marc spagnuolo: welcome to episode 7 of the wood whisperer video podcast. i'm your host, marc spagnuolo. on today's episodewe're going to make this awesome end grain cutting board.
wood workbench plans pdf, now whether you make thisas a gift or you plan on using it in your veryown kitchen, this durable and extra fancy cuttingboard will serve as an excellent project for honingyour woodworking skills.
now as you probably already know, cutting boards come in several varieties. first, there's plastic. please! now just as a disclaimer,i really don't recommend throwing your wife's cuttingboards around the shop. there's also your standardwood cutting board. now something like this little guy is a long grain cutting board.
they're very popular andthey can be inexpensive due to the fact that they're easy to make. they suffice for moststandard kitchen tasks. but if you're anything like me, standard just isn't good enough. and that's where end graincutting boards come in. this colossal kitchen companion is heavy, it's durable and ifmade properly, it can be a gorgeous addition to your kitchen decor.
so you might be wondering why we care so much about end grain. well, end grain boards aremuch easier on your knives. they're much more durable and they tend to hide your knife marks better. now let's use this paintbrush as an example. the bristles here representa bundle of wood fibers. now on a long grainboard, we're constantly chopping across the grain.
that can lead to cracksin the board and possibly even pieces of the board being dislodged. it's also a lot tougher on the knife. now end grain, on the otherhand, is much more forgiving. the blade will chopdown between the fibers giving it a nice soft cushion. and when the blade'spulled out, the fibers will spring right back into position. now the traditional wood of choice
for cutting boards is hard maple. it's also referred to as rock maple. hard maple is, well, it's hard. and it has a very tight grain structure which means less placesfor bacteria to hide. now to make our cutting board i'm using two woods, maple and purple heart. i chose purple heartprimarily for it's color, but fortunately, thissouth american hard wood
is also very dense and tight grained. now there's a lot of other woods out there that you can use to make a cutting board. just be sure to avoid woods that are open grain, oily or soft. before we started, i justwant to quickly mention that if you follow these plans exactly, you should end up with aboard that's approximately 18 inches long by 12 inches wide,
by about an inch and 1/4 thick. so, without any further delay, let's get ready to make a cutting board. (crickets chirping) marc spagnuolo: to getstarted we need to mill some 8/4 purple heart and8/4 maple stock down to an inch and 5/8 thick andalso 15 1/2 inches long. we then need to rip these pieces to the following widths.
two and 1/4 inches,one and 3/4 of an inch, one and 1/4 inch, and 3/4 inch. when it's all said and done we should have two pieces of each width. one from maple and one from purple heart. next we need to arrange theboards for our initial glue-up. each board is in descending order with the largest piece toward the outside. now notice how i also alternate
the maple and the purple heart. before i apply theglue, i turn every piece but the last one 90 degrees to the left so that the glue surface is face up. i then spread a generousamount of glue on each face. using an ink roller iensure a nice, even coat. notice that i'm onlyapplying glue to one face. this is a great time saver when i've got a lot of boards to worry about.
just be sure to apply agenerous amount of glue. it's always a good ideato throw the roller into a bucket of water so that the glue doesn't dry on the rubber surface. once the boards are inposition, i apply just enough clamping pressure tohold the boards in place. next, i clamp two cawsacross the face of the board. this ensures the board willstay as flat as possible. now here's a quick tip,cover the business end
of your caws with clear packing tape to prevent the glue fromsticking to the caw. lastly, i add a thirdclamp to the middle of the glue-up just to ensureeven clamping pressure. marc spagnuolo: let's just take a second or two to talk about glue. now you can use justabout any water resistant glue to glue up a cutting board. but, since i like toplay it safe, i prefer
a glue that's fda approvedfor indirect food contact, such as titebond ii or even titebond iii. now i know some polyurethane glues like gorilla glue are alsofda approved, but these glues are messy, sticky,and they're expensive. so, i stick with my timetested favorite titebond ii. so let's take a lookat our glued-up board. now you see all the squeeze out over here? this is actually a good thing.
it tells me that we've gotgood surface to surface contact at each and every joint. the last thing we want in a cutting board is a glue starved joint. now to get the excessglue off without creating more problems for ourselves later on, i recommend waiting about 30 minutes and then scraping the glue off. this prevents the glue from spreading
over the surface andinto the adjacent grain. now we're gonna let this guy dry overnight before we actually startto smooth the surface. marc spagnuolo: toflatten the glued up board i prefer to use myplaner or my drum sander. but you could just aseasily use a block plane a scraper, or a random orbit sander. just make sure you geta nice flat surface. marc spagnuolo: now wecould stop right here.
