Replies

1. 
   DonfromUtah | Apr 06, 2009 06:35pm | #1

   Is the board resting flat against the drawer bottom?  What, if any, finish was used?  Did the board warp before or after it was washed?

1. 
   non trad stu | Apr 06, 2009 11:54pm | #2

   First time it was on cloth place mats in the drawer.  Second time on my bench in (unheated) workshop.  Has not had any finish applied.  Never washed or used for that matter.

2. 
   HowardAcheson | Apr 07, 2009 04:09am | #3

   Running the end grain randomly is a big "no no". The grain should all run in the same direction. Wood expands and contracts at a different rate depending on whether its end grain runs perpendicular to the center of the tree toward the center of the tree. The rate of expansion/contraction is different by about a 2:1 ratio. So that's one problem that has no solution. You will always have a propensity to warp and may eventually split or the glue joints may fail.

   Here is the first paragraph from a write up I did for a local woodworking club magazine.

   "There is a little engineering that needs to be considered when building an end grain butcher block or cutting board. First, choose wood where the growth rings (viewed from the end) run as close to 90 degrees or parallel to one edge. Remember, the expansion/contraction is about double along the annular rings verses perpendicular to the rings. You've got to keep the grain running in the same direction as you glue up your strips. In other words, don't glue a flatsawn edge to a quartersawn edge."

   Second, a cutting board, particularly a new one, should be stored so that air can get equally to both sides.

   Howie.........
1. 
   non trad stu | Apr 08, 2009 05:17pm | #4

   Thank you for this especially since, obviously, it is new info for me.  I am intrigued as to the source of this technique since it was not mentioned in any of the books and articles I read (including FWW) before embarking on the project.  Also I remenber well growing up in England and as a boy seeing huge chopping blocks in the butcher shops and being curious "how did trees grow with all that random pattern"!  Now please, I'm not saying you are incorrect just curious as to the origin of this approach. Tx