# Flattening end grain



## TFKeefe (Jan 25, 2009)

I am completing an end grain cutting board. After the final glue up I needed to remove some dried glue squeeze out and flatten out the board. It was very difficult but it is over now. However, I may never make another end-grain anything again! I am just wondering if there is a better way.

I used three different planes to start. I started with a block plane (regular, not low angle). Alternated between not removing any stock (blade retracted too far) and not being able to push the plane through (blade extended too far). After becoming frustrated with this I moved on to alternating between my #4 smoother and #5 jack plane. It was a little easier to push these through so I was able to remove more stock. However, the blade did not last too long. After collapsing from exhaustion, I used my sander (ROS) with 60 grit paper. This worked pretty well (and didn't wear me out) but left the surface wavy. The board uses purple heart, mahogany, cherry and maple. I think the difference in hardness led to the wavy surface. Finally, I dug out my cabinet scraper. This worked pretty well but was not very aggressive. (Probably should have resharpened it but I am not very familiar with it yet.)

I am wondering what advice you can offer for leveling end grain. Thanks.

Tom


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## TexasTodd (Jul 10, 2008)

Sounds like a great reason to buy a drum or wide belt sander to me! End grain boards are very hard to flatten and level without one.


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## gerrym526 (Dec 22, 2007)

Todd's right about a wide belt sander doing the job quickly. But before you rush out to spend lots of bucks on a new power tool (not that there's anything wrong with that) you should check with your local hardwood lumber yard, or a local cabinet shop.
When I build glued-up table tops for my projects, I take them to my hardwood lumber dealer who has a wide belt sander. They will usually sand them to uniform thickness for a nominal charge.
Gerry


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## JonathanG (Jan 18, 2010)

Tom,

I see in your workshop that you have a router. You might try building a router sled? That would make fairly short work of leveling everything out and you've already got the tool to use. Then just throw in a straight bit and go back and forth, shaving the board down to an even thickness.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

I just posted a consensus question about jointer/planers vs drum sanders. That is one of my considerations of beginning to lean towards a sander.


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## JasonWagner (Sep 10, 2009)

I use flexible hand scrapers along with 40 grit ROS to start. The best thing to do is get good at your glue up so you don't have to do much in the first place. Lots cheaper than buying a drum sander. There are some pretty cool guides on how to build your own, but it'll still set you back ~$300 and a good amount of time.


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## davidmicraig (Nov 21, 2009)

I am particularly drawn to card scrapers for cleaning up the boards. I think you can get a good surface fairly quickly and follow up with 120 grit sandpaper for cleanup. I believe the 60 grit might be too aggressive. After the glue-up is cleaned, I think the planes will work easier and the blades would last longer. I think part of the problem might be the planer blades trying to cut through the dried glue. If the hand planing is too laborous, then the blades probably need a sharpening or the depth is set for too heavy a cut. Here is a video tutorial on card scrapers by Todd Clippinger.. Avoid using a power planer on the cutting boards. From my understanding, they stress the joints too much and can cause some real headaches.

David


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## JonathanG (Jan 18, 2010)

David,

Thanks for posting that link to Todd's video. I hadn't seen it yet, and do not yet have any scrapers. This basic, yet seemingly effective use and sharpening of a card scraper has peeked my interest in them, so thank you for that. I'm used to sanding up until the finish work anyway, so that part of it would be nothing new to me. Guess I'll be getting a scraper or two now to try out, especially since they're not a "big ticket" item.

I'd also have to agree with you on trying to run an end grain board through a planer. Although I have not witnessed it in person, there are plenty of horror stories on LJs about boards splitting, cracking, or shattering, and even worse, becoming dangerous projectiles in the shop. I know you can glue on sacrificial pieces on the ends, etc. to help with the edges coming apart, but that doesn't help relieve any stress in the center of the board. I'll stick with less-risky methods for now, especially since I don't own a planer to run one through. With that being said, I am anxious to use my new (to me) drum sander on my next end grain board with some low-grit paper! Then I'll probably clean it up with a card scraper after it's flat to remove the rough-grit lines from the drum sander, then hit it with the ROS like I normally do. I think this method will save me some time and dust from the ROS.

I'm always anxious to learn new skills since I'm just a beginner. Be that the use of a new tool, or an intricate skill. And a card scraper certainly sounds like it'll be an affordable tool to have, and a valuable tool to use as it'll save me time and effort and maybe a penny's worth of electricity every now and then!


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## mnorusis (Oct 17, 2009)

Just my thoughts on card scrapers.

I have 1 Bahco card scrarper and the Lynx 3 card scraper set (both from woodcraft).

I haven't had an enormous amount of luck with the Lynx scrapers (although I haven't put them through true paces yet). But the Bahco scraper has been an absolutely outstanding purchase for me. I just finished (last night) a built in desktop (hard curly maple) and after glue up, I used the card scraper to get everything flush and scrape out the planer chipout. I'm in love with that tool at the moment.


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## mnorusis (Oct 17, 2009)

One other thing, I read somewhere to put a rectangular fridge magnet on the back of the card scrape where your thumbs go b/c it can get pretty hot if you're doing a lot of scraping. I also ended up wering thin gloves (like very light/thin winter gloves) b/c I got blisters on my thumbs.


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## Dennisgrosen (Nov 14, 2009)

before the socalled blessed electronage there was a plane (and still is) called a butchers plane
its a bevel up Jack plane and do a fanstastic job on endgrain cuttingboards

Dennis


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## tbone (Apr 24, 2008)

That router sled that Johnathan describes works fantastic for end-grain cutting boards and glued up tops that are uneven after being unclamped. I've even seen sleds made for belt sanders that-if designed for safety-could do a good job.
But if you like your hand tools, then I'd look into that butchers plane that Dennis describes.


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

I second the router sled solution. I have already purchased the materials to make one after experiencing the same thing while reconditioning a couple of my son's cutting boards. The router would have been quick and also do a good job with just some sanding to do afterwards.


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## TFKeefe (Jan 25, 2009)

Thanks for all the suggestions. The router sled and the butchers plane both sound very
interesting.

Dennis, I did a couple of google searches on the butcher plane and only found a really
old Stanley metal plane. Are there more recent incarnations of this plane? Also, would
a low angle block plane be a good replacement?

Tom


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## spclPatrolGroup (Jun 23, 2010)

Also if you like hand tools, a nice low angle plane would work well.


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## closetguy (Sep 29, 2007)

This was the reason I bought a drum sander.


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## SPalm (Oct 9, 2007)

As mentioned before, a router sled does a wonderful job. I have used it for flattening many boards and projects, even my work bench. You don't have to build a real fancy one. Just two metal sticks and two reference boards. The router is your friend, it can do a lot. Save your money to buy the planes you really want.

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc158/spalm_pics/Router-Planer.jpg

(Note: that is not me in the picture)
Steve


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## Dennisgrosen (Nov 14, 2009)

Thomas 
if you want such a plane you can look at Veritas low angle smoother or the low angle jackplane
and I think Lie-Neilsen allso has something like that on the program
Lie-Neilsen is allmost identicle build as the old stanley planes
where Veritas is a new/another construction both compagnies make great planes 
what you prefure is up to you
take a look at both of them and deside but they ain´t cheap (DONT SAY YOU AIN`T WARRENT NOW)
and the resent why a bigger plane than a blockplane work so well is the bigger heft/masse they have
so when you have started the cut they simply ceep going on thrugh the wood contra the blockplane
where you have to use big force thrugh the hole cut
just think of the english infill-planes how heavy they are

Dennis


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## TFKeefe (Jan 25, 2009)

Well, I went ahead and started another end grain cutting board. This one was longer
and cupped a lot worse than the first one. I worked on it for a while with planes.
I tried wetting the wood with alcohol and that helped quite a bit. It was probably
3/16 high in the center with a similar pattern on the other side. Plus, it was about
11×16in, so it would have taken some work to flatten.

When I went to my woodworking class, I was ready to put it in the belt
sander to speed things up a bit. It turns out the belt sander wasn't working so I
started discussing other alternatives with my instructor. We started talking discussing
using a router sled and one thing led to another. He pointed to the Shopbot CNC
machine in the corner and offered to help me set it up. It took almost 2hrs to get
it ready, but it did a really nice job. I still need to plane out some of the roughness,
but it was a real time saver.

The real difficulty was securely holding the workpiece. The vacuum system wouldn't hold
it because of the cupping. Double face tape had the same problem. Maybe I will look into
how people hold their work securely with a router sled.

Again, thanks for all of your help.

Tom


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

I would put it on a piece of flat stock like ply or mdf. Nail a few boards around the perimeter and use wedges to tighten it up. I've never done it, but that is where I'd start


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## lumberdustjohn (Sep 24, 2009)

I can tell you from experience to not use the planner.
It worked for a few passes and then ….The end blew out…
Ended up using a wide belt sander.
The router sled makes good sense if you don't have aceess to a wide belt.


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## ghazard (Oct 16, 2008)

Another vote for the router sled. Here is mine. Invaluable for quick flattening tasks. I don't own a regular planer so I use this for all stock thinning.

Good luck.

Greg


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## Jonnyfurniture (Aug 29, 2010)

After the router try a 7 inch sander polisher with a hard foam pad. Worked quickly for me.


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## Nomad62 (Apr 20, 2010)

Sanding is a great option, but if you use a small (hand held) sized sanding tool then the tendancy is to start pushing down on the piece to make it sand faster…causing the waves. The soft wood will cut faster than the hard wood. This is why a drum sander is so nice, lots of surface and its a machine, it won't push. If you use sharp paper, keeping it clean as you gently sand (paying attention to glue build-up), then you can get good results, but it will take a while… ah, patience. I would end up going to a local shop and letting them drum sand it if I was to make one.


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## Gofor (Jan 12, 2008)

I agree with a lot of the above statements:

First, minimize the irregularities as much as possible during construction

Second: a good card scraper is a wonderful tool and really is not that hard to learn how to turn a burr on. That said, I have the Linx brand (which I use to scrape copious glue when I get overzealous) that are easy to sharpen (4 or 5 strokes with a fine mill file and then about 3 strokes each side to form the burr). They dull quickly but also, the PVA glue gloms up and also corrodes the surface quickly. After I get the most of the glue off, I go to my Lie-Nielson card scrapers. Harder metal, but longer lasting burr and finer edge. A little more expensive, but not prohibitively so (a lot cheaper than a drum sander). The LNs will need a Hard smooth surface burring tool (mine is made from the valve stem from a diesel engine jammed into the end of a 1" oak dowel).

Third, a SHARP low-angle plane, and plan on honing the iron's edge a few times during the process.

All that said, once you make the sled for your router to ride on, it will be quick and easy for the first flattening. The cards will give that super fine finish you want before oiling it up.

Go


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## BertFlores58 (May 26, 2010)

I am reading this because I am searching for the best method but I can't see on the above comments the use of FILES…. they come into several grade Bastard to smooth. Even Sam Maloof is very fond of using files or rasp. It is faster than a sander. Actually, I am trying to look for a mounting plate or a jig for holding a file to be used for flatening. What I really want is to mount the 4 half round files with the curves facing the wood. I will be using this later on my spiral design. 30 inches in diameter and will be flattened endgrain finish


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## Gofor (Jan 12, 2008)

BertFlores58: Cobalt drill bits will work for drilling screw holes. Use plenty of lubricant, steady pressure, and only enough speed to make progress. A grinding stone may be needed to make a countersink if you can't find a cobalt one, altho an oversized bit may work. If using an oversized bit, drill the countersink first, and use it to center your screw hole. After that, making a wood handle/jig to push it should be easy.

I am lucky to have an old flat float (1 1/2" wide by 12" long) that was made with holes to mount handles in it. As it is over 60 years old, I don't know where you would find one now-a-days.

Go


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## brunob (Dec 26, 2006)

Got a grizzly drum sander. Love it for this kind of stuff.


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