Cutting Board questions...

Since I just make them for home...

John in NM

Finish is simply linseed oil - usually that stuff from Tried and True that has added beeswax since I have a can I bought about 20 years ago. I figure there is no such thing as a durable finish when it comes to cutting boards so make it easily renewed.

I have a design I like that I always use these days - a large 45 bevel on all four edges with a small (about 1/8") 45 bevel meeting it from the other side to give it a nice finished look and prevent chipping. This makes it very easy to handle and pick up if the large bevel is down, and pretty much useless flipped over. Never bothered with grooves for drippings, we hardly ever carve up huge roasts

Once when I was sending some maple burl parts off to be stabilized I sent a couple pieces of cherry with the batch to test it for cutting boards. Does make the wood dishwasher proof (at least for the couple times I ran one through), but it also makes it pretty hard to cut/flatten after stabilizing. If one were making commercial boards they could solve the problems but for 1-2 it didn't seem worth it.

Re: Cutting Board questions...

Joe in a Cleveland suburb

I make them out of scrap. Never did grooves or anything.

For finish either nothing at all or vegetable oil.

See Bill T's article in the Articles section on cutting board finishes. I always refer to that.

Oh, I usually put some sort of rubber foot things on as well.

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Henry (Raleigh NC)

I have made a couple of dozen mostly as gifts - 90% scrap, all side grain.

Flat both sides, no grooves, no feet, mineral oil and wax (paraffin) finish.

Henry

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John McGaw

End grain, mostly maple, and thicker than you might expect. Generally put grooves on one face. Obviously no feet. Finish is nothing but mineral oil which I allow to soak in for a couple of days. FWIW, polyurethane glue although most any waterproof glue would do as well.

Re: Cutting Board questions...

Alan Schaffter

It depends on how you will use the cutting board. If you are going to be hacking up chops and meat on a regular basis, go with a simple maple long grain cutting board. If you want something classy for yourself or to give as a gift, that may or may not be used often, consider an end grain board.

I wanted the challenge and a neat look, so I built end-grain boards and have progressed into 3D designs. The top is the same as the bottom (unless I get bored and quit sanding the bottom early). I don't add blood grooves but add silicone feet attached with stainless steel screws. There are some great, detailed videos in Russian with English captions posted on YouTube by mtmWood- Google him.

Here is a fairly basic 3D board. I don't have any of my fancier ones uploaded to the web. I finish them with two baths in pure, food-safe mineral oil, followed by a treatment with a 4:1 mix of mineral oil to pure, food safe, beeswax, heated so it flows.

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John Jardin

Outstanding!!!

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John McGaw

Beautiful. And to think that I spent so much time keeping all of my pieces the same size...

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Barry Irby

That's interesting and beautiful, and if that is not one of the fancy ones, I would like to see them. Thanks for posting. I have been using Safflower oil, I may have to switch to mineral oil.

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Alan Schaffter

I just discovered the gallery and going to see if I can figure out how to add more of my cutting board photos:

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Whoa!, those are impressive...

Barry Irby

Beautiful and more like art than anything utilitarian. I doubt I will ever make anything like them, but I would like to know more about how you do that.

I don't have pictures, but I made two out of random scraps of Osage Orange. End grain and about 2" thick. The pieces were every shape imaginable. They started out as log sections that cracked randomly. Triangular and trapezoidal. Carefully fitted the pieces into rows about four inches wide, straightened the edges of the rows and glued them up. It's hard to see the rows. Osage is as hard as woodpecker's lips.

tell us more

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

I would like to learn how the patterns are made.

Re: tell us more

Alan Schaffter

A lot of ripping, glue-ups, re-cutting and more glue ups, etc.

Check out these videos (or any video by mtmWood):

Zig-zag: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqgbbziBkvo&t=313s

Butterfly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVB5zjTraLk

Stacked/interlocking cubes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0MH97I3tg0