# End Grain Cutting Board flattening



## AandCstyle (Mar 21, 2012)

I know that one or two people on this forum have made end grain cutting boards.  I have started making them recently and, in spite of my best efforts, I always end up with strips at slightly differing heights. I have flattened the two faces with my thickness planer, but that causes too much chip out. I have also sanded with a drum sander which works great, but it is slow and uses abrasive faster than I like.

Therefore, my question is what do all the seasoned pros here use to get their boards flat?
TIA


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## BTimmons (Aug 6, 2011)

Make yourself a router sled. It's the best way to go for cutting boards, especially if you have to flatten end grain.


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## BTimmons (Aug 6, 2011)

Oh yeah, hit the edges with a chamfer or radius bit first, or you might have some tear out along the edges.


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## Bobmedic (Sep 24, 2010)

Handheld belt sander


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## AandCstyle (Mar 21, 2012)

Brian, I think this solution will work for me; I already have most of the materials on hand. I will make one tomorrow to use on my next board. Thanks!

Bob, I know that the belt sander would do the job if I felt that I could control the uniformity of the thickness. My experience with a belt sander isn't that great, but thanks for the suggestion.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

router sled…
for for safety sake - please try to refrain from sending end grain through a planer… do some searches online for wha this might result at… not pretty


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## AandCstyle (Mar 21, 2012)

PurpLev, thank you. I know that now, but didn't. Once was enough to make a believer out of me that that is DEFINITELY not a good idea.


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## BTimmons (Aug 6, 2011)

Yes, sending end grain through a planer is an extremely bad idea.


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## Nicky (Mar 13, 2007)

The router sled is a good idea, but you will still need to do some sanding.

I made a bunch last xmas. Did a little experimenting and found the router sled to be the most effective. I then used my home made drum sander with 100grit paper to start the sanding (and cleanup the router marks with 1 light pass), followed with a ROS 120, 150 and final at 220. Using the drum sander to thickness sand did chew up paper, and I found myself feeding the boards in 5+ times/board to get them flat. End grain is tough stuff.

I bought a 1 1/4 mortising bit (I think it's an Amana bit) that makes quick work using the router sled.

I'll be doing more boards this year for xmas. These are additive to build, and seem to be a "right of passage" on this site. Some really beautiful boards here.


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## Dchip (Jun 30, 2009)

A well-waxed, sharp, low-angle jack plane can make pretty quick work of an end-grain board. I just did a batch of three this way. It's a bit of a workout, but some frequent honing of the blade can really help. I like that there are zero material costs with this method (once you get over the $200 hump for the plane).


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## AandCstyle (Mar 21, 2012)

Nicky, thank you for the great info. I will try your sanding schedule on my next board.

Dan, I could definitely use the workout. LOL However, I am not sure if I will live long enough to master sharpening.


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## prickett_smiles (Aug 23, 2015)

I send a board through the planer…...a 13×24 1.5 thick maple end grain….and it shot across the room and into the wall and shattered. Luckily I wasn't standing in front of the planer like I usual do or I would of taken the impact to the family jewels. 

lesson learned I will be making a router sled my self. 

cheers


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## Gene01 (Jan 5, 2009)

A bowl bit in the router seems to leave a surface requiring less sanding. In my experience at least.


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## splintergroup (Jan 20, 2015)

Wow, echo from the past!
Still working on that board Art 8^)

Anyhoo, my $0.02. I remove the squeeze out with a belt sander then on through the DS with a 36 grit belt. Proceed as usual, very light cuts (usually 10+ with each grit step). Let the board cool if it starts to feel warm, end grain will easily warp when hot.

How are those shutters coming?


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## AandCstyle (Mar 21, 2012)

Talk about a blast from the past… ha

Splint, yes that board is history. Thanks for asking about the shutters. Today I finished 12 shutters that will cover 3 windows. I will hang them tomorrow. Once they are done, I will have 5 windows completed and 7 to go. Unfortunately, 5 of the remaining will each require 8 shutters each. Ugh!


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## Betsy (Sep 25, 2007)

Art - I'm curious as to the differing heights. Are you meaning that the slices are of different heights as you cut them on the table saw - or is it that your final glue up allowed one or two slices to slide above the others?


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## JBrow (Nov 18, 2015)

AandCstyle,

While I have not ventured into the world of end grain cutting boards, I agree with Betsy, re-examining the glue-up procedures could result in surfaces closer to flush and thus require less effort to flush up the surfaces. In addition to ensuring all the strips are ripped to the same width, gluing just a few together at a time while using flattening cauls might help. I wonder whether biscuits or dowels could also be used to help with glue-up alignment. If a flushing surface can be achieved from a change in glue-up procedures, then perhaps less time at the drum sander would be required.

