# planing end grain cutting boards



## smoky10 (Nov 9, 2009)

How many of you run your end grain cutting boards through your planer? I do all the time and never had a problem, except for a little tear out on some of the ends. I always take very light cuts and make sure it's about 15" long, my planer calls for nothing shorter than 14" for safety reasons. I just thought I would see if other members do this also.


----------



## PeteMoss (Nov 24, 2008)

I have done it, both successfully and catastrophically. I am actually on my second planer due to doing this. I had a piece (strip) of the cutting board break off at the trailing edge glue line and get sucked up by the cutter head wedging it between the head and the cast aluminum housing. It cracked the housing. On to the next.

It can work, but I just choose no longer to plane end grain.


----------



## Timbo (Aug 21, 2008)

I always round over the trailing edge prior to planing and the tear out is no more… oh yeah, very light cuts.


----------



## JasonWagner (Sep 10, 2009)

I've been too afraid to do this…I'd like to see some more people who have done this successfully with no catastrophic failures. I can't afford that…oh yeah, with a lunch box style planer too…not some 15" + behemoth. Maybe I'm too wishful!


----------



## Chriskmb5150 (Dec 23, 2009)

I'll second what timbo said. i keep my cuts limited to 1/32 on each pass.


----------



## smoky10 (Nov 9, 2009)

Timbo, rounding over the ends seems logical to me, now that you mentioned it . I had a piece come of once ,but I didn't wait for the glue to set up, that was my fault.


----------



## TomHintz (Feb 4, 2009)

I have planed several end grain cutting boards on my Powermatic 15HH (Byrd head) and always get very nice results. As the others have mentioned, light cuts is crucial. I do the planing before trimming the cutting board to final size so what tear out I get on the last edge through gets cut away anyway so that is a non-issue in my experience.


----------



## BenEPW (Aug 12, 2009)

I've taken some fairly large cuts on the planer when finishing of an end grain board. My approach is to gluesome chunks onto the tailing edge, so the paner will finish the cut in it's intended manner, to prevent any chipouts. I actually was taking about 1/16 at a time on one board. (still wonder why I didn't split it on the bandsaw, and make 2 boards instead…) After that, a quick pass on the panel sander, and on to the finish.


----------



## dbray45 (Oct 19, 2010)

Did it with the planer, not so happy, bought time on a drum sander, excellent results, used a low angle block plane, again excellent but hard on the hands and watch the edges. Getting a low angle jointing plane for Christmas (Lee Valley) with optional blades and fence - we'll see. Took a good look at the plane to make sure all was good before my wife took it away, this looks to be a very nice tool with enough weight to hold up. With A2 blades they should stay shard for a little while.


----------



## JonathanG (Jan 18, 2010)

I don't yet have a planer, but do have a drum sander and it works beautifully, without any real chance of catastrophic failure, or shooting projectiles around the shop.

I certainly can see that rounding over the edges before planing would seem to make sense on helping avoid issues.


----------



## chuck24 (Jun 8, 2009)

I used this method once last christmas….. on my Dewalt 735. I double sided taped two runners to the sides of the cutting board the went 6" past the ends of the cutting board. I never did more than 1/16 maybe even closer to 1/32 on each pass. I came out extremely smooth. Every light in the house started flickering when it got to the point of cutting.

Now with that said this year I made 5 as christmas presents to the family and after hearring the horror storries I decided to use a a thickness sander. I have a huge shop at work so I used theirs. I got "ok" results which required alot of work and needless to say wish I would have used the planner…. but with safety and my wallet in mind…. I wouldnt use the planner, just meant a little more work on the end tail end.


----------



## gord09 (Jun 1, 2008)

I've had good results planing the end-grain. Before I plane, I glue a 1x strip on all 4 sides. The long sides are about 8" longer than the cutting board. This eliminates the snipe. My planer is a Delta 12" and my cuts are light at 1/3 or 1/4 turn each.


----------



## sdm (Nov 17, 2012)

I also round over the edges with a sander prior to going to the planer. I have tried to sand and check with a straight edge to get a "flat" bottom before planing. Still seem to get a wobble when I lay it on the workbench. I have adjusted my planer knives, not positive, they seem the same.

Any suggestions what I am doing wrong?


----------



## grizzlymunchin (Aug 17, 2013)

I use a router with a 2 inch bottom cleaning bit works great


----------



## grizzlymunchin (Aug 17, 2013)

build a jig for the router and your off and runnin


----------



## grizzlymunchin (Aug 17, 2013)

with the router jig all you have to do is put your board in turn on the router and your done no snipe no gouges no chip out just smooth cutting


----------



## shawnmasterson (Jan 24, 2013)

I posted a thread about using variable speed on a planer. the wood master's have that option. My thought process was that by slowing the feed rate down to a crawl it would increase the number of cuts per minute, and would help get rid of the tearout. any thought on this.


----------



## shawnmasterson (Jan 24, 2013)

bump


----------



## CharlesA (Jun 24, 2013)

I assume everyone has seen this on the Wood Whisperer: http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/articles/end-grain-through-the-planer/


----------



## dbray45 (Oct 19, 2010)

I use a really sharp low angle jointer plane (hand plane), put culls on all sides so you don't splinter the edges.


----------



## mbs (May 8, 2010)

When I was in high school I worked at a place that made burl tables. We used an overhead router like Grizzlymunchin was referring to. it works well but you still may have a bit of sanding to do. It's safer than planing in my opinion.


----------



## lumbermeister (Dec 24, 2012)

Two conditions must be avoided in order to prevent catastrophic failure of end grain in the planer..

1. Board must not rock within planer. Rocking in the planer means that the amount of material removed per pass is uncontrolled and unpredictable.

2. Initial passes on board should remove ZERO material; else, the qty of material removed is unpredictable. The unplaned surface is, of course, uneven. Setting the material removal depth corresponding to the leading portion of a board poses a risk that, further along the board's surface, the wood will closer to the blades; thus, additional (and unknown) amount of material removal and risk of failure.

In short, (and in my experience of a dozen or so end grain boards), removing 1/128 inches per pass will result in a smooth end grain surface. I remove zero on the first pass, lowering the blade the aforementioned 1/128 until the job is completed (slow and a bit tedious, but it gets the job done).


----------

