# Cutting board questions



## Barry747 (Jun 16, 2011)

I finally managed to finish the jewelry boxes for my granddaughters. I’ve pasted the pictures below. 

I’m back into cutting boards. The Maple and Padauk oval cheese board was a gift to my family doctor. She has gone beyond expectations for both my wife and myself and the board was my way of saying thank you. I included a jar of my blend of mineral oil, beeswax and carnauba wax to maintain it. The Purpleheart, Cherry and Maple was my first attempt at an end grain cutting board. I used CDdesigner for the layout. Very helpful.

Now, my questions. I’m currently making an edge grain cutting board that will end up around 11 ½ X 18”. I’d like to route a juice groove into one side. I haven’t done this before. I’ve seen a number of videos and don’t think I’ll have a problem with a jig. My first question is what bit to use. I don’t have any round nose bits so I’ll have to buy whatever bit I end up using. What type and size bit and how deep should the groove be? Next question; should I buy a bit with a bearing or should I finally break down and buy a set of bushings. I have a Bosch 1617 EVSPK with an adapter that can use PC bushings. I used a Whiteside inlay kit to make the hearts in the jewelry boxes so I know how they work. So, if a bit with a bearing, which one? If a bit using bushings, which bit and what set of bushings would you recommend?

As always, thanks for any suggestions.

PS - sorry for the lousy pictures. Not the best camera or lighting.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

Barry you have some awesome talent...

I like a bearing guided bowl bit...
as far as depth and width I believe is what fits aesthetically and you can always go deeper and wider but going the other does present issues...
buy your work I know you will know when have arrived where you want to be..
you have the eye and talent to back it up..

w/ a bowl bit sanding is so much easier especially if have a profile sander like the one Fein MultiMaster offers..
VOE.. Ive used the Rockwell, PC, Ryobie snf Bosch profile sanders...
not so good to down right terrible...

http://www.freudtools.com/index.php//search?search=dish&submit=


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## hawkeye10 (Jul 28, 2015)

Barry747 said:


> I finally managed to finish the jewelry boxes for my granddaughters. I’ve pasted the pictures below.
> 
> I’m back into cutting boards. The Maple and Padauk oval cheese board was a gift to my family doctor. She has gone beyond expectations for both my wife and myself and the board was my way of saying thank you. I included a jar of my blend of mineral oil, beeswax and carnauba wax to maintain it. The Purpleheart, Cherry and Maple was my first attempt at an end grain cutting board. I used CDdesigner for the layout. Very helpful.
> 
> ...


You really don't need a good camera, your work speaks for it self. Cut the groove in your cutting board with a core box bit. Just about everyone makes several sizes to choose from.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Wow you do amazing work. I sure like the inlay on the jewelry box


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

A lot depends on what you want for a juice groove. I've used a 1/2" round nose on one or two that I did (functional not decorative). Round nose bits are pretty cheap. If you go with a 1/4" shaft then you could use a 1/2" bearing on the shaft and go that way. If you go 3/4 or larger you might be able to find a bearing with the same O.D. in half inch shaft. Guide bushings will also work.


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## greenacres2 (Dec 23, 2011)

Beautiful boxes & boards!!

For cutting board grooves, i use a core box bit with a guide bushing. The bushing (i have a 3/4" that i ground down to a little under 1/4" depth) allows me to use either a template or my Trend Vari-jig, and allows for a range of cutting depths, depending on what i want. In my mind, the bearing would limit the range of depth since the bearing has to stay in contact with the template. Might still be plenty of range of depth, but i've developed a habit!! (not to mention that i don't have a core box bit with a bearing, but did have a few without along with 3 different sets of guide bushings when i started doing boards--so i worked with what i had!!)

earl


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## rwl7532 (Sep 8, 2011)

I see five pics of your excellent projects. Where are the lousy ones?


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## Garyk (Dec 29, 2011)

Nice projects. How do you keep the Purple Heart from turning brown when exposed to light ?


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## Barry747 (Jun 16, 2011)

Thanks to everyone for their comments and feedback.

Stick – I use bits with bearings for most of my router work. For the trough in the cheese board I use a Whiteside bowl and tray bit with a bearing. However I’ve decided to try Earl’s suggestion. I do what I usually do, I couldn’t decide between a ½” and ¾” diameter bit so I ordered a Whiteside 5/8” diameter core box bit, a subbase centering cone and a set of bushings. I don’t know if I’ll be happy with this choice but it will give me the chance to learn something new and, if I don’t screw it up, more routing options in the future.

Gary – depending on how you finish your projects you can buy finish with UV blockers or add blockers to your finish. However, for cutting boards, I use a combination of mineral oil and beeswax and for cheese boards I add some carnauba wax to the mixture. None of this will protect the Purpleheart. Over time it will turn depending on how much direct and indirect light it is exposed to. If anyone else knows of a food safe finish that will prevent or delay the darkening of wood I’d love to hear about it.

Thanks again. I’ll let you know how the bushing approach works out.


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## Barry747 (Jun 16, 2011)

Sorry it’s taken me so long to post the results of using a guide bushing and template to cut a juice groove in a cutting board. I had family visiting for a couple of weeks around a family wedding. I had some level of success with routing the groove but I wouldn’t do it this way again.

The first picture show the template that I built. This isn’t exactly the way I did it since I took the template apart before I remembered to take a picture so I just laid the parts on the board. The OD of the bushing was 1” so I made the template with a 1” guide way all around. This worked well for the straight routing but I struggled with the corners. The second picture shows how I overshot the turn on the first pass. I routed the groove in three passes. The last picture is the finished board after applying a mineral oil and beeswax finish.

I watched a number of videos on YouTube and I think I’ll try the method shown here, even though the guy demonstrating it sounds like a TV pitchman: 




It may be a while before I try another juice groove. I'm working on some end grain cutting boards and I don't like the idea of cutting a juice groove into end grain.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

and it came out so well...

case closed King...


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## Barry747 (Jun 16, 2011)

Thanks Stick. From you that's a real compliment.


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## kklowell (Dec 26, 2014)

That's a pretty board! The groove looks great to me too.


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