# Cutting Board Jigs



## nittanylion (Jan 10, 2008)

Good morning all,
I have thoroughly enjoyed all the insight I have gained from this site. From ideas, to thoughts, to suggestions, it has opened my eyes to more info about all aspects of woodworking.

I have been asked to make quite a few cutting boards recently. I enjoy being able to tweak each one just a bit to make it one of a kind. I am finding that the simple glue ups are very time consuming.

This is where I need your help! Does anyone have any suggestions, photos, plans, or links to effective glue up jigs for cutting boards?

Thanks a ton for your help, I look forward to making a jig to keep up with the demand for the boards!

Have a great day,
Todd


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## pmayer (Jan 3, 2010)

I would be curious to hear what you come up with on this. I have made many cutting boards, but have not found the glue-up process to be much of a bottleneck. For me the tricky part seems to be trying to get perfect jointed edges on all of the pieces, particularly on super thin accent strips. Once I have that part down, the actually glue-up seems like it takes only a few minutes using normal pipe or bar clamps.


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## mds2 (Jan 28, 2013)

My grandfather has made over 300 cutting boards this last year. Not bad for a 91 year old. He does use a jig to assemble them. Nothing fancy.

Basically two parallel 2×4's standing on edge, spaced 12" or so apart. The top edges of the 2×4's has a stopped dado cut in them to create a little shelf for the strips to sit in. He puts glue on the strips, sets them in order in the dados, and then clamps them together and on to the next one.


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## pmayer (Jan 3, 2010)

Wow, that is impressive work output for a 91 year old!

How does this approach add speed to the process, compared to just setting them on pipe or bar clamps? Unless I am missing something it just seems like an extra step.


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## mds2 (Jan 28, 2013)

I know it helps him keep everything aligned, not sure if it is any faster. It's what he does and it works. He doesn't have the upper body strength (torn bicep last year) or the dexterity in his hands like he used to. Watching him work is pretty amazing though. The old adage "first you get good, then you get fast" is true. Even with having to use a walker he runs circles around me in the shop. His efficiency and accuracy are amazing.

I was wrong he made 261 cutting boards and sold 250 of them. I texted him to verify the numbers. Not too shabby at $35-$60 a pop.


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## BigMig (Mar 31, 2011)

I use the "far" fence on my crosscut sled as one side on my clamping area. I put clear packing tape on that fence and clamp direct to it. I clamp on top of waxed/parchment paper to keep glue off the table portion of the sled.

Since that fence is a few inches tall, I cut slots in it that accommodate my bar clamps - but not so many, nor so deep as to affect the rigidity of the sled. Works pretty well, is nice and flat, stable…


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## Brad_Nailor (Jul 26, 2007)

I use a simple jig  to help keep my clamps from wandering around while I am concentrating on the glue up..I do a lot of patterns with different woods and thicknesses, so I usually have quite a few pieces to get glue on and get positioned, the last thing I want to deal with is the clamps moving around.

For end grain boards, I like to use a sandwich set up for gluing, pressing the pieces against a reference flat piece, with another laminated flat bar.  Eng grain slices tend to get a little wonky when you try and glue them up, and that will mess with any pattern alignment you might be trying to do.


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