Jeff’s Countertop-side Cutting Board

Viewer Project - By Jeff from Levis, Québec
Added on October 2, 2012

A friend of mine wanted a cutting board he would always leave on his brand-new stone counter top. He wanted it BIG : 26″ x 18″. And he wanted it to stay in place on the edge of the counter. So I built the board as I usually do (using Marc’s method) but I framed it in walnut, with the front lip wider so it would act as a stopper. I also made the rest of the frame 1/4″ wider than the board thickness to hide the small rubber feet I always use under my cutting boards to keep them from sliding around. As usual, I finished it with Naturoil that I mixed with bees wax for the last coat. That way I can buff them to shine a bit!

Discussion

Joel October 2, 2012 5:18 pm

That looks really good, but would not the different contraction and expansion rate of long grain and edge grain cause the miters to open up?

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- Jeff October 2, 2012 8:06 pm
  
  Yes, a bit :-( I should have splined them… I’ll have to re-glue them soon and I may insert splines after all.
  
  Reply
  - Jay October 3, 2012 5:55 am
    
    Jeff,
    
    I think to continue to what Joel was saying…you really need to have the edge banded with an end grain glue up. Splines may work structurally, but the wood movement will result in a crack which, in a cutting board, will produce an unsanitary condition.
    
    Now, having jumped on the “let’s rethink the construction band wagon, I do want to add it does look good though!
    
    Jay
    
    Reply
Dean October 2, 2012 5:26 pm

A very good looking cutting board Jeff. I like the end grain pattern that shows up down the center of the board. Nice touch. Quite a bit of attention paid to the design detail, but I guess your friend had some specific needs as well as your own touches.

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Lone_Wolf October 2, 2012 5:26 pm

It looks great.
Do you have reinforcements on your miters?

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Bob D. October 3, 2012 3:59 am

Very nice cutting board. I love the maple and walnut mixte and frame. I have made 2 boards last year with maple only. I bought some walnut since then and have some maple left over so I will mixte them in a new board. Great work.

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Jim October 3, 2012 6:02 am

A bench hook cutting board. Brilliant!

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Claude Stewart October 3, 2012 6:12 am

I like it a lot. But as to question of wood movement could you use biscuits to try and alleviate that. Like use 3 per side only glue the center one. Still reinforce your miters. Then I think it would move with seasons with no problems. What say everybody else?

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TennesseeYankee October 3, 2012 6:37 am

Fun. Now you can prep your food and play checkers at the same time.

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Barron Bail October 3, 2012 7:26 am

I like the look but the impacts of wood movement make me wonder is there any good way to frame an end grain to like this. My father built a very nice looking chess table from walnut and wormy chestnut with mitered framing on the top. Of course, the miters opened up ( and are still open, forty years later). With the end grain blocks making up the top, won’t the expansion be in all directions? About the only thing I can think of is to somehow ‘float’ the end grain inside the frame.

Mr Wood Whisperer, great guru and all knowing about all things wood (or at least knowing more then me), how would you frame an end grain center for a table top or cutting board?

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- thewoodwhisperer October 3, 2012 8:29 am
  
  I wouldn’t. :)
  
  Reply
  - Joel October 3, 2012 11:02 am
    
    Is that because your not skilled enough??;):)
    
    Reply
    - thewoodwhisperer October 3, 2012 11:18 am
      
      No amount of skill can convince wood not to move, unfortunately. But you can try if you want to. ;)
Barron Bail October 3, 2012 1:22 pm

So to make something like a chess table, would you use veneer to make the ‘board’ part of a top?

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- thewoodwhisperer October 3, 2012 3:03 pm
  
  Yeah I think veneer is the best choice. It would be nice and stable with limited movement. Furthermore, it will stay nice and flat which is a good thing for a game table surface. Then you can frame it any way you like. With solid wood, you’ll have to leave a gap for expansion which can look OK if done in a nice way. But ultimately, most folks don’t want to have a gap around the perimeter.
  
  Reply
Sean O October 3, 2012 11:01 pm

The one of the first projects I ever did was an end grain cutting board. I thought about framing it like this one but after flattening the cutting board with a belt sander I was ready to move on and be done with the project. Back then I was really green and didn’t consider wood movement and the catastrophe that would occur if I framed the cutting board. After reading, watching and practicing more woodworking I wouldn’t attempt it.

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Bob D. October 4, 2012 5:38 am

Well, being a beginner I still don’t consider enough the wood movement. I know I should and if I don’t life will make me learn it the hard way I suppose. I really like the frame look. I would make an end grain frame around the board. The look wouldn’t be the same as edge grain but it would be a good compromise.

