# Christmas Gifts - End Grain Cutting Boards



## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

A few days ago I posted questions regarding glue and walnut in cutting boards - thanks for the replies.

I decided to take the plunge and try my hand at making some cherry and walnut cutting boards. These boards are based on Marc Spagnuolo's "edge grain cutting boards". I'm making 8 of these for the adult ladies in our family (sister's, girlfriends, daughters and nieces). Normally I would make a test run with one unit but decided to make eight at one time 'cause I hate to have to reset my equipment, especially the planer and table saw.

Milled up enough parts for eight boards - these boards will be finished at 1 1/4" thick by 11 1/2" wide by about 18" long - this is the first glue up.

Once I rip the 1 1/4" strips off the first glue up, I'll reverse each other strip and expose the end grain for the second glue up. I'll post photos of the finished product when I get there. Hopefully that will be in a few days.

*Wanted to make sure I started with the correct pattern prior to glue up:*



*Glued up 5 boards the first day - you can never have enough clamps - didn't run out of clamps but ran out of time:*





*Five boards out of clamps and clamped up the last three - these 5 have had glue scraped and ready for the first pass through the planer:*


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## coxhaus (Jul 18, 2011)

Nice cutting boards Vince. I need to make a couple for my son-in-law for Christmas. I am planning to use maple with an accent of mesquite. I need to by the wood in a couple of days.


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Very nice Vince.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Looking good Clay, I'd like to make myself one someday . Looks like your going to put that new planer to good use.
Seeing as I've never built one , I'm assuming you don't have to be very careful with too much glue , as the excess comes off in the planer ?


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## billyjim (Feb 11, 2012)

RainMan 2.0 said:


> Looking good Clay, I'd like to make myself one someday . Looks like your going to put that new planer to good use.
> Seeing as I've never built one , I'm assuming you don't have to be very careful with too much glue , as the excess comes off in the planer ?


Rick the excess glue must be scraped off before you run the boards through the planer. The glue can damage a set of knives in a hurry.


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## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

Wrong post Rick - no new planer here, just my old Delta lunchbox. But Bill's correct; I scraped as much glue off as possible before I ran one face through the planer. Glue is hard on knives. I'll scrape the last three cutting boards tomorrow and run one face through the planer before I change my settings.


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## coxhaus (Jul 18, 2011)

How do they look after running it through the planer? Do you think the planer will save you a lot of sanding?


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

Those will look really nice, Vince! And they make great gifts. We made about 28 a couple of years ago for Christmas gifts but they were smaller boards. I did a build thread over at our sister site but here's a short video of how we cut them once we had the 'brick' completed -


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

vchiarelli said:


> Wrong post Rick - no new planer here, just my old Delta lunchbox. But Bill's correct; I scraped as much glue off as possible before I ran one face through the planer. Glue is hard on knives. I'll scrape the last three cutting boards tomorrow and run one face through the planer before I change my settings.


Sorry Vince , where I got Clay from is beyond . I've got the Alzheimer's and I'm only 55  

In my defence I did have a lot of concussions in my day though


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## fire65 (Oct 29, 2008)

RainMan 2.0 said:


> Sorry Vince , where I got Clay from is beyond . I've got the Alzheimer's and I'm only 55
> 
> In my defence I did have a lot of concussions in my day though


 LOL, it's ok we all do that now and then. His boards are looking great I do plan to try making some someday. So far I love the new planer and finally got my drum sander set up in the new shop.


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## rrrun (Jun 17, 2014)

Titebond (if that's the glue you're using) recommends that glue be scrubbed off with an equivalent of the Scotch-Brite Scouring Pads soaked in water immediately after the board is clamped. I clean the excess glue off that way, then dry the board with paper towels. I know some abhor the idea of applying water to wet glue, but that's what the manufacturer recommends.

That same manufacturer says you cannot put too much pressure on your board to squeeze out too much glue, by the way. Their glue is a bit improved over the white glue I used in Junior High a few decades ago, it seems.


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## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

coxhaus said:


> How do they look after running it through the planer? Do you think the planer will save you a lot of sanding?


Lee - the boards are glued on long grain and that's what I'm running through the planer for the first pass - just enough to take off the ridges caused by the glue up, so no sanding at this point.

I still have to rip strips across the grain then rotate 90 degrees to expose the end grain before the second glue up - at that point there will be some sanding but both the cherry and the walnut are pretty smooth to start with.

I'll post pics before the second glue up.


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## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

RainMan 2.0 said:


> Sorry Vince , where I got Clay from is beyond . I've got the Alzheimer's and I'm only 55
> 
> In my defence I did have a lot of concussions in my day though


Rick - Alzheimer's is a good excuse for a lot of screw ups - I use it all the time.


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## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

rrrun said:


> Titebond (if that's the glue you're using) recommends that glue be scrubbed off with an equivalent of the Scotch-Brite Scouring Pads soaked in water immediately after the board is clamped. I clean the excess glue off that way, then dry the board with paper towels. I know some abhor the idea of applying water to wet glue, but that's what the manufacturer recommends.
> 
> That same manufacturer says you cannot put too much pressure on your board to squeeze out too much glue, by the way. Their glue is a bit improved over the white glue I used in Junior High a few decades ago, it seems.


Henry - I am using Titebond III - I let it set up for about 30 minutes then scraped off most of it. Any little bit left will be handled by the planer.


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## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

Crosscutting strips done, and onto second glue up.

cbcross


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## Arcola60 (Jul 4, 2009)

Thats looks very nice Vince! Thanks for posting


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## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

Sanding just started - first pass, lots more sanding to do but I think they're coming along nicely.

The camera angle makes them look like they're not symmetrical but they actually are.


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## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

OK, got 8 boards all sanded - put on a coat of mineral oil - this was my first attempt at making end grain boards - I'm pleased with the results.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

They look great, Vince! You've probably already discovered that food grade mineral oil, basically the stuff from the pharmacy, comes in two grades, Heavy and Light. I prefer the Light as it's easier to work with.
You can't use too much; when it's saturated it'll simply no longer disappear into the wood. (ie, more is better)


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## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

DaninVan said:


> They look great, Vince! You've probably already discovered that food grade mineral oil, basically the stuff from the pharmacy, comes in two grades, Heavy and Light. I prefer the Light as it's easier to work with.
> You can't use too much; when it's saturated it'll simply no longer disappear into the wood. (ie, more is better)


Thanks Dan

I've heard that mineral oil comes in two grades. I bought some at a local feed store (they give it to horses!!!) as it was pretty cheap (cheaper than at the drug store). I then picked up a small bottle from Wal Mart as comparison. It feels the same as the feed store version. It's labeled as Mineral Oil UDP and the druggist said it was the heavy grade and also said the heavy version was the only one they sell that is food safe (in her opinion).


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Good to know, Vince. I bought both of mine from the same pharmacy so I have to assume that they're _both_ food safe; believe me, I'm going to follow up on what you said! Better safe than sorry.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

ps...also going to follow up on the feed & tack alternative supply source. Thanks for that suggestion.


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