I finally made progress with an end-grain cutting board for my wife this last week. I thought I was doing well as all pieces were lining up horizontally & vertically and staying flat. I knew I would have to do some sanding to fix a few misalignments. However, once I had everything glued up, the whole board (about 12 * 14) rocks on both sides. Two corners are not in alignment and so the board is now a good teeter-toter. What can I do???
I have tried sanding w/ a belt sander but it only seems to be making things worse. I also tried running it thru the planer – bad idea – because it’s end-grain up, it chopped one of the edges badly.
The only other idea I have is to see if their is a woodshop nearby w/ a drum sander.
Suggestions??? Please help! Thanks in advance.
Z
Replies
Working with a straightedge, spend a few minutes figuring out the shape of the warped faces of the board, then take a sharp hand plane, set for a light cut, and plane away the high spots. Check your progress with the straightedge as you work down the high spots with the plane.
Once you get the board flat on both faces, you can clean up the surfaces as needed with sandpaper. You will probably do better at achieving a flat surface by sanding by hand with a block rather than with a belt sander which is aggressive and hard to control.
The board may be warping because the top surface will gain or lose moisture very quickly while the bottom, being it is against the counter won't be exposed to large moisture swings. If you put the board on short legs, air will be able to get to the underside and that will reduce the chance of warping. Also, once you have legs on the board, if it rocks a bit you only have to trim the legs a bit to get it to sit properly.
John W.
Zom, If you attach a wide round disc of 3/4" plywood centered to the base of your router, then with a straight 1/2" carbide router bit, cut through the disc's center (After the disc is attached) ,
You can use carpet tape to stick the board to a large flat surface.and rout the surface flat and level with the table.
(Remove the existing 6" base first)
Just suround the rectangular board with four 'Rails'of
thicker wood
Since the widest dimention of your cutting board is
it's diagonal, (about 20"), the disc must be wide
enough to span the whole board whilst routing
the whole board without running off
any of the the four 'Rails'
The rails must each be cross cut from a length of straight wood thicker than the cutting board and also stuck to the tablewith carpet tape.
Set the router bit to just 'Kiss' the lowest surface of the board and traversing in an ever widening circle(starting at the center) and spiraling outward in a clockwise direction remove all the 'High spots'
You may have to advance the bit a tad if you missed a spot after the first 'Go around'
To insure that you haven't missed any low spots, (Before starting the second go around), criss cross the top surface of the board with a soft lead pencil.
When all lines are gone you're finished on that side.
Steinmetz
Edited 1/23/2005 7:23 pm ET by steinmetz
I think this is one of those things that will not stay flat. Why not hollow out one face so it sits on the corners? You don't need much 1/16 should be fine.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled