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I’ve just finished gluing up a bunch of maple blocks into an end grain cuting board. Unfortunately, the clamps didn’t tighten everything up enough. There are a few small gaps (10-15 thousanths) between some of the pieces. It’s structually sound but I’m afraid that as a cutting board, food or fluids could get in there and be unsanitary.
Anyone have any suggestions on solving this problem? I’ve been thinking of trying to thin out some glue and then wash it onto the surface, kind of like grout to fill in the gaps. I haven’t sanded the top smooth yet so if I can fill the gaps then sand it, I might be able to salvage the project.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
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If your cutting board actually has the end grain facing upwards (and that's how I interpret your description) you could try to fill the gaps with some wedge slivers. The easiest way to make these tiny pieces would be to take a fairly longish piece of wood and using a block plane, or chisel, plane it down to a knife edge. Then pound it in with a little glue and cut it off at the surface. Keep planing down the wedge until it gets too short or until you're done.
*Derek, Good point on keeping the block sanitary, those gaps can hide all kinds of germs and critters that could give you or a loved one some trouble down the road. I have been in a similar predicament with some side grain blocks that I have made. Often the grain was just a bit too finicky and I couldn't or didn't see it, cut it out or plane it down far enough. I have tried a number of wood fillers, putties, and stains to try to get a match and I was never satisfied, I have always wound up using some glue and sawdust mixed thin and real good to solve my problems. I wasn't satisfied with the latter solution either, more frustration at having not seen what was obvious, but at least there was a closer color match than anything else I had used. If you choose the glue/sawdust mix route, make sure that any gaps are very clean of foriegn objects and use only (if possible) the sawdust from your sanding on the project. What have you chosen for the edges of the block, for example; an attractive edge made by a 1/4 or 1/2 round router bit or something else? What are the dimensions of your block? How or to what is it mounted? Hope this helps, good luck.
*Thanks for the feedback, I'll think about the glue and sawdust thing. The block is 24x30 in and 3 in thick. I'll be putting a 1/2 in round on all the edges when I'm done. It will be sitting on a free standing cart/table. I'm not exactly sure how I'll fasten it. The cart is made from welded 1 in square tubing, with a baked on black finish. My thought is to route a groove about 1.5 in in from the edge for a drip catch. I'd put the groove on the top and bottom. Then I can mount some rubber bumpers on the cart so that they would fit into the grooves and keep the top from shifting. I was thinking of something like what you can get for the bottom of furniture or chairs. That way, when the block gets a bit cut up, it can just be flipped.Another thought that I had for the finish is using a mixture of mineral oil and beeswax. I though that if I mixed it thick enough and really rubbed it in, it would fill any small gaps.
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