Cutting Board Question

I’ve wondered this myself, but I’ll venture a wild guess: the endgrain is more durable to kitchen cutlery than long grain? Thanks for asking this question…I look forward to the answer!

-- Living on the square...

The WoodWhisperer has a segment on end grain cutting boards. In short he explains that end grain is much kinder to knives than long grain. Secondly he mentioned end grain fills in while long grain is actually severed by the cutting action of knives. Marc’s video goes through a complete cutting board project.

Dalec

I have actually just finished a cutting board, and it is an end grain one. I’ll post pictures of it and the other one I have made sometime soon. The reason end grain cutting boards are more durable (as it was explained to me), is that the knife ‘goes between’ the end grain fibers instead of cutting across them. Imagine pushing a knife into a brush lengthwise with the bristles, and then imagine pushing the knife down across the bristles and you’ll see what I mean. In theory the end-grain cutting board is self healing because the fibers (or bristles in the brush analogy) move out of the way for the knife and then move back to where they were before.

-- The Dude abides...

Just made 5 for christmas presents, The WoodWhisperer pod cast plans.
used TitebondIII, It’s water proof II is only water resistant
We haven’t finished them yet but two of them warped during the daytime but next morning they went back straight! I guess the end grain is more suseptable to moisture in the air, think we will finish them while there straight!
Using salad bowl finish from General
I did finish a small scrap and cut on it, it held up very well to a razor sharp knife.

-- MARK IN BOB, So. CAL

If you are using purpleheart and maple I do not think the average use in a household will ever dig into the board. If it was used every day to cut and chop maybe. I made several boards from the same wood combination and there is nopt a sliver that has been cut If this is a normal house hold it will work fine with long grain and look bettere

-- WOOD/DON (...one has the right to ones opinion but not the right to ones own facts...)

I cared about sharp knives long before I cared about sharp chisels. If you’re making a board for people who take cooking (and in turn cutting) seriously, and will use it as a cutting board (not just a show piece), end-grain is the way to go. It’s much nicer to your knives… if it looks a little better on the board, that’s a fine side effect too :-)

-b

Thanks all, I had some of the same thoughts that Don had. This is for a family member that might use it weekly at best. I still like to make it as durable as possible, but I think I can get away with long grain. Maybe not. Time will tell. If it was for me, I wouldn’t care. I could always shoot it through the planer after a year or so.

-- Jeff, South Carolina

I think I have heard somewhere that the “self-healing” effects of end grain are also more resistant to bacteria growth. Not 100% sure though. I do know, like mentioned, that end grain is easier on knives and your cutting board will also last longer.

Use mineral oil, “salad bowl” or “cutting board” finish on anything used for food so you don’t poison the user. Don’t expect the finish to seal out moisture, though. Use waterproof glue and never leave the cutting board wet for long. NO DISHWASHERS!!! Hand wash and dry right away. Refinish with the oil frequently.

-- Check out my new website! http://www.theeasellife.com

Think of it as a bunch of straws compressed. When you cut into them from the end they will tend to close when the sharp edge of a knife is removed where as cutting from the side tends to sever the straws so that’s the main reason. Another consideration is when gluing up a cutting board you need even pressure at all points and as I have been told you need to apply some tremendous amount of pressure per sq inch for an end grain board. I use a standard Salad bowl finish but you can make your own oil/wax. A great solution is 10 parts Mineral Oil to 1 part Paraffin Wax. Gently warm it until the wax melts and that’s it the penetration of the oil and the shine of the wax work very well. I use Purple Heart, walnut and maple on my boards as this makes a lovely contrast. My boards sell for $65.00 each and are 11 ½ X 17” X 7/8” and I sell out every year but what’s nice is I use scrap left over from other projects ending up with 3 – 5 cutting boards. I started out just making them as gifts but then after a few years people other than the ones I gave them to started wanting them so I started to sell them once a year.

-- Just another day in paradise.