# End-Grain Cutting Board



## wiseachoo (Jan 4, 2010)

For those who haven't met me yet, hey there. I just officially joined today (see introductions forum for more info). With that being said, this past Christmas I decided to make my 2nd official wood project an end-grain cutting board for my mother.

I used douglas fir mixed with what I call mystery wood (possibly maple?). The mystery wood was pulled from my family's garage, so I haven't a clue.

Lessons learned:
1. Glue squeeze out on cutting boards is a massive pain since there's so many rows in a tight space.
2. Sanding (even with a ROS) is virtually impossible on end-grain.
3. Putting an end-grain cutting board through a planer is NOT a good idea. While nothing bad happened to the tool, nor did any limbs of mine break off (I subsequently read horror stories of the likes on the net after trying it), I did learn that douglas fir is soft enough that if you put it into the planer with end-grain up, the space between the growth rings ends up chipping out with the growth rings remaining in tact, causing an absolute nightmare. 

Now on with the show :thumbsup:


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## mmwood_1 (Oct 24, 2007)

Yup, in my opinion, end grain cutting boards are problematic and idealized. A hard maple, edge grain board is quite sufficient for most needs. But, hey, you learned some valuable lessons on the project. Of course, you never said it how it ultimately turned out...


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## wiseachoo (Jan 4, 2010)

mmwood_1 said:


> Yup, in my opinion, end grain cutting boards are problematic and idealized. A hard maple, edge grain board is quite sufficient for most needs. But, hey, you learned some valuable lessons on the project. Of course, you never said it how it ultimately turned out...


I agree, edge grain is quite sufficient but does tend to show quite a bit of knife marks over time. I was partially interested in seeing if end grain would act as it theoretically should (at the cellular level) and hide those marks better.

Ultimately the board turned out quite well, although I could never completely get rid of the chip out caused by the planer experiment. I applied a couple heavy coats of mineral oil after sanding down all the edges and faces and the end result definitely made a great present!


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## mwhafner (Jan 16, 2009)

Make friends with someone who owns a widebelt or drum sander. Some cabinet shops will run something small like that for you. Just make sure you scrape the glue before trying to sand it.


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## jeffbayne (Nov 13, 2007)

thats just what i was thinking. I am building a desk with a walnut top (pics soon) and after i glued up the panel, i took it to a local high end cabinet shop and for $20 they ran it through a sander and even squared up the ends for me. I would never have been able to replicate the surface they left on it with my power tools, and i certainly didn't do $20 worth of wear on their machinery- so we both won.

oh, and i didn't even bother with glue squeeze out... just left it all on there (and I'm not good at this, so there was a lot) and one pass through the 180 belt and it was flawless.


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## wiseachoo (Jan 4, 2010)

While taking the project to a cabinet company for drum sanding would probably have been the simplest, safest and cleanest approach, I'm partial to trying to accomplish everything within the bounds of my own garage and tool arsenal. Well that and I'm a masochist. :huh:

Now if I had already built out my workbench (work in progress), I probably would have taken a completely different approach. Might have clamped down the chopping board to my bench and simply ran my hand planes over the top to smooth it out and take off any last bits of dried glue. Any thoughts on hand planing end-grain mixed with dried glue? :shifty: My hand plane arsenal consists of a jack and smoothing plane.


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## mwhafner (Jan 16, 2009)

> oh, and i didn't even bother with glue squeeze out... just left it all on there (and I'm not good at this, so there was a lot) and one pass through the 180 belt and it was flawless.


Glue can be a little hard on the abrasives of drum sanders, not as much so with widebelts. 



> Now if I had already built out my workbench (work in progress), I probably would have taken a completely different approach. Might have clamped down the chopping board to my bench and simply ran my hand planes over the top to smooth it out and take off any last bits of dried glue. Any thoughts on hand planing end-grain mixed with dried glue? :shifty: My hand plane arsenal consists of a jack and smoothing plane.


For soft woods, maybe.


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## jraksdhs (Oct 19, 2008)

*nice cutting board....*

Beings that your new too woodworking I'll assume that some constructive criticism would be appreciated(like i said, Im assuming ) Cutting boards should never be made out of soft woods like doug fir. The other wood you used was def not maple. If you found it in your garage then its probably not a hardwood, probably a soft wood. Soft woods absords lots of moisture, something you dont want in a cutting board. You want to stick with hardwoods like maple and oak, but others will work fine. End grain cutting boards are not only attractive but they are acually better on your knives. Hope this info helps, and by the way, welcome.

jraks


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## mwhafner (Jan 16, 2009)

jraksdhs has a good point, you do typically want to stay away from soft woods for this application. But you also want to stay away from open-grained woods like oak.


