Cutting Board - How Do I Do It

Pete Janke

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Northern CA Bay Area
My in-laws live in a 1920s bungalow in San Francisco. Mom-in-law has asked me to make her a new cutting board. The existing one is 2' wide, 20" long and 3/4" thick. It slides completely out of a slot in a kitchen cabinet. It looks like 2 - unfinished oak boards with a long grain stile on each side and a rail across the front. The two large boards are joined with what looks like tongue and groove. This joint leaves a shallow groove across the cutting board which catches crumbs and other food stuff. Attached is a crude drawing using Word. I need to practice with Sketchup.

I'm looking for some ideas on how to make a new one, possible in an edge grain style.
View attachment Cutting Board.doc
 
Thank you. I watched it. Good information. I guess I am most worried that my cutting board would be only 3/4" thick and quite large. Most cutting boards seem to be over 1" thick and not as large.
 
.... It looks like 2 - unfinished oak boards with a long grain stile on each side and a rail across the front. The two large boards are joined with what looks like tongue and groove. This joint leaves a shallow groove across the cutting board which catches crumbs and other food stuff. ...

Those two stiles on the sides are pulling your cutting board apart. Wood expands and contracts across the grain, almost none in the long grain direction. Therefore the stiles are grabbing the two boards. For discussion, lets say at the middle. In the wet season, the wood compresses (crushing the fibers at the joint). In the dry season the wood shrinks, but are being held in place by the stiles, giving you the groove that is bothering you.

I would take a more closed grain wood than oak - perhaps maple, and edge glue the pieces together, no tongue and groove. No stiles on the side. I bet you will have a cutting board that lasts a LONG time, especially if the wood is well dried to start, so there are no internal stresses to cause splits or warping. I have made many cutting boards by just slapping together a couple pieces of maple - they won't sell at a craft fair but they work great.
 
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I'll second Charlie's recommendation. For an in-cabinet cutting board that's meant to be used, I'd just make a simple edge-glued cutting board out of maple that's well dried and stable. And that can be a warmup for the nice and fancy thicker end grain board you could make later to display (and use) on top of the counter.
 
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