i mean this is a pretty attractiveboard as it is, but we're gonna take this puppy tothe next level by exposing the end grain througha second round of cuts. marc spagnuolo: i like to start by using my miter gauge to clean up one edge. (sawing sound) i then start cutting the board into one and 1/4 inch strips. watch your hands and be sure to use
your favorite push stickfor this operation. have 11 one and 1/4 inch strips. marc spagnuolo: now here'sthe really cool part. all we have to do is turneach piece 90 degrees to expose the end grain and we're actually gonna create a very interesting pattern. basically if you take everyother strip and flip it around like this we get thepattern we're looking for. now all we need to do is glue these pieces
together just like we did the first time. marc spagnuolo: spreading the glue this time is very simple. just turn every strip but the last one 90 degrees to the left. spread a generous amount ofglue over the entire surface. then reassemble the boards on the clamps in the proper order. i like to use a couple of my caws
to make sure my boardsare line up perfectly. and then i use them to keep the board flat as i add a little bitof clamping pressure. and just like during the first glue-up, i use the tape coveredcaws and several clamps to keep the board nice and flat. marc spagnuolo: after removing the board from the clamps i gaveit a thorough sanding with 80 grit followed by a 120 grit.
and now it's time to addthe finishing touches. now a big board likethis one can be difficult to handle sometimes so we need to make it easier to pick up. i like to use a router witha straight bit to actually create recesses in eachend for your fingers. the dimensions of these recesses aren't really critical, you justneed to be big enough so that a few fingers can fit underneath.
i like to make mine about an inch 1/4, by four inches by a 1/2 inch deep. and after that i like to add a 1/4 inch roundover to all the edges. marc spagnuolo: the easiestway to create consistent recesses is with stopblocks and an edge guide. in order to prevent chip out, be sure to take light passesat first and make your initial cut in the clockwise direction.
this is known as climb cutting. it's also a good idea to doyour routing in two steps. i usually leave around an 1/8of an inch for the final pass. this will ensure a nice, clean recess. i also like to use a1/4 inch roundover bit to ease all the top edges. once again i go clockwiseto avoid chip out. and finally i use an1/8 inch roundover bit to ease all the bottom edges.
the areas that i can'treach with the router are rounded over with 150 grit sandpaper. marc spagnuolo: now the next step is to give the board a final sanding to either a 180 or 220 grit. now keep in mind since the entire surface is end grain the sandingis gonna take a little bit longer than usual, but just be patient. if you see any little whitescratches on the surface
you need to sand just a little bit more. now it's time to talk alittle bit about finishing. there are a number of ways you could finish a cutting board. and there's a few things to avoid too. now if you do a littleresearch you'll find a lot of conflictingopinions and truthfully none of them are really wrong. you just need to decidewhich is best for you.
now i'll demonstratethe most popular methods and we can discuss a few of the others. first there's mineral oil. now you may see this stuffsold as butcher block oil but please, don't wasteyour money like i did. just go to your localsupermarket or pharmacy and pick up some food grade mineral oil. it's odorless, it's tasteless, and it does a great job of repelling moisture.
it's also an easy finish to renew whenever the board needs it. marc spagnuolo: when applying mineral oil the goal is to give the woodas much as it'll absorb. flood the surface andwait several minutes. keep adding oil as long asthe wood keeps soaking it in. wait five to 10 minutes andthen wipe off the excess. after 24 hours repeatthe flooding process. apply two to three morecoats this way and your board
will be fully seasonedand ready for the kitchen. marc spagnuolo: now avariation of the mineral oil finish involves the use of a wax. either a beeswax or a paraffin wax. marc spagnuolo: i usuallystart this process on a board that's already received one or two coats of mineral oil. i warm up about a 1/2cup of oil on a hot plate with the heat setting on low.
using a wooden malletand a knife i break off several chunks of wax andplace them in the oil. the second piece of wax wasactually cut on the band saw which turns out to bea much better method. we usually add about 25percent wax by volume. give the mixture a goodstir and be sure to turn off the hot plate as soonas the wax is melted. i like to use a cleanpaper towel to spread a liberal coat of the oilwax mixture on the surface.
be very careful with the oiljust in case it's too hot. after covering the entiresurface i let the board sit for about an hour or so. at that time you might notice droplets of oil pulling on the surface. just wipe these away with a clean rag and let the board sit overnight. day two i give the board asecond coat of the oil wax mixture and once againlet it sit overnight.
