# EndGrain Cutting Boards



## Arcola60 (Jul 4, 2009)

Here are some recent end grain cutting boards that I have finished. The woods used are: Black Walnut, Cherry, European Beech, Jarrah, Maple, Pecan (200+ yrs. Old), Purple Heart, Red Cumaru, Tineo, White Oak, and Yellow Heart.
They were all finished in Mineral Oil. Fun to build, all were given out to friends and family. Thanks for looking.


Ellery Becnel


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Very nice work Ellery...very nice!! Great combinations with the wood. 

what sizes are they?


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

They look really nice Ellery.


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## Ghidrah (Oct 21, 2008)

They look to nice to mark up with a cleaver and knife, I'd use mine as a serving try.


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## Arcola60 (Jul 4, 2009)

Thank you. Getting compliments from all of you is really great.
The larger ones are 11"x12"x1 3/8" tall. The smaller ones are
7"x11 1/2"X1 3/8" tall. I make them reversible so they can be
used on both sides. Being end grain, the knife marks are hardly
noticeable. All of the boards are different, that's what makes
them so unique. I have had request to sign them, somehow. I
still have not decided what method would be best yet. A work in
Progress. Most people do not want to use them. I encourage them
to use them. I put too much work into them.

Ellery Becnel


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Very nice


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

Ghidrah said:


> They look to nice to mark up with a cleaver and knife, .


agreed....


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## Ghidrah (Oct 21, 2008)

Wood is as good and better than poly for cutting boards, I read or watched something regarding this before I made our oak board nearly 30 yrs ago, it may have even been from a New Yankee Workshop episode.

 antibacterial aspects of wood


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

The choice of woods really sets these boards apart.


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## Woodshaper67 (Jan 13, 2012)

Very Nice. Great Job


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## kywoodchopper (Jul 18, 2013)

Very beautiful woods and beautiful work. I made several cutting boards and folks wanted a 1/2" hole placed center along one end so they could be hung for display. I daughter took two and said they would never be used - just displayed like art. Malcolm / Kentucky USA


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## Multiwood (Feb 24, 2013)

Very nicely done, great color combination. I have never heard of Jarrah, Red Cumaru, or Tineo are they native to Louisiana? Will have to look them up.


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## Wood Chip (Apr 10, 2011)

Arcola60 said:


> I have had request to sign them, somehow. I
> still have not decided what method would be best yet. A work in
> Progress.


Beautiful work! I suggest a branding iron to sign them. Probably on the side edge somewhere so it doesn't interfer with using both sides for cutting. 

Also, I suggest you tell your customers to keep replenishing the mineral oil on a regular basis.


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## billyjim (Feb 11, 2012)

Wow those are awesome. The combinations really make them. Can I qualify as "friends and family"?


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Beautiful work.


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## Barry747 (Jun 16, 2011)

beautiful work Ellery. After your glue up how did you complete the boards? Did you hand sand, power sand, plane, scrap or what to level the top and bottom? I've never worked with end grain other than on individual boards.


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## lewis11 (Mar 3, 2006)

I like the yellow heart, really sets it off, thank for sharing


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

I agree; too nice to marr with knife cuts!
Very hypnotic pattern.._."You are getting sleepy. You will make Dan a roast beef sandwich."_


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## Arcola60 (Jul 4, 2009)

Larry, The Wood Database is a very good source that describes these woods and many others. Jarrah is a great wood to work with. Tineo is harder to find but is also great to work with. Red Cumaru is a nice wood. I try to stick with tight grain hardwoods for the End grain boards. I stay away from open pore woods such as 
Red Oak, Hickory, Ash, etc. and very oily woods such as Bubinga, Olive wood, Lace wood, etc.
Gary, I agree, branding iron on the side. I am leaning towards that method. Also, I hand out a copy of the care instructions with each board. It usually takes a little while before people use them.
Barry, what I have done to improve on the time to make a board is:
1. (Bandsaw) boards to length, and height. The widths vary, I want to offset the lines so it does not look like a checkerboard. My personal preference.
2. Incorporated the use of soft wood (pine) caulks. As they are clamped in place they will (swim) on you. Soft cauls will not damage hardwood. This minimizes the clean up process.
3. I used to use my router sled to flatten both sides. It worked great to flatten, but too much tear out. Now I use a VERITAS bevel up smoothing plane on the end grain. It really cuts down on the sanding. That alone took hours of sanding off.
4. I built a V-Drum sander based on the Stockroom supply design. You can buy a kit or design your own. I have heard that a drum sander works well also. Be careful, heat build up with that method. I start with 80 grit and switch over to 320, when the end grain cleans up.
5. I then radius the corners, then 1/4" round over all sides (my preference)
6, I then finish with a palm sander using 320 grit to smooth radius ends and round over. Then I go to 400 grit till it is SLICK AS ....
This is how I do it. It went from 10-13 hrs To 6-7 hrs total work hours, over 3 days.
Thanks everyone for the great compliments. It is really appreciated.

Ellery Becnel


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## RMIGHTY1 (Nov 5, 2014)

Beautiful work Ellery. Thanks for the details.


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## Barry747 (Jun 16, 2011)

Ellery, thanks for the detail. I don't have all of the tools that you do but it's something to aspire to.


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## papasombre (Sep 22, 2011)

Nice job, Ellery.

Please, post some pictures about the construction process. I agree with the other members. They are so beautiful to be used as cutting boards.


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