cutting board question(s)

Keye

Keye
Corporate Member
I have made several cutting boards and have always used edge grain as the top. Not sure how to do it with this board. It is made with walnut and maple., There are 34 boards ranging in thickness from 1/32' to 17/32', 17 maple and 17 walnut.

I have revived my Incra Ultra Jig bought in 1995. Thin accurate and repetitive cuts are easy with the Ultra. I will make 3 boards at the same time because of the constantly changing setup. The cuts are made on the outside edge of the blade away from the fence. Using the face of a board as the top makes the thin cuts easy. Just use a wider board which is safe to push between the fence and blade. If I use the edge grain of a 1 3/4" thick board it becomes way to thin to make multiple cuts safely. Heck I think a 1 3/4" board between the fence and blade is dangerous. I guess I could cut a bunch of 13/4" wide boards, turn them edge grain up and laminate them and then start cutting the boards to width for the cutting boards. I feel like if I do this I will be cutting and laminating boards until spring. I will also end up with a bunch of unneeded glue joints.
IMG_0534.JPG
My other issue is the outside edge on both sides will be 1/32" thick. I worry about just sanding right through this. These boards will be used and will more than likely need some maintenance in the future. If I do not sand through the 1/32" the first time what are the chances I will not do it the second time.
 

HITCH-

Hitch
Corporate Member
I don't think that the board in the picture is end grain.
You could make a jig like this to rip the thin strips.
 

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Keye

Keye
Corporate Member
I don't think that the board in the picture is end grain.
You could make a jig like this to rip the thin strips.
I do not think the board in the picture is end or edge grain. I have used the method in your picture. This board goes from 1/32" to 17/32" in 1/32" increments. I do not think I could obtain this kind of accuracy with the jig in your picture. This is why I pulled the Incra jig out of storage.
 

NYTransplant

Tim
Corporate Member
If you were to recreate the edge grain board in the photo, turning it into an end-grain board would be simple. Remember; simple doesn't mean easy ;-)

Cut the entire board across the pattern into widths that are the thickness of the board, then stand each row up on end and glue each row together.

Taking the extra effort really depends on the reason you'd want to make an end grain board.

An end-grain board is easier on knives and holds up better to cutting. Think of the wood fibers as a series of ropes side by side. The knife falls between the fibers when cutting on an end-grain board. With an edge-grain board the knife is severing the fibers each time it's used.

The edge-grain board will have a nicer initial look because the pattern will be uninterrupted. Alignment will be critical on the end-grain board to get the pattern straight. Also, the mineral oil will look better on the edge-grain than the end-grain.

Here's a link to three different boards I've made. It may give you some ideas.
 

jlwest

Jeff
Corporate Member
If you were to recreate the edge grain board in the photo, turning it into an end-grain board would be simple. Remember; simple doesn't mean easy ;-)

Cut the entire board across the pattern into widths that are the thickness of the board, then stand each row up on end and glue each row together.

Taking the extra effort really depends on the reason you'd want to make an end grain board.

An end-grain board is easier on knives and holds up better to cutting. Think of the wood fibers as a series of ropes side by side. The knife falls between the fibers when cutting on an end-grain board. With an edge-grain board the knife is severing the fibers each time it's used.

The edge-grain board will have a nicer initial look because the pattern will be uninterrupted. Alignment will be critical on the end-grain board to get the pattern straight. Also, the mineral oil will look better on the edge-grain than the end-grain.

Here's a link to three different boards I've made. It may give you some ideas.
End grain boards are more porous and retain contamination easily. The effect on knives should be minimal.
 

NYTransplant

Tim
Corporate Member
End grain boards are more porous and retain contamination easily. The effect on knives should be minimal.
Yes, end grain boards are porous and will pull bacteria into the grain. Studies (Cliver, 2006) (Nese et al., 1994), have shown that the microbes do not resurface at high concentrations. Microbe reduction is "at least 98%, and often more than 99.9%".

All cutting boards develop grooves and cuts that harbor bacteria at the surface and are more difficult to clean. Plastic and edge grain boards are more prone to this than end-grain. Wood boards are safer than plastic boards cleaned with the same methods, but a plastic board can be thrown in the dishwasher, giving it an advantage.