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Beechwood Chip October 4, 2012 6:28 am

An end grain cutting board will get wiped down with a damp cloth to be cleaned, and kitchens are humid places. So it will definitely expand. You can decide where the frame will split. If you don’t do anything gaps will appear at the corners, probably. You can peg the corners and make each frame side in two pieces; that way the gap will appear where the pieces meet. Is there a glue that has some flex so that it will stretch and not fail when the wood moves?

I was thinking that once you have determined where the gap will appear, you could put a decorative piece of the gap to cover it. That way, the gap can open and close under the cover.

That’s the best I can come up with if you really want a long grain frame around an end grain cutting board.

Hmmm, 1/8″ veneer glued to both sides of a plywood substrate might be stable enough for a mitered frame, and 1/8″ might be thick enough for a cutting board. It would be an interesting experiment.

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Chris H October 4, 2012 8:18 am

Would 1/8″ veneer be durable enough for a cutting board? My experience with veneers has always been that they have poor on the durability scale.

Though, this is likely the installers fault (or cheapness). Have others had success with veneer on surfaces that take a beating?

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- thewoodwhisperer October 4, 2012 11:28 am
  
  Hmmm.. not sure how I feel about veneer for a cutting surface, regardless of thickness. Durability will always be a big concern.
  
  Reply
Jeff October 4, 2012 1:00 pm

What a great chain of discussions ! :-) I take the challenge and will try to make it work. I’ll send you before-after pictures and do a follow-up later.

Jf.

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Ron Mason October 5, 2012 6:06 am

This type of construction has been called the “panel of doom” by some. Nearly every wood worker at some point decides doing something like is a good idea because of the look. Wood movement cannot be contained or prevented, it can only be allowed for. The miters will open up eventually. The best solution I think for a cutting board is to not frame them.

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Dan October 6, 2012 7:22 am

OK, having read all the comments, we all know the wood is going to move. Going out on a limb here with a design suggestion that would alleviate the problem of open miters. Just don’t do miters on the corners…..and I don’t mean use butt joints either. Think of a designed opening on the corners like say a nice hole created by a forstner bit or some other means to leave the corners open. Doesn’t have to be huge, but enough to allow movement and to give it a finished design element

Just a thought.
Dan

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Frank October 25, 2012 7:48 am

Nice cutting board!
I made one just like it (albeit smaller and without the front lip) and just as suggested it did in fact crack quite nicely. I suspected it would, but thought it would take a while. I think it took less than a month!

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Nicole Régulation December 10, 2012 3:29 am

Lovely cutting board. Especially the idea of using a mixture of maple and walnut is great and innovative. I tried to make a board some time back using only walnut, but it did not turn out to be great. I will try making one more now with the mixture of maple and walnut.

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roberts December 30, 2012 10:13 am

Great job Jeff!!!
Good creativity you applied.
I am also in same profession and I would also try wax for the last coat at my current project.
Thanks.

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Faith Harris February 4, 2013 6:54 am

Good board. I am planning to make one board, will try to use the idea mentioned here. I think it is very creative to use a mixture of maple and walnut. Also good idea to use wax.

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Sean H. March 29, 2013 8:51 am

Forgive me for being a total beginner (and I mean TOTAL), but would a possible solution to having the framed look without risking the miters splitting include making a faux-frame? What I mean by that is, make the outer layer end grain like the rest of the board, but use the same type of wood, in this case all maple? Would that alleviate the problem?

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- Marc Spagnuolo March 30, 2013 8:30 am
  
  Yes, but it wouldn’t really be a frame. It would give the appearance of a frame, which is definitely a cool way to go.
  
  Reply
Gregory Rice February 19, 2016 12:54 pm

I know this is an old thread but I would like to ask a begginer question along these lines. If you are making a long grain cutting board it is still a bad idea to frame it correct? The wood is still going to expand along the length of the board and the miters will end up splitting.

Thanks for the help.

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- Marc Spagnuolo February 19, 2016 2:15 pm
  
  You are correct. While the board displayed here is beautiful, it likely won’t stay that way long. The inner material will eventually but out of the frame.
  
  Reply
Jean-François Beaulieu March 30, 2016 10:05 am

A quick update : more than 3 years later, the “panel of doom” board is still holding together. My friend told me that two of the miters open in the summer and close in the winter, but no more than an 1/8″, which does not bother him.
I still do not advise to make framed boards like this one… ;-)
Jf.

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Jean-François Beaulieu November 15, 2016 1:43 pm

One last update. As Yoda Spagnuolo predicted it: “Wood movement one cannot prevent, even a Jedi maaaster” :-) . So, after three years of small twice-a-year opening and closing of the corner mitters, my friend moved to a new place … and there they really blew. So I had to remove the left and right frame parts and re-glue a small crack. I took the opportunity to sand the working surface (only minor scratches) and redo the finish (salad bowl oil again). Another happy customer! Learned my lesson… I will surely make mistakes again, but new ones! That’s the fun of it all, isn’t it?

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Jeff’s Countertop-side Cutting Board

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