This past Friday night I was at a Craft show and had my cutting boards displayed. A weather front was moving through, the rain was over but the wind was blowing pretty good.

 

 

I heard a noise and turned around and one of my large boards had blown over and hit the sidewalk from about 40" up. I looked down and the entire corner was broken off. On closer examination the break was across the wood and not one single glue joint had broken. I am always ask that if they drop it will it break where it is glued? Well I guess from now on I can truly say, it will not break at the glue joint.

 

 

So if you ever wanted to know how strong the Titebond III glue is, well it will hold the joints together from at least 40" up and dropped on concrete.

 

I hope I can at least make a small board out of it and salvage some part of it.

John, Sorry 'bout the board.

I'd leave it alone except to frame it and make it an art piece.

That is a good thought Gene!

It is proof positive of the quality and strength of the joints. I would use it as a visual aid, if someone asks.

 

When I taught Scuba Diving, folks always asked what the inside of a scuba tank looked like. I cut a couple of old ones open and used them in class.

It is proof positive of the quality and strength of the joints. I would use it as a visual aid, if someone asks.

 

When I taught Scuba Diving, folks always asked what the inside of a scuba tank looked like. I cut a couple of old ones open and used them in class.

 

 

I did show it to several people that night. Maybe I should just keep it in the box and show them how they are put together.

I'm with Lew, John.  It might be a good selling point.

Ditto on keeping it for "Customer Information Purposes".

 

Sure glad that it didn't fall on your toe. 

Nice stealth gloat on all the cool boards.  Really,,, lots of really cool boards.

 

That's a problem with end grain boards.   They  have the weakest line of fracture running from top surface to bottom and the only way to address it is to make them very thick.

 

The problem with very thick boards is that short cooks find they raise the work height too much. Of course the 6' giants won't object so much. 

Over the years I have used several types of glues and am only concerned about using water proof when it will be used in areas or high humidity or exposure the the elements. Titebond lll works well for that. During one of my exotic wood projects I used the recommended poly glue for oily woods. My project hit the floor like yours did and my glue joint came apart. I wrote the manufacturer and was told that I should have used solvent and wiped down the glue surfaces several times. I told him that I've never had any such problem with this wood, Padauk. He said that different parts of the same tree can vary greatly in oil content and I should always clean well before gluing. I still don't 99% of the time, but I do examine the wood carefully, you can spot the more oily parts. I don't use poly glue either, too messy. Haven't had a problem since.

Titebond 3 and Elmer's wood glue are the only 2 I have ever used in gluing wood together and neither has failed me. My only problem is getting good straight cuts for bonding

All I use is TB III for wood joints. Never had any problems.

Sorry about your piece John, a lot of nice work to see broken like that.

Keeping it and using as a customer aide in selling would be a good idea.

Even if you mounted it on an upright display so they could see it at your shows.