Help with an grain cutting board

maybe moisture in the glue caused this and it will straighten if it keeps drying?

Heat from the sander?

-- I'm a wood magician... I can turn fine lumber into firewood before your very eyes! - http://www.woodworkersguide.com

When I made mine I used a “jointing” jig with my Router to cut it flat. Then sanded out the imperfections (pulled some of the grain out) with a ROS, then polished it up.

That worked well.

Thanks for the ideas. Maybe it was the heat generated by the belt sander as Ted mentioned.

Anyway the piece of railroad rail seems to have done the trick. It is back to being flat after about 6 hours.

Gonna get a new belt tomorrow and see if that might cut down on the generated heat.

Thanks Again!

Lew

I usually sand a little on one side, then flip it & sand the other side. if the wood is getting more than a little warm, flip it & work the other side. Keep flipping it & you won’t run into that problem again.

-- http://www.grandprairiewoodworks.com

Great Post Lew. I have a sack full of scrap that I am looking to build a chopping block with. I’ll have to be careful with the belt sander for sure after reading this. I’m curious, where did you come across the railroad tie? I would love to get a piece of one of these.

-- Jerry, Measure 10 times cut once. Set in the foothills of the Smokey's

One thing I have noticed is if I sand one side of piece and leave it laying flat on a bench it will bow since the one side is getting a lot more exposure to the air than the other. I always leave pieces either raised on blocks or standing leaned against a wall so that both sides get the same air exposure.

-- Rich, WNY, www.nyrockingchairs.com

What Rich said. you should never leave wood flat on a bench, especially something like doors, or a tabletop, or a cutting board. I always put some scraps under it so air can circulate all around the piece.

-- Women love me.....trees fear me

Thanks for the tips!

Purchased a new belt for the belt sander and that helped reduce the heat generated. Also, sanded a little on each side to prevent heat build up. That seemed to do the trick.

Jerry- Actually it was a gift! One day I mentioned to a friend that I was thinking about getting a small anvil. I said my Grandfather always had a piece of railroad rail in his shop to use as one but I didn’t know where to get a piece of rail. Well, last Christmas my friend shows up with this HEAVY package. Yup, a piece of rail!

It’s real handy because it works like an anvil, a super weight and a door stop. He told be he was driving and at a rail crossing there were some short pieces of rail and he promptly liberated one. Took it to a machine shop and had them cut it into smaller sections- instant Christmas presents.

Lew