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End Grain Cutting Boards from Scrap Wood How-To

by craftedworkshop on December 20, 2016

Table of Contents

End Grain Cutting Boards from Scrap Wood How-To . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Intro: End Grain Cutting Boards from Scrap Wood How-To . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 1: Gather Materials & Supplies & Details on the type of wood you should use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 2: Break Down Scraps into Cutting Board Blanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Step 3: Plane Pieces & Glue Up Cutting Board Blanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Step 4: Flatten Cutting Board Blanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Step 5: Cut End Grain Slices from Cutting Board Blanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Step 6: Glue Up End Grain Cutting Boards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Step 7: Flatten End Grain Cutting Boards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Step 8: Sand End Grain Cutting Boards & Chamfer Edges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Step 9: Apply Finish to End Grain Cutting Boards & Add Rubber Feet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Step 10: Enjoy Your Cutting Board! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

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http://www.instructables.com/id/End-Grain-Cutting-Boards-From-Scrap-Wood-How-To/
 Author:craftedworkshop Crafted Workshop
Weekly how-to project videos about #woodworking, metalworking, and more. #Maker. Created by Johnny Brooke.

Intro: End Grain Cutting Boards from Scrap Wood How-To

In this Instructable, I'll show you how to build an awesome end grain cutting board from scrap wood! These turned out amazing, and they would make some awesome
last minute gifts. Make sure not to miss the video above for even more details!

Step 1: Gather Materials & Supplies & Details on the type of wood you should use
You'll need a decent amount of scraps for this project, so make sure to look in all of the nooks and crannies of your shop to make sure they aren't hiding from you. You'd
be surprised how many pieces you'll find.

You want to use hardwoods for this project. Pine and other softer woods are not a good choice, as they will wear too quickly. Some good choices here in the U.S. are
Walnut, Cherry, and Maple. I also used Hickory and Padauk.

The tools used are a little involved, for sure. You could maybe get away with doing this with a belt sander instead of a planer, but you'll end up with a lot more gaps. Here
are the tools I used:
Dewalt 20V Max Impact Driver : http://amzn.to/1QxJD7w
DEWALT DW735X 13″ Two-Speed Planer http://amzn.to/1QxJD7w
:
Bosch ROS65VC-6 Random Orbit Sander : http://amzn.to/1QxJD7w
SawStop PCS 1.75-HP Professional Cabinet Saw : http://amzn.to/1QxJD7w
DEWALT FLEXVOLT 120v MAX* 12″ Double Bevel Compound Sliding Miter Saw :http://amzn.to/1QxJD7
HNT Gordon Block Plane : http://amzn.to/1QxJD7w

The materials are pretty basic, just glue, finish, and rubber feet.

Titebond III Wood Glue : http://amzn.to/2hQLlZ4

Mineral Oil : http://amzn.to/2hQLlZ4
Rubber Feet : http://amzn.to/2hQLlZ4

http://www.instructables.com/id/End-Grain-Cutting-Boards-From-Scrap-Wood-How-To/
Step 2: Break Down Scraps into Cutting Board Blanks
Start by breaking down the pieces into similar sizes and group them by size. You want the pieces to be relatively similar in height so that you don't waste time flattening it
later on.

Step 3: Plane Pieces & Glue Up Cutting Board Blanks

Once you have your blanks ready to go (for reference, I made 7 roughly 13" long blanks to end up with 3 finished 18" x 13" x 2" cutting boards), plane two sides of each
piece. This will give you two flat faces to glue together, making for a much tighter glue joint. If you don't have a planer, you could sand the sides of the pieces, or just
count on filling gaps later. I used Titebond III wood glue, which is a food safe and waterproof glue. I highly recommend it.

Step 4: Flatten Cutting Board Blanks

After the glue has dried, plane your blanks flat using the planer. If you do not have a planer, you could try and use a belt sander, but you will never realistically get the
boards perfectly flat. If you stopped here, you'd have a long grain cutting board.

http://www.instructables.com/id/End-Grain-Cutting-Boards-From-Scrap-Wood-How-To/
Step 5: Cut End Grain Slices from Cutting Board Blanks
Now comes the fun part! After all that work, we get to see what the final cutting boards will look like. Decide on the thickness of your final boards and add roughly â…›" to
account for flattening after the final glue up. I wanted 2" thick cutting boards, so I cut slices at 2 â…›" thick. After cutting each piece, turn it 90 degrees to expose the end
grain. Keep cutting until you run out of blanks.

With all of your blanks cut up, you can now mix and match your end grain strips to form a cool pattern. This is the advantage of using multiple blanks, as you can get
some really cool patterns by mixing things up. Make sure to orient any knot holes and imperfections towards the bottom of the board, so you don't have to fill them later.

Step 6: Glue Up End Grain Cutting Boards

Once you have your boards arranged how you want them, glue them together, again using a waterproof wood glue. Make sure to keep the boards as flat and straight as
possible here, as any amount that the pieces slip is wasted thickness, since you'll have to remove it later.

http://www.instructables.com/id/End-Grain-Cutting-Boards-From-Scrap-Wood-How-To/
Step 7: Flatten End Grain Cutting Boards
This is my disclaimer, do whatever you feel comfortable with here, I am not responsible for your choices in the shop! I used my planer to flatten these cutting
boards, but some people don't think this is a good idea. To mitigate any issues, I did the following:

1. Made sure my planer blades were sharp.

2. Took shallow passes
3. Chamfered the trailing top edge

These three things made for an easy and problem-free flattening.

After flattening, clean up each edge at the table saw.

Step 8: Sand End Grain Cutting Boards & Chamfer Edges

After all of the edges are cleaned up, start your sanding. I started with 80 grit, making sure to remove any scratches, tool marks, etc. Once that was done, I moved onto
120 grit. I then chamfered all of the edges with a block plane and filled any gaps with wood glue and sawdust. Once that was done, I did my final sanding at 180 grit.

Step 9: Apply Finish to End Grain Cutting Boards & Add Rubber Feet
For finish, I stuck with the classic mineral oil finish. It's dead simple to apply, just pour it on and let it soak into the wood. Spread it around and make sure all of the wood
gets covered. Allow it to soak in for an hour or two, then wipe away the excess. Do the same thing again, after waiting 24 hours, and then you're done. Easy!

After the finish is done, add some rubber feet and you're done!

http://www.instructables.com/id/End-Grain-Cutting-Boards-From-Scrap-Wood-How-To/
 Step 10: Enjoy Your Cutting Board!
Thank you for checking out this Instructable! If you'd like to see more projects from me, make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and check out my website. I
make new projects every week, so stay tuned!

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Comments
1 comments Add Comment

BrotherJames8765 says: Dec 20, 2016. 10:54 AM REPLY

Well done, very well done. I learned some things about Titebond and also that I should buy a good planer tool. My one recommendation would be maybe to
wood burn your initials on the bottom like an artist's signature :)

http://www.instructables.com/id/End-Grain-Cutting-Boards-From-Scrap-Wood-How-To/