In any case, best practices are:
1. Use two different cutting boards to avoid cross-contamination. One for meats and another for ready to eat foods.
2. Wash with hot soapy water to remove any surface contaminants.
3. Regularly sanitize your boards with salt & lemon or bleach & water.
 

bobby g

Bob
Corporate Member
I have made several cutting boards and have always used edge grain as the top. Not sure how to do it with this board. It is made with walnut and maple., There are 34 boards ranging in thickness from 1/32' to 17/32', 17 maple and 17 walnut.

I have revived my Incra Ultra Jig bought in 1995. Thin accurate and repetitive cuts are easy with the Ultra. I will make 3 boards at the same time because of the constantly changing setup. The cuts are made on the outside edge of the blade away from the fence. Using the face of a board as the top makes the thin cuts easy. Just use a wider board which is safe to push between the fence and blade. If I use the edge grain of a 1 3/4" thick board it becomes way to thin to make multiple cuts safely. Heck I think a 1 3/4" board between the fence and blade is dangerous. I guess I could cut a bunch of 13/4" wide boards, turn them edge grain up and laminate them and then start cutting the boards to width for the cutting boards. I feel like if I do this I will be cutting and laminating boards until spring. I will also end up with a bunch of unneeded glue joints.
View attachment 216262
My other issue is the outside edge on both sides will be 1/32" thick. I worry about just sanding right through this. These boards will be used and will more than likely need some maintenance in the future. If I do not sand through the 1/32" the first time what are the chances I will not do it the second time.
I build a similar board. I omit the outside narrow strips.
Bob
 

sandfarm

Joe
User
I have made several cutting boards and have always used edge grain as the top. Not sure how to do it with this board. It is made with walnut and maple., There are 34 boards ranging in thickness from 1/32' to 17/32', 17 maple and 17 walnut.

I have revived my Incra Ultra Jig bought in 1995. Thin accurate and repetitive cuts are easy with the Ultra. I will make 3 boards at the same time because of the constantly changing setup. The cuts are made on the outside edge of the blade away from the fence. Using the face of a board as the top makes the thin cuts easy. Just use a wider board which is safe to push between the fence and blade. If I use the edge grain of a 1 3/4" thick board it becomes way to thin to make multiple cuts safely. Heck I think a 1 3/4" board between the fence and blade is dangerous. I guess I could cut a bunch of 13/4" wide boards, turn them edge grain up and laminate them and then start cutting the boards to width for the cutting boards. I feel like if I do this I will be cutting and laminating boards until spring. I will also end up with a bunch of unneeded glue joints.
View attachment 216262
My other issue is the outside edge on both sides will be 1/32" thick. I worry about just sanding right through this. These boards will be used and will more than likely need some maintenance in the future. If I do not sand through the 1/32" the first time what are the chances I will not do it the second time.
Am I looking at this picture wrong, but aren't the end boards cut from the original board ends and than flipped and reglued?
As far as the thin outside strips, I cut them wider and then resize them after gluing the whole board together.
 

Bill J

Bill
User
First, I agree, the board you show is not edge grain (or end grain). I have made a few boards with a ridiculous number of thin cuts. I originally used a jig like the one that Hitch showed but then got a thin rip guide on sale from Rockler. As with most Rockler jigs, it was a cheap piece of plastic but it worked. I recently splurged and bought the Woodpecker version as a factory second. I find these are really easy to use and set up and can cut down to 1/32 thick (thin?) strip quickly and repeatably.
But that was not your issue. It sounds like you have the thin rips figured out and want to flip the boards to make this edge grain. Compared to the number of thin cuts and glue-up for this board, making one more to create a 1 3/4 thick edge stock isn't that much of an issue. But you'll also have to avoid the glue joint so you'll need a lot of extra width. I'd just go with the face grain!
 

Keye

Keye
Corporate Member
Am I looking at this picture wrong, but aren't the end boards cut from the original board ends and than flipped and reglued?
As far as the thin outside strips, I cut them wider and then resize them after gluing the whole board together.
the ends are cut off and flipped
 

Keye

Keye
Corporate Member
thanks for all the help

just returned from McKittrick Lumber with hard maple, walnut and sapele.

I have decided to make the first board with the 17/32" boards on the ouside edges with the 1/32" boards in the center, the second board I am going to increase the outside boards to 1/16" and increase each subsequent board by 1/32" still using the same number of boards

could not buy 6/4 so I am going to use face grain
 

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