgrain "butcher block" cutting boards. There are others, though. Here are a couple of butcher block constructions, one a "true" butcher block, the other an entire counter top made from endgrain blocks (around 700 of them!). These were made by gluing up slabs from individual blocks. Each slab was then trued up in a thickness planer, and the slabs were glued together into sub assemblies that would go trough my planer, end grain up. Finally, the sub assemblies were carefully aligned and glued together for a minimum offset at the joint. Those last joints were cleaned up, and there you go.


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## BMcCoy (Apr 25, 2012)

ed_h said:


> Howard describes one popular way to construct endgrain "butcher block" cutting boards. There are others, though. Here are a couple of butcher block constructions, one a "true" butcher block, the other an entire counter top made from endgrain blocks (around 700 of them!). These were made by gluing up slabs from individual blocks. Each slab was then trued up in a thickness planer, and the slabs were glued together into sub assemblies that would go trough my planer, end grain up. Finally, the sub assemblies were carefully aligned and glued together for a minimum offset at the joint. Those last joints were cleaned up, and there you go.


Nice work! So you would suggest offsetting the individual rows slightly?


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## ed_h (Dec 1, 2010)

BMcCoy said:


> Nice work! So you would suggest offsetting the individual rows slightly?


 
Yes, on these projects, I was going for a random arrangement, though on the counter top there were only four or five different block sizes. I arranged the blocks so that the joints looked random, but I avoided letting joints line up.

Ed


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