DIY Edge Grain Cutting Board & How to Router / Fix a Juice Groove
Introduction: DIY Edge Grain Cutting Board & How to Router / Fix a Juice Groove
In this video we will show you step-by-step how to make a beautiful and sturdy edge grain cutting board. We will also show you our favorite food grade finish and how to apply it. To complete this project, you will need a variety of tools, PPE and proper knowledge in using these tools.Subscribe and let us know what you think!
Overall Board Dimensions: 18 1/4”x12 1/4”x1 1/8”.
Supplies
Supply List:
* Lumber of Your Choice
* Wood Glue
* Food Grade Mineral Oil
* Cutting Board Conditioner
Tool List:
* Clamps
* Chop Saw
* Table Saw
* Planer
* Orbital Sander
* Router
* 3/8” Round Nose Bit
* 3/8” Round-over Bit
* Juice Groove Jig
* Drill Set
Optional Tools:
* Jointer
* Drum Sander
Step 1: Choose Your Wood
For our cutting board, we chose hickory, walnut, and Brazilian cherry. The hickory and walnut boards are both rough cut lumber while the Brazilian cherry we had is unused flooring scraps. Make sure the wood species you choose to work with are hardwoods and will hold up well to use.
Step 2: Preparation for Jointer & Jointing the Edges
This is not a necessary step, nor do you have to have a jointer for this project. For us, since we have a 6” jointer in the shop, I first cut the walnut on our table saw to decrease the width. This will allow me to flatten the face of the walnut on my jointer. As for the hickory, the section I had was already flat, so I only jointed the edge on that piece.
Step 3: Trim Lumber
My next stop was the chop saw. I cut both the tongue and groove off of the two flooring pieces of Brazilian cherry. If you need to square up the edge on any of your lumber, now would be the time to do it.
Step 4: Planer
I planed the Brazilian cherry hardwood flooring until the ridging was completely removed, which left a thickness of 5/8”. As for the walnut, I placed the flattened bottom of the wood on the planer tray, and it took no time to remove all of the roughness. My walnut was 1” thick once planed. I chose not to plane the hickory since it was already smooth and flat. 76
The thickness of the hickory is 7/8”. These thicknesses can be changed depending on what wood you have available and what size you’d like your board to be.
Step 5: Cut Strips on Table Saw
I first cut the tongue and groove off of the two Brazilian cherry sections. I wanted my chopping board’s overall thickness to be 1 1/8”, so I set my table saw fence at 1 1/4”. This gave me some wiggly room to ensure that my final product would be the desired thickness.
Step 6: Choose Design
For the design, we wanted to really highlight the hickory. Overall we used a total three strips of hickory, each strip being surrounded by Brazilian cherry on either side (6 strips of Brazilian cherry total). I placed some walnut strips in between the Brazilian cherry (6 strips total of walnut). The hickory I am working with here is 18 1/2” long, so I am going to try and keep the board as close to that size as possible.
Step 7: Glue-up
Before gluing the strips, we flipped each piece on its side. This way, the face grain of each piece of wood was facing upwards and would have glue spread on it. For the glue-up, I used Titebond glue, 2 Jorgenson parallel clamps and three bar clamps. For this step, you can use whatever clamps you have available. Make sure to get glue coverage on the entire surface of the wood and to tighten your clamps appropriately.
Step 8: Unclamp and Draw Square Edge
Once the glue has cured, you can unclamp your board. For my board, I allowed it to cure overnight. Using our square, I drew a straight line down to guide my next cut.
Step 9: Square Board by Removing Excess Wood
At the chop saw, I cut along the line I just drew to get a square edge and remove any excess wood. 76