# My first end grain cutting board



## stephen45710 (Oct 3, 2020)

Recently finished my first end grain cutting board. All cherry lumber. It was fun until the sanding....

Reactions: Like 6 | EyeCandy! 5 | Way Cool 4


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## DLJeffs (Oct 3, 2020)

That's a lot of sanding! Nice board, should last a long time.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## barry richardson (Oct 3, 2020)

Very nice Stephen, should give you a lifetime of service....

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## trc65 (Oct 3, 2020)

Great looking board! Like the handles you've added, bet that board is heavy.

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 1


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## Maverick (Oct 3, 2020)

Nice looking cutting board.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## woodtickgreg (Oct 4, 2020)

Nice looking board, and a big one.  
I always dread sanding until I actually start doing it, then I get into it.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Wildthings (Oct 4, 2020)

woodtickgreg said:


> I always dread sanding until I actually start doing it, then I get into it.


Me too. Put the ear protection on and get lost in the tunes. BTW great looking board!

Reactions: Like 1 | Thank You! 1


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## T. Ben (Oct 4, 2020)

Very nice board.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## DLJeffs (Oct 4, 2020)

Anybody ever made one with some kind of juice collection? I nearly always get juice dribbling all over my countertop when I carve a roast, turkey, etc. I've seen a wood board with a groove milled around the edge that supposedly drains into a slightly larger collection divot.


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## Steve in VA (Oct 4, 2020)

woodtickgreg said:


> Nice looking board, and a big one.
> I always dread sanding until I actually start doing it, then I get into it.



I always dread sanding until I actually start doing it, then I dread it more and more 

Great looking board @stephen45710 !

Reactions: Funny 2


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## Nature Man (Oct 4, 2020)

Congrats! Looks fantastic! You probably earned your master sander's diploma! Did you have access to a drum sander? Chuck


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## woodtickgreg (Oct 4, 2020)

I have made them with the juice groove. I just use a core box bit or cove bit with a fence on my router. But you must be carefull to stop in the right place. Another option is to use a template to to rout against. This is a safer way to do it. Routing cherry can be problematic as cherry burns very easily. But you just have to sand out the burn marks.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## stephen45710 (Oct 4, 2020)

Nature Man said:


> Congrats! Looks fantastic! You probably earned your master sander's diploma! Did you have access to a drum sander? Chuck


Yes. I have a Jet drum sander to start it, but lots of random orbit sanding even after the drum. I can’t image doing it without the drum sander.

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Informative 1


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## stephen45710 (Oct 4, 2020)

woodtickgreg said:


> I have made them with the juice groove. I just use a core box bit or cove bit with a fence on my router. But you must be carefull to stop in the right place. Another option is to use a template to to rout against. This is a safer way to do it. Routing cherry can be problematic as cherry burns very easily. But you just have to sand out the burn marks.


I definitely experienced the burning when i routed out the handles.


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## FranklinWorkshops (Oct 4, 2020)

Great work and cherry works well in this application. Just give its lots of butcher block oil on the top and bottom.

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 1


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## brandon (Oct 4, 2020)

Looks great!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Barb (Oct 6, 2020)

Beautiful cutting board!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Ray D (Oct 7, 2020)

woodtickgreg said:


> Nice looking board, and a big one.
> I always dread sanding until I actually start doing it, then I get into it.


Just wondering. Do any of you end grain cutting board makers run your boards through the plainer? I add a sacrificial piece to the tail end of my cutting boards and run them through the plainer. I take minuscule cuts during each pass and the trim off the sacrificial end board. Obviously I do not own a drum sander. Lol

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## stephen45710 (Oct 7, 2020)

Ray D said:


> Just wondering. Do any of you end grain cutting board makers run your boards through the plainer? I add a sacrificial piece to the tail end of my cutting boards and run them through the plainer. I take minuscule cuts during each pass and the trim off the sacrificial end board. Obviously I do not own a drum sander. Lol



Yes. My board is almost 1.5 thick because that is dimension of a 2x4 . I glued a 2x4 to both ends to avoid planer sniping on the cutting board.