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## wiseachoo (Jan 4, 2010)

Since the cutting board is now gifted, I won't be able to follow it's wear and tear over time unfortunately. 

What might be the long-term impact of using the douglas fir? If the wood is more likely to hold moisture content, I'm hypothesizing that it will be more inclined to mold over time if it doesn't properly dry out between uses? Just trying to come to terms with what will result from the choices I made from the limited supply of wood I had at the time.


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## Streamwinner (Nov 25, 2008)

Looks like a nice present, and I'm sure he or she loves it. As far as wood choice, just consider how much you've learned from this one project. Another potential problem with using softwoods is that they often have a very bitter sap that is more likely to seep out and to get on food. 

Otherwise, looks like you have the technique down and for all intents and purposes, it's a nice looking board.


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## don716 (Mar 1, 2008)

What kind of finish did you use? Looks like a good size, what are the measurements?
Donny


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## wiseachoo (Jan 4, 2010)

Streamwinner said:


> Looks like a nice present, and I'm sure he or she loves it. As far as wood choice, just consider how much you've learned from this one project. Another potential problem with using softwoods is that they often have a very bitter sap that is more likely to seep out and to get on food.
> 
> Otherwise, looks like you have the technique down and for all intents and purposes, it's a nice looking board.


Interesting comment about the bitter sap from softwoods. Didn't realize that was a consideration to think about with food being involved. Glad you like the end result! :icon_smile:



don716 said:


> What kind of finish did you use? Looks like a good size, what are the measurements?
> Donny


I think it ended up being roughly 12"x9"x1.5" (going from memory, as I didn't actually craft a design ahead of time, just worked on the fly). In terms of finish, I just rubbed in a couple heavy coats of mineral oil, spaced apart maybe 15-20 minutes each. The end-grain drank it up .


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## Teikas Dad (Jan 2, 2010)

I made sure I cut all the blocks the same thickness, then I glued them up on a flat solid surface. After the glue dried I hit the chopping block with my belt sander and cleaned it up with a scraper. Soaked it in mineral oil and it's been going ever since.


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## mmwood_1 (Oct 24, 2007)

Well, wiseachoo, the photo of your board looks good, and I'm sure the person you gave it to will like it. And the pros and cons of edge grain vs. end grain cutting boards continues. I will say that my 2" thick hard maple edge grained cutting board has served me well for about 12 years now, and I just resurfaced it for the first time this past year.

I did try an end grain piece many years ago. It was a softwood, possibly fir, and I attempted to belt sand it flat. The winter rings were so much harder than the summer rings that neither belt sander nor wood sanding block could get a flat surface. Just kept getting 'hills and valleys'. I don't find that to be an issue so much with maple end grain.

One more thing. I spent 11 years working as a pastry baker. I read a number of articles on cutting boards/work surfaces. According to what I read, the research indicated that hard maple was the ideal wood for such things for several reasons:
1)it is a dense, tight celled wood which does not allow much penetration and storage of food residue in the grain.
2)it does not impart flavor to the foods being worked on it and does not have toxins in it.
3)the tannins in maple seem to inhibit the growth of bacteria.

And barring abuse, it maintains a relatively flat surface for a long period of time before needing to be resurfaced. In my experience though, 2" is a good thickness, as 1 1/2" boards have a tendency to cup. My 2" board has never cupped at all.

As for flattening an end grain board with hand planes, yeah, it's feasible. Hard work, slow, painstaking, tedious,....sharpen really well and hone often. Needless to say, but I'll say it anyway, very shallow blade depth. But, when it's all done, got a hot tub and a masseuse nearby? But have fun, and suit YOURSELF, above all.


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## Streamwinner (Nov 25, 2008)

I had a cutting board that cupped pretty bad after about a year. I found out that if you wet both sides of it when you are washing it, it won't cup. In fact, I started wetting both sides of my already-cupped board and it flattened out after a month. This board was maybe 1/2 - 5/8" thick.


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## jonh142881 (Nov 17, 2010)

*CB Designer lays it all out there for you.*

CBDesigner is a free cutting board program that allows you to easily get a visual on what your end grain cutting board will look like based on the materials you choose and the dimensions of the pieces.
Lumberjocks is an awesome place to get info on these as well.

http://www.dans-hobbies.com/2010/08/28/an-end-grain-cutting-board/
http://lumberjocks.com/projects/11372

Softer woods will trap mold in their pores and create food problems. If you are just making something that looks cool, knock yourself out, but if you plan on using it for a cutting board, stick to the hard stuff(literally).

P.S. Never run sappy softwood, especially if it has glue on it, through a drum sander. It will ruin the paper on the drum and that can be an expensive mistake. The guy I go to for drum sanding will not accept a drop of glue or any pine or soft material that could have sap in it.

Great project and Good Luck!


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