# Flatten End Grain Cutting Board



## Spitfire1 (May 18, 2016)

I am finishing up an end grain cutting board. I have a No.7 Veritas low angle jointer plane. I am wondering if this would be useful to flatten an end grain cutting board?


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## WoodenDreams (Aug 23, 2018)

I don't make cutting boards. But the guys that make & sell them out here, Use an open sander (16/32 or larger). I would think a Surface V Drum Sander would work also.


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## redlee (Apr 11, 2016)

Planing end grain is tough, sanding is the best but tedious, helical head planer works well.


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## rad457 (Jun 15, 2013)

Definitely can be done, make sure to chamfer all the edges to prevent tearing out the ends. Have planned some large end grains with a #62 but last end grain cutting board ended up being finished off with a RO sander


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## Spitfire1 (May 18, 2016)

Don’t have a drum sander or helix cutting head planer. Looking at what options I do have thought this might work with maybe some minimal sanding if needed.


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## WoodenDreams (Aug 23, 2018)

On a budget. Use a 3x21 or 4x24 portable belt sander, 5" or 6" orbital sander or a large portable sheet sander (1/3 or 1/2 page). I use a 4x24 belt sander to flatten my Hope & Cedar Chest lids. With good results. I had a 30 year old, 1/2 page portable sheet sander. The guy I got it from used it for dresser tops, desktops, tabletops and panels. He was able to get some pretty flat surfaces. It just seemed to take too long for me, so I gave it to my son-in-law.


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## Gary (Jul 24, 2006)

The tearout on that piece looks pretty severe.
Next time, do yourself a favor and mill it out before the glue-up and skip it altogether if you can’t get it smooth.


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## rad457 (Jun 15, 2013)

Another simple option to level end grain would be a router sled then finish sanding? Putting in some juice groves using sled is another possibility?


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## difalkner (Mar 11, 2013)

I use my drum sander - works great on end grain cutting boards.


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## JRsgarage (Jan 2, 2017)

I think the belt sander or router sled might be best with the info provided. I've seen people knock those out with a rotex or Bosch dual sanders. What kind of wood is that?


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## Spitfire1 (May 18, 2016)

Wood is hickory. The pic was when I first glued it up before crossing cutting it. Was quite happy how well the No.7 flattened my panel I had made.


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## Spitfire1 (May 18, 2016)

I seems the general consensus is to use a random orbit sander. For the surest result. Honestly I am nervous of tear out with this wood especially around the edges.
I should’ve maybe mentioned sooner that the end result doesn’t need a ton of flattening. I did sandwich it between two pieces of melamine.


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## LesB (Dec 21, 2008)

I might be missing something but the picture you show is not end grain. So you hand plane should have worked fine except on the knot. I find that a belt sander will work faster than an orbital sander at removing excess material. Work from 100 grit down to 220 then finish off by hand with 320 or a cabinet scraper if grit scratches are visible..


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## Spitfire1 (May 18, 2016)

No the picture is not end grain. That was from the first glue up. Flattened it with my no7 then crosscut it into 1.5 inch sections then glued up with end grain facing up.


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## BigMig (Mar 31, 2011)

Hey Spitfire,
Your photo looks like *edge *grain, not end grain. if *end *grain, I've successfully used a belt sander. If *edge *grain - jointer or thickness planer


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## CooperDBM (Dec 23, 2011)

I've only done two end-grain boards so far (maple and purple heart). For flattening I've used a LV low-angle jack with a toothed blade and a foreplane (crappy big box #5 with a radiused blade) with equal success. Lots of work but generally satisfying. I then used the LV jack with a straight blade for smoothing. Next time I hope to get the sections aligned better to reduce the need for flattening.


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## Tony1212 (Aug 26, 2013)

Spitfire1 said:


> I seems the general consensus is to use a random orbit sander. For the surest result. Honestly I am nervous of tear out with this wood especially around the edges.
> I should’ve maybe mentioned sooner that the end result doesn’t need a ton of flattening. I did sandwich it between two pieces of melamine.


Personally, my RO sanding game is not the best. I tend to get hills and valleys. If you're pretty good at sanding, that may be your best bet. 

But if I were to make an endgrain cutting board, I would plan on using a router sled to get it dead flat. (I don't have a helical cutter head planer, nor a drum sander).


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