I believe that the drum sander is easier than a router sled. My experience with the router sled is a flush surface, but with imperfections in the surface that require sanding to remove; it only takes one router produced imperfection to require a lot of sanding. But then those surfaces imperfections I experienced could also have been the result of a router sled that allowed a little too much flex in the center or maybe I occasionally tilted the router just a hair.


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## AandCstyle (Mar 21, 2012)

Betsy, some of the individual slices shifted during glue up.

JBrow, I use cauls now.


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## dalepage (Feb 6, 2016)

Art: I've got your fix.

I have made dozens of end grain boards and have zero split-out from my planer. When I glue the cut strips, which have been rolled and/or flipped end-for-end, I put sacrificial strips on both ends. I keep cut-offs which can be used for this, but even if you have to cut the sacrificial strips from good wood, it's better than losing a board's length by having to remove chipped out ends.

I don't get too upset when a strip turns out to be too thick. Too thin a strip will make you plane off a lot of thickness, so I'm as exact as I can possibly be. I incorporate grain patterns into my boards, as well the color variations in different species.

I plane the end grain until it's level. Then I take it to my drum sander, on which I keep 120 grit. After I take off any planer marks, I use my shop-made crosscut sled (same as for the "sticks" after the first glue-up) to cut off the sacrificial ends. Those sacrificial strips protected the end grain board from chipping out. They aren't needed any more. Use them again or put them in the kindling pile.

Then I use my Festool Rotex 6-inch sander with 80 grit. That sounds coarse, but the end grain sands differently, as you already know. I take out drum sander marks across the end grain with the fabulous Rotex.

It will then be smooth enough, but I change to 120 grit and hit that a couple of passes. I use Boos or Howard's oil on them and don't prefer one over the other. I get a glass finish with this procedure.

Most folks say they hate to cut on my boards, but I encourage it. It only takes a few minutes with a drum sander and a ROS to bring it back to new condition, minus the depth of knife cuts you remove.

With such good results, I'm amazed when I see posts of face-grain boards. I would never make a cutting board that wasn't end grain.


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## Unknowncraftsman (Jun 23, 2013)

I use my planer but I have a Bryd head in it.
I don't make a lot of cutting boards so i just use a low angle block plane to clean up the planer marks.
To prevent blow out on the edges I chamfer.
Here's what the board looks like after planing.









Aj


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## AandCstyle (Mar 21, 2012)

People, the original post is 4+ years old. I am all set. Thank you for all the suggestions.


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## bigJohninvegas (May 25, 2014)

First, to avoid chip out with the planner. Cut a strip of 2X4 to the same thickness of your cutting board and glue it on.
Just like in this image. You want the 2X4 to be a 1/4" or so wider than the board. And feed the cutting board through the planner so that the 2X4 goes through last. Since it is long grain, or side grain it will not blow apart like the end grain does.









Every once in awhile I get a board that warped a little while I was gluing it up. Oops.
Thats where the router sled come in. 

















wedge the board in place so it can't move. The little wedge with the blue tape is holding up the cutting board to remove the warp. That will give you one flat side. If you left the 2X4 in place. You can now flip it over and run the other side through the thickness planner.and both side will be flat.
Good luck .


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## lennyk (Feb 15, 2016)

what router bit do you guys use when flattening end grain with a router sled ?

I tried once and got some tearout which was a pain to sand out.
My bit was a regular double straight bit.


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## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)

I think folks use this kind of bit or something similar


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## bigJohninvegas (May 25, 2014)

Thats funny. I never even looked at the original date this was started. 
As for the new question here about which router bit to use, I have this one. 
It comes up to 1-1/2" wide. Works well. 
http://www.toolstoday.com/p-4943-bottom-cleaning-spoilboard-router-bits-upshear-design.aspx?refresh=true


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## lennyk (Feb 15, 2016)

The Amana bit looks like the right bit as the cutting edges are angled and not parallel to the wood grain


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## CopperTree (Jul 3, 2015)

I think a lot of the risk has to do with the size/quality of the planer and the depth of cut. I use a 15" 3HP planer and always send my end grain boards through it after every glue up and then through a 24" double drum sander before finishing. I sneak up on the surface as it is going through the first pass and make very small adjustments after that. Blades must be sharp, feed rate on slow, and the feed roller must have proper down pressure. I also glue on sacrificial strips on each end to prevent tear out and snipe.

Maybe I've been lucky but the power and mass of a large planer seems to help a lot, I have no experience with a lunchbox style planer.

Here is a blank fresh out of the planer and then the finished product:


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