LarryEiss.com Welcomes You!

I got into the shop for a while this afternoon and began work on the long promised–and I hope still awaited–photographic tutorial about how to make an end-grain cutting board.  This first board will be very simple.  I am only planning to use a single species of wood–Black Cherry as it happens–and I’ll make the board from a single rough-cut plank.

Rough lumber is not measured or sized the way you are used to if you buy S4S (Surfaced Four Sides) boards from the local Home Depot or Lowes.  When you buy pre-surfaced wood, you get a piece with known and reliable dimensions.  If you plan to use pre-surfaced lumber for your cutting board, that will work perfectly well.  Buy a hardwood one-by-six (1×6) at least six feet long. Maple, cherry or walnut are preferable, but you can use oak or even poplar to keep the cost down.

I decided to do the tutorial using a rough plank so that I could discuss some of the issues you can expect if that’s what you decide to use.  Once you are good at making cutting boards you will almost certainly want to use rough lumber yourself because it comes in a broader range of widths and thicknesses.

Here is the plank:

This plank was just over six feet long, ranged between 5 1/8 and 5 1/4 wide, and just over one inch thick.  It was also probably the worst stick I could have selected since it was twisted along its length (warped), had one concave and one convex face (cupped), and wasn’t straight along the edges (bowed).  Fortunately since I was going to cut the surfaced plank into relatively short thin strips, most of that didn’t matter.

I’ve already given you dimensions from which to start, but there may be some who wonder how they can tell if a certain plank is large enough to make a cutting board.  The answer to that question is, “yes.”  The real question is how large a cutting board a given plank will make.  As the tutorial progresses you’ll get a better handle on that.

One tip: Don’t agree to make a cutting board for someone to any exact dimension.  There is no reason a board has to be any exact size and it makes your job a lot harder–especially if you are mathematically challenged like me.  You’ll learn more about that when you see the scrap I left.

A few words about equipment:

I’ll mention the various tools I use and give you links for them on one of the vendor sites below.

I get a small commission if you use one of these links to make any purchase from the vendor.  This is one thing that helps me devote time to this endeavor.

You’ll notice in my photographs that I do not have a blade guard on my table saw.  Whether you use one or not is your decision, and you are responsible for whatever happens as a result.  While I don’t have a guard covering the blade, I do have a very good Biesmeyer splitter.

I am using a full-kerf blade in my tablesaw.  I blew a bunch of money and bought a Forrest Woodworker II and I could not be happier with that blade.  It has been well worth the price.

As you can see in the image above, I have a Delta Unisaw.  I absolutely love this saw, but please don’t get the idea you must have one to make cutting boards.  The first board I made was on the smallest light-duty benchtop direct-drive table saw you can buy.  In case you’re curious, I have a 3HP left tilt saw with a 30 inch Biesmeyer fence.  Lest you think I am outrageously wealthy, let me draw your attention to the folding table with miter slots routed into the top that serves as my outfeed table.  I had to wait several years before I could afford this saw.

I’ll post more shortly.