Planing an end grain cutting board

[Boomer]

What hand plane would you recommend for smoothing an end grain cutting board?

I haven't made one yet, but I know enough not to run one through my planer.

And shockingly I don't own a hand plane at this time.

[Courtland]

Boomer, the end grain cutting boards I think can be run through the planer, we have John Moody who is an end grain cutting board maker guru, and he should be along here to explain the do's and don'ts. First question I have though is, do you have a surface planer?

[lew]

I'm thinking sanding. Either a belt then random orbital OR drum sander. I've read about guys using the planer , with some success but I am not sure of their procedures.

[Allen Worsham]

Planers are not real good on end grain. So for end grain boards using a drum sander best. 

[Fred W. Hargis Jr]

If you want to stick to the hand plane approach, generally the lower angle planes are considered better for the end grain. One of the bevel up planes should work well. Note that I am hardly a hand tool guru, and certainly not a hand plane guru, Steven may be along with some more input. But if you consider getting a bevel up plane (also called a low angle plane) the new ones can be expensive and the older ones are not that common. The LV (Veritas) bevel up planes have a lot going for them, and you can get them with the PM-V11 iron which is really a good thing.

[Boomer]

Courtland, I do own a Grizzly planer, my concern is I've heard it may be dangerous to run an end grain cutting board through a planer.

I'll probably use a random orbit sander then since I don't own a drum sander.

 

Thanks for your hand planer suggestion Fred

[Ron Dudelston]

I'm with Allen.  Use a sander.  End grain will flat hurt ya if you run it through a planer.

[Courtland]

I have run through door panels that were made with end grain in my surface planer and it was very successful. I took very light passes, and the trailing edge was blocked so there wasn't any tearout. Using my method could possibly translate to an end grain cutting  board, but I'd defer to John Moody on this, since he has made hundreds of them.

That being said, just a quick google search on the subject turned up mix results on the subject. Some have great success, while others swear it's nothing  but catastrophic failure for the material. One fellow I read about rounded over his edges first before running his end grain cutting boards through, and he has not had any negative events using that process. The woodworkers who were successful using the surface planer all seem to have one thing in common, 1/32nd at a time, max.

I can assume the cutter style has much to do with it as well, I would have to say that a spiral cutter head could result in even more of a high success rate when used in combination of the above techniques, such as round the corners off first, and take light passes.

Bottom line is you are still going to have to sand the begeezits out of the end grain cutting boards, just because you need to burnish that end grain closed. The belt sander followed up by an orbit sander sounds like a sure fire way to get it done.

If you have the time and the material, I'd suggest experimenting with a surface planer using the above techniques. No reason to throw out a perfectly good procedure just because some folks have had bad luck with it, what works for one woodworker may not work for another.

Above all, if it feels uncomfortable, then it's unsafe, follow your gut instinct. Only you can determine the level that may be.

[Cliff]

In a planer:

If the wood splits ( and some  hunks and species of wood split more easily than others)  the result could be  just  lost effort or   a demolished planer, worse if the operator is in the path of anything that gets ejected.

 

If the wood splits.

 

It might not split. Then again, it might.

 

A small  lunchbox planer might not be able to produce  enough energy to make a really big mess, but a larger cutterblock carries a heaping helping of inertia, Plus it's spun up by a much bigger motor.

 

One good thing is to always consider the energies involved.

 

Take  Wood turner Lynne Yamaguchi.  http://galleryofwoodart.org/beyond.html

A couple years back (2012) she was roughing in a blank.  It split.   She got hit in the side of her face by a two pound hunk of wood. The energy stored in the piece from being spun in the lathe was substantial.  Today she hasn't got sight back in  one eye.

 

 

http://www.lynneyamaguchi.com/wordpress/2012/09/28/an-accident/

 

 

Stored Energy is something to consider.

[Courtland]

Boomer, if you are going to make a business at this, a drum sander would be the best method IMHO.

[Boomer]

I hadn't thought of making a business out of it. I wouldn't know how or where to sell one if I did.

I watched a YouTube of mtmwood and he published a video describing how he successfully uses a planer on his cutting boards.

He makes sure everyone understands this may be dangerous and points out his many years of experience.

One trick he uses is to glue sacrificial strips to his boards. What this does is encases the end grain pieces so the cutter heads don't tear them out.

I'm not going to post a link, if you all want to just go to his channel.

He makes wonderful boards by the way.

One word of warning, he does not speak in any of his videos, he captions any important topics he thinks are relevant. So take a few NoDoz before watching.

[Courtland]

That is the key here, as long as there is a blocking at the trailing end you should be good to go. When I made my end grain door panels I did not glue the blocking yet I had a sacrificial sled that had a strip of wood at the trailing end of the operation.

[Mike Zilis]

In my own experience, a drum sander and a card scraper (even better would be a Stanley 71) are the best options. The Stanley 71 is great for removing a bit of burning that the drum sander can leave.

[John Moody]

the instructions on the planer say "DO NOT RUN END GRAIN THROUGH THE PLANER".

 

It can damage the knives and cause damage to the planer. As stated before a low angle hand plane would be the way to go if you want to do it with a hand plane. A belt sander or drum sander are faster. I use a drum sander to get them flat and then a belt sander to remove and sanding lines and then a ROS to slick them up.

 

Only once did I try running an end grain board through the planer and it made a believer out of me as to why not to.

[Boomer]

Rest assured I have no plans to run end grain through a planer.

[lew]

When  made my first end grain board (Wood Whisperer style) I used a belt sander. A heads up, if you use one too, the heat generated from the sanding and cause the board to bow. Sand a little on one side, flip it and sand about the same on the other. Let it cool for a while and then repeat. The random orbital sander didn't generate enough heat to be a problem.

[John Moody]

When  made my first end grain board (Wood Whisperer style) I used a belt sander. A heads up, if you use one too, the heat generated from the sanding and cause the board to bow. Sand a little on one side, flip it and sand about the same on the other. Let it cool for a while and then repeat. The random orbital sander didn't generate enough heat to be a problem.

 

 

Lew that is also correct for the drum sander. especially if you try to take off too much in a pass. 

[John Hechel]

I've tried end grain through my planer some worked some met the back wall of the shop at 256.9 miles an hour. Now I use a router sled and flat cutter. Just like you would use to flatten a benchtop. Light cuts and slow motion do the trick.

[Courtland]

I've tried end grain through my planer some worked some met the back wall of the shop at 256.9 miles an hour. Now I use a router sled and flat cutter. Just like you would use to flatten a benchtop. Light cuts and slow motion do the trick.

I have heard of that process working awesome John, great suggestion!

[John Hechel]

It does leave some swirl marks and chip out on some woods (cherry) but it's a lot easier than sanding all of it smooth