I have a good deal of end grain cutting board experience but I'm in uncharted territory and need some advise for building a long grain bread board style cutting board. This is for a friend and I want to do this correctly the first time.

  This board is one that slides into the face frame of a kitchen cabinet. The boards finished dimension is 16-1/4" wide X 24" long X 11/16" thick made from ASH. The main body is made from ASH that's ripped to 2-1/2" wide then biscuit joined. Each board is arranged so the growth rings are alternated. The end pieces will be dadoed and will slip over rabbets that will form a tongue on each end of the main field. The dadoes will be closed on the sides and attached to the board with walnut dowel pins. My question is given the finished width and thickness of the board is there a rule of thumb that I should allow for expansion of the main field on each side?

  I also plan on only gluing the ends only where the dowels contact the end pieces. The holes in the tongue will be slightly elongated width wise to allow for movement. Is my construction sound or am I doing it wrong?

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www.thepatriotwoodworker.com Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops

Sorry wrong forum. John coud you move this to the woodworking forum? Thanks.

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www.thepatriotwoodworker.com Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops

Mike, your construction is sound but biscuits may be overkill.  Good old TB III should do the trick.

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Ron Dudelston
Site Administrator

Above and Beyond WoodWorks

Thanks Ron. Yep biscuits probably are overkill but they're already glued up. I used Titebond II extend because of the assembly time which was probably because of the biscuits. 

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www.thepatriotwoodworker.com Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops

I'm still trying to find how much clearance I need to allow for the tongue when it's inserted into the "Closed in mortise" of the bread board end. My thought is to allow for 1/8" clearance on each edge for a total of 1/4" expansion of the main field between the tongue of the main field and the closed mortise in the bread board end.

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www.thepatriotwoodworker.com Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops

glue and bread board ends have a fuzzy relationship.

I've know guys to use the high tech urethane glues that stay rubbery with great success.  The glue also seals the ends and the joint.

 Gluing the  outsides  is different from what I've learned.  My experience has the middle of the breadboard end glued and not the ends.   This because the ends of the bread board end are where the greatest disparity of movement occurs. 

This is what I came up with. The center is glued and the rest floats within the end caps. The outer dowels are inserted with just a spot of glue for the end caps but not the main field which will allow for movement as I stated earlier knowing not to restrain the main field from expansion and contraction. The tongues are drilled with elongated holes to allow the field to expand and contract and the dowels keep the end caps tight to the field. 

John I used your method of wet sanding the board with mineral oil and the surface is glass smooth. Thanks for the tip.

It's nothing fancy but the owner is happy with the results and in the end it's what counts. I have convinced him to allow me to build him an end grain cutting board which in the end is a better solution but the long grain board fills the slot in his cabinet. I did recommend that he only use it for veggies and bread and use the end grain board for meats.

Thanks Ron & John for your help, ideas and suggestions. 

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www.thepatriotwoodworker.com Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops