# Attempting my first cutting board



## kartman35 (Mar 17, 2013)

Hey there everybody

I decided that I want to build myself an end grain cutting board. I saw a very cool youtube vid by a guy called the wood whisperer, and I plan to copy his design, but just enlarge it a bit in length, width and height. Here's the linky to the how to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B8oAJs3sik

My question involves wood choice. His design calls for a mix of rock maple and purpleheart. I really like the visual effect of the contrasting wood colors and therefore want to go with a two-tone board. However from the FAQ over at the Boardsmith, purpleheart is on a list of woods that are said to be too hard and therefore tougher on knives. So I've decided to replace the purpleheart with something softer.

I was thinking that Rock maple would look just as cool next to black walnut, but the same FAQ says it's important to keep the hardness of the woods similar because of the way woods of different hardness react to wear and humidity differently. 

Are maple and walnut similar enough? Am I better off going walnut/cherry? Maple/mahogany? Maybe I can find two pieces of maple that are different enough in color get the same effect though more subtle....

What wood would you use if you were going to put together a 'multi wood' board?

Thanks for any advice/opinions

Oh and BTW I plan to ignore the videos recommendation of salad bowl finish and just go with the oil and wax method.


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## franzb69 (Mar 17, 2013)

you can probably use the purpleheart as a border =D


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## apicius9 (Mar 17, 2013)

Mine is maple and cherry, and that works perfectly fine. Don't like purple heart at all. 

Stefan


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## Chifunda (Mar 17, 2013)

For what it's worth, I have a rock maple/purpleheart cutting board I made using Marc Spagnuolo's plan. I used it for about a year before buying a BoardSmith and never noticed the purpleheart being particularly tough on my knives. 

If you don't have access to a drum sander, keep the surface of your board as flat and level as possible when you do your glue-up. Planing all that end grain by hand is not for the faint of heart.


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## Smith (Mar 17, 2013)

kartman35 said:


> Are maple and walnut similar enough? Am I better off going walnut/cherry? Maple/mahogany? Maybe I can find two pieces of maple that are different enough in color get the same effect though more subtle....



Check out hardness rating of wood here: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janka_hardness_test


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## bobtcook (Mar 17, 2013)

Made that board with maple and walnut soon after he released that video. It must be over 5 years old now and gets daily hard use. Still going strong. Might last forever. 

Made a couple as gifts with maple and purple heart a few years later. Had problems with glue joints. Don't know if the problem was the wood, user maintenance routine, or glue-up technique. Maybe all of the above. I've done a few things with maple and walnut. They seem to play well together. 

Maple/walnut may be the low-risk approach to your project. 

Let us know how it goes.


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## Chifunda (Mar 17, 2013)

Here's mine with purpleheart. Put it together with Titebond III and no problems with glue joints so far.


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## sharkbite111 (Mar 17, 2013)

Looks great! Board isn't too shabby either! 

Chris


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## kartman35 (Mar 19, 2013)

Thanks to all who offered an opinion.

I picked up my lumber today and decided to go with maple and walnut.

I'll post pics when it's done, thanks again


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## boomchakabowwow (Mar 19, 2013)

subscribed!!

i have the wood..mahogany. i dont have the tools. i really want to make a big board for bread making.

joiner? a big electric plane? are you gonna use these?


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## Mike9 (Mar 19, 2013)

If you have a router you can forgo a drum sander. You just need to build a simple jig for flattening the board after glue up. 

Power planing and jointing end grain is not advisable IMO. Hard on the knives and your board can explode under the feed rollers. Power hand plane is dangerous too. 

Look around for a sign shop that has a CNC router and just pay them to mill it flat and parallel. Same premise as the router jig.


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## kartman35 (Mar 19, 2013)

boomchakabowwow said:


> joiner? a big electric plane? are you gonna use these?



I'm renting time in a wood shop...I plan to use a plane to mill the rough stock, not sure if I'll need to use a jointer as well for that, and after the glue ups I guess a drum sander will be the easiest..


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## Chifunda (Mar 19, 2013)

Joint before you plane. 

Remember the woodworkers acronym: FEWTEL...*F*latten on the jointer, square one *E*dge on the jointer with the flattened side against the fence, rip to *W*idth, plane to *T*hickness, square one *E*nd, and finally cut to *L*ength. 

If you have access to a drum sander, go for it; you won't be required to turn in your man card. I flattened my board with a Lie-Nielsen low angle jack plane with a bloody sharp blade and it was still a bugger.

Good luck!


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## Slypig5000 (Mar 20, 2013)

Chifunda said:


> Here's mine with purpleheart. Put it together with Titebond III and no problems with glue joints so far.



That is one nice looking knife, and board too.


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## kartman35 (Mar 21, 2013)

Chifunda said:


> Joint before you plane.
> 
> Remember the woodworkers acronym: FEWTEL...*F*latten on the jointer, square one *E*dge on the jointer with the flattened side against the fence, rip to *W*idth, plane to *T*hickness, square one *E*nd, and finally cut to *L*ength.
> 
> ...



What he said 

Luckily this wood shop has technicians that show noobies like me how to deal with wood (and keep all digits attached). They basically showed me how to do exactly what Chifunda said. Was a lot of fun.

Now my pieces are ready for my first glue up. I've decided to change the plan a little from the video. I'm making the pattern a little less intricate, and using larger strips (4 strips 3.5" wide and one 1.75"). I've decided that using larger pieces means more wood and less glue joints for my knives to contact. Its also seems like it'll be a little easier to do this way and the resulting pattern will still look cool...I like having the blocks arranged in a brickwork pattern. Looks nice and if things don't line up perfect it won't be as obvious as if all the edges of the blocks match flush.






As you can see I'm planning to put together 2 panels, one with the 1.75 strip being maple, and the other has the skinny strip in walnut. Each panel is big enough to make one board. So when it's time for glue up #2, I can either mix the 2 panels together to give me two similar boards which will each look like this:





or I can use the "more maple pieces" for one board and make the other more walnut, which will look like this:




and this:





Any opinions are welcome...I still have a day or two to decide before I get to glue up#2.

Going back to the shop tomorrow morning for glue up #1, will update as I make progress.

Unless of course y'all feel like this thread belongs on a woodworking forum and you don't want it here...just let me know and I'll post a final pic when I'm finished and leave it at that...

Happy Happy


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## Jmadams13 (Mar 24, 2013)

I really like the last one. It kinda "frames" it in a way.


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## Dream Burls (Mar 24, 2013)

Jmadams13 said:


> I really like the last one. It kinda "frames" it in a way.



+1 It has a symmetry that the other two don't and I like symmetry.


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## kartman35 (Mar 24, 2013)

Ok so here's the wood ready to be glued. I'm going in to do the final glue up on wednesday.

Option 1. Two identical boards that each look like this:






Or Option 2 which will give me one of each of the following 2 patterns.
More walnut:





and more maple:






So far it looks like I'm leaning towards option 2. Thanks for stopping by!


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## Mike9 (Mar 25, 2013)

Looking good - option 2 has it going on IMO.


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## Lefty (Mar 25, 2013)

I like numbers 3 and 2, in that order. These are going to be very nice!


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## kartman35 (Mar 31, 2013)

still sanding the other one more pics when its done


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## Lefty (Mar 31, 2013)

That's gorgeous!


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## markenki (Mar 31, 2013)

Looks great!


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## Mike9 (Mar 31, 2013)

That really came out nice.


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## franzb69 (Mar 31, 2013)

lovely board you made there! jealous of your skills.


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## stereo.pete (Mar 31, 2013)

I wish I was good with my hands... Nice work!


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## Johnny.B.Good (Mar 31, 2013)

stereo.pete said:


> I wish I was good with my hands... Nice work!



+1

Impressive!


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## kartman35 (Apr 2, 2013)

Thanks for the kind words everybody, much appreciated.
Well I got the other one finished so here's the final pics.












As you can see there's a couple of small knots that make cracks in the surface along one edge in the walnut. I may try to repair that with dowels soon. Meanwhile I'll just keep an eye on them and keep them full of beeswax I guess. Also I guess I got a little impatient with the ROS this time as there's some visible scratches left from the 80 grit that I wish I'd take more time with. Anyways these will be covered with knife marks soon enough 

Again thanks for tuning in and all the encouragement. Was a fun project.:biggrin:


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## Dream Burls (Apr 2, 2013)

Super job, well done!


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## marc4pt0 (Apr 2, 2013)

Those are looking great! Stunning work, I must say, very stunning


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