finally on day three youshould have a nice waxy board. i like to remove most of theexcess wax with a paper towel and do my final buffingwith a clean cotton rag. when it's all said and done you should have a nicely protected board. marc spagnuolo: now the second method which is actually my preferred method is to coat the boardwith a wiping varnish. you can buy varnish specificallyfor food items under
the name salad bowl finish,something like this. now my favorite is madeby general finishes and it's available atrockler.com and i'll post a link to that in the write up. i happen to have a can here of behlen's which works just fine. now this is my preferredfinish for a few reasons. first, i find it to be muchmore durable than mineral oil. the finish can take quite a beating.
now second, it's muchfaster and cleaner to apply. third, it truly seals the surface making it less prone to harboring bacteria. fourth, it doesn't need to be recoated nearly as often as amineral oil board does. and fifth, i just thinkit looks a lot better. marc spagnuolo: i beginby fitting my varnish about 50 percent with mineral spirits. with a clean cotton rag iapply a nice, liberal coat
and keep applying the varnish as long as the grain keeps pulling it in. i stop after three to four minutes even if the board looks like it can take more. at that point if you turn the board over you might even notice that the finish actually traveled all theway through the board. after eight to 12 hours i re-coat the entire surface usinglong smooth strokes
and let the board dry foranother eight to 12 hours. before the final coat igive the board a light sanding with 400 gritpaper and then i apply my final coat of varnish. the important thing toremember here is that we're not trying to builda finish, we're just trying to seal off moisture. marc spagnuolo: now i know a lot of you are wondering, can't ijust use a regular varnish?
well my answer would be yes and no. i've read on numerousoccasions that nearly all finishes are non-toxic when cured. this does make sense tome since all the toxicity is contained in the thinnerand the dryer additives. but as a guy with a scientific background, i've got trouble acceptingthe word of an author if they don't list realscientific sources. and most of these articles don't.
but if there are tracelevels of toxic chemicals left in a cured finish,i really don't think it's possible forsomeone to consume enough of it through normal cutting board usage for it to make any difference at all. now i'm sure you takein more toxic chemicals every time you walk through a cloud of cigarette smoke or car exhaust. but when it comes to myfamily's safety and that
of my customers, ireally have no choice but to use a product thatis labeled as food safe. it's probably not a badidea for you to do the same. a mineral oil cutting boardshould be re-coated as needed. monthly should be adequate. for a mineral oil and waxboard, you'll probably want to add a lightcoat of oil wax mixture to the surface and buff it out. one of the great advantagesof the varnish board
is the fact that it doesn'trequire monthly maintenance. but eventually you will seesome knife marks in the finish. in order to hide them aswell as seal them i like to give the surface a veryquick wipe of mineral oil. i basically put a fewdrops on a paper towel, rub the oil into thescratches, and then wipe off the excess and the boardis gonna look great. now regardless of thefinish type, cutting boards are very simple to clean.
just use some hot water and a little soap. (whistling) what? dry the board thoroughlywith a paper towel and set it on end forat least a few hours. this will allow theboard to dry thoroughly. now if you have a varnish board you can usually skip that step. just wipe off the excesswater with a paper towel and place the board rightback on the counter top.
now if you start looking forfood safe finishes, you're bound to find a few productscontaining walnut oil. although this oil makes a greatfinish, it could potentially be hazardous to someonewith a nut allergy. from what i understand, nut allergies are nothing to mess with. so just play it safeand skip the walnut oil. i'd also avoid using lacquer and shellac. both of these finishes are very hard,
but they won't really standup to the abuse of a knife. not to mention they're pretty pricey. but keep in mind thatshellac itself makes a great child safe finish for toysand even baby furniture. in fact most of the shellacin the u.s. is usually used in the food andpharmaceutical industries. so while i don't recommend chewing on your furniture, i suppose you could. (gnawing sound)
with proper care and maintenance your cutting board should give you and your family years of service. when the board starts looking really rough just take it back into the shop, give it a thorough sanding and simply reapply your finish of choice and yourboard will look like new. now if you have anyquestions or comments please feel free to email us atthe woodwhisperer@gmail.com.
and i'd also like to mention a few other woodworking resources out there that you might find fun and useful. first, there's anotherreally great podcast out there called matt's basement workshop. the website is mattswoodshop.libsyn.com. this guy is really the pioneerof woodworking podcasting. i know when i was doingresearch for my podcast matt's show was the only game in town.
he's got some reallygreat information and some awesome tips over there somake sure you check him out. another excellent resourceis lumberjocks.com. this site is really asocial gathering place for woodworkers of all types. you can participate in the forums and you can create your own web blog. and right now they're taking entries for their 2007 woodworking awards so head
over to lumberjacks.comand check that out too. that's all for todayso thanks for watching. bye-bye.