I need to make new product for the 2025 Farmer’s Markets. So I needed to create some new end-grain cutting boards. The process for this one uses standard 13/16” boards, instead of having to get 8/4 (i.e. 2” thick) boards. The patters that it makes are pretty cool. I chose to make them out of Maple, Cherry and Walnut for #1, and Maple, Cherry and Purple Heart for #2.
You start by jointing, planning and then ripping sections of wood to various widths for your pattern, then crosscutting them to 48” long.
From there, you glue them up, then plane the full board down till both sides are flat, At that point, you crosscut the pieces to the finished thickness of the board (in this case, I went with 1-3/8” thick).
You then take the separate pieces and flip them over to alternate them, so you create a cool pattern. After that, its back to the second glue up, which shows the pattern.
From there you plane the completed board down to its final thickness (around 1-1/4”, sand it, then round over the edges on the router table.
Later this week I will apply several coats of cutting board oil to seal them up and bring out the full color of the wood. They’ll be done!
Kevin