Sweet…, you have helped us all think "Out of the Box" as to cutting boards and we appreciate it. Keep it coming, this is the essence of LJ, and why it is so addictive, but it is a good addiction with heart and soul..
Dust..too much work..ie (biscuit or dowel , unless your profession is a butcher, but I get your point) Titebond is all you need for normal light duty…heavy helping on both faces of a strip will do the trick and you can skip plane or belt sand the excess off…also and it is FDA approved I get the feeling Ganders has done the homework on "foodsafe" ;} I had to last year on a big butcher block commission…..and he is right on the mark..
It's one of those optical illusion things where you are supposed to figure out which band is the thickest and they are actually all the same! I am on to you.
There are no dowels or biscuits used in the glue-up. Just Titebond III. I was using Titebond II which is "water resistant" but switched to Titebond III because it is listed as "water proof". I do not believe any glue is truly water proof but I thought I would give it a try. Both are FDA approved for limited food contact.
I once did a fish cutting board for a buddy that I ran three thread rods through the wood and secured them with nuts. I covered the nuts with plugs. My thought was that even if the glue begins to fail the all-thread would hold the pieces together.