OK, I will admit that the title of this post is aimed at getting a response, or several responses.
I have made many cutting boards (end-grain and otherwise) and have always followed the glueing, oiling, avoid water cautions.
Recently I had a gift endgrain cutting board returned for repair of 2 cracks (along the glue lines, but splitting the wood rather than simply along the glueline.
My first thought was that the owner had simple let a splotch of water rest on the board and caused absorption and expansion at the cracked places...it is my understanding that that is the most common cause of cracks.
I decided to slice the board along gluelines and re-glue it...got a good result which was hardly noticeable.
During the post sanding oiling ritual I watched the oil continually absorbed into the grain and a thought hit me.
Bear with me here, you critical thinking types.
If I only put oil on a single location (such as might happen with a few drops of water left on the board), would i be promoting a crack by the oil expanding the wood in that location? We don't see that maybe because we always completely saturated the board with oil.
Extended thought process....would completely saturating an unoiled board with water cause even absorption and even expansion and result in no crack?
Or even submerging completely an oiled board be completely safe?
I think yes to both questions. Just make sure the water is spread evenly over the entire board.
Thank you for your indulgences.
I have made many cutting boards (end-grain and otherwise) and have always followed the glueing, oiling, avoid water cautions.
Recently I had a gift endgrain cutting board returned for repair of 2 cracks (along the glue lines, but splitting the wood rather than simply along the glueline.
My first thought was that the owner had simple let a splotch of water rest on the board and caused absorption and expansion at the cracked places...it is my understanding that that is the most common cause of cracks.
I decided to slice the board along gluelines and re-glue it...got a good result which was hardly noticeable.
During the post sanding oiling ritual I watched the oil continually absorbed into the grain and a thought hit me.
Bear with me here, you critical thinking types.
If I only put oil on a single location (such as might happen with a few drops of water left on the board), would i be promoting a crack by the oil expanding the wood in that location? We don't see that maybe because we always completely saturated the board with oil.
Extended thought process....would completely saturating an unoiled board with water cause even absorption and even expansion and result in no crack?
Or even submerging completely an oiled board be completely safe?
I think yes to both questions. Just make sure the water is spread evenly over the entire board.
Thank you for your indulgences.