Reactions: Like 1


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## woodtickgreg (Oct 7, 2020)

Ray D said:


> Just wondering. Do any of you end grain cutting board makers run your boards through the plainer? I add a sacrificial piece to the tail end of my cutting boards and run them through the plainer. I take minuscule cuts during each pass and the trim off the sacrificial end board. Obviously I do not own a drum sander. Lol


Planning end grain is a no no in my opinion. Its dangerous to do and can damage smaller benchtop planers if you get kick back. I always take the safe way and run them through a drum sander. You can also use a belt sander, much safer than trying to run em through a planner.

Reactions: Informative 2


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## Ray D (Oct 7, 2020)

woodtickgreg said:


> Planning end grain is a no no in my opinion. Its dangerous to do and can damage smaller benchtop planers if you get kick back. I always take the safe way and run them through a drum sander. You can also use a belt sander, much safer than trying to run em through a planner.


Good to know. I’ve done it a bunch without a problem but it only takes one kickback to change that.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## woodtickgreg (Oct 7, 2020)

Ray D said:


> Good to know. I’ve done it a bunch without a problem but it only takes one kickback to change that.


Some guys do it, adding sacrificial boards and taking very light cuts etc. But 45 years ago when I was a kid in school shop class it was always thought to us that you never plane or joint end grain. So I just never do it. Not worth the risk imo.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Ray D (Oct 7, 2020)

woodtickgreg said:


> Some guys do it, adding sacrificial boards and taking very light cuts etc. But 45 years ago when I was a kid in school shop class it was always thought to us that you never plane or joint end grain. So I just never do it. Not worth the risk imo.


I agree with you Greg. When I made my first one several years ago I was surprised to see the videos of guys running them through the planer. I don’t recall them warning us about potential kickbacks but they did talk about significant blade life reduction. 
I guess I need to get a drum sander. Have to talk to the wife. Lol. 
Thanks for your response.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Ray D (Oct 7, 2020)

Oh and that’s funny about the school thing. 40 years ago when cypress slab clocks were popular I watched a guy run one through the planer. It threw bits and pieces everywhere. That’s the first thing I thought of when I watched the video of end grain planing.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Wildthings (Oct 7, 2020)

Ray D said:


> Just wondering. Do any of you end grain cutting board makers run your boards through the plainer? I add a sacrificial piece to the tail end of my cutting boards and run them through the plainer. I take minuscule cuts during each pass and the trim off the sacrificial end board. Obviously I do not own a drum sander. Lol


Ditto!!


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## Ray D (Oct 7, 2020)

I guess I won’t need to use the planer for my end grain cutting boards anymore. It just so happens I got that Performax 16/32 I was looking at. The lady agreed to my $300 offer. That thing was quite heavy.

Reactions: Way Cool 1


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## Tom Smart (Oct 7, 2020)

Ray D said:


> Just wondering. Do any of you end grain cutting board makers run your boards through the plainer? I add a sacrificial piece to the tail end of my cutting boards and run them through the plainer. I take minuscule cuts during each pass and the trim off the sacrificial end board. Obviously I do not own a drum sander. Lol


I won’t run end grain through the planer, even though I changed the head on my Dewalt 735 from blades to carbide cutters. I use a drum sander, more control for some of the very fine adjustments.


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## Tom Smart (Oct 7, 2020)

Ray D said:


> I guess I won’t need to use the planer for my end grain cutting boards anymore. It just so happens I got that Performax 16/32 I was looking at. The lady agreed to my $300 offer. That thing was quite heavy.


That’s a great price for that machine. You will like working with it. Might take a little longer than a planer on end grain projects but much safer.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## chippin-in (Oct 21, 2020)

I have read that planing end grain boards is a no no, but I have made 2 boards and planed them both as I don't have a drum sander. I am not advocating this, but this is how I did it.

I took super light cuts - my steel city planer with helical cutting head takes about 1/16" per turn and I do about 1/8 of a turn, so very light. 

In order to stop the tear out on the back end I used a 1/4" round over bit on all 4 edges (I was going to round it over anyway). I only tried this on the last board. I used Padauk/Padouk which I found tears easily, but I did not have any tear out on this board.

I added a pic of the board I did.

Thanks 
Robert

Reactions: Way Cool 2


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## El Guapo (Oct 21, 2020)

Great looking cutting boards! Man, I wish I had a drum sander... or a friend nearby with a drum sander.


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## Wildthings (Oct 21, 2020)

I glue a sacrificial board on the ass end to take the abuse and saw it off when done

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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