Thread: End grain butchers block

Good Morning Pirate

I have both Lie Nielsen and Luban planes.

My view is that with Luban you get about 90% of the quality of Lie Nielsen or Lee Valley at less than half the price. You will still need to do a little tuning when you receive the plane, but fairly comparable to LN.

You may get a philosophical objection to Luban who allegedly copied LN and/or LV who in turn shamelessly copied Stanley who totally trashed their once proud brand name.....

I have a LN jack plane and it is an incredibly versatile tool - my go to plane. With different blades I use it effectively as a smoother, a jointer and as a scrub plane. That adjustable mouth is wonderful. With its 12 degree frog angle you might like to consider the following blade options:

• 25 degrees give 37* effective which is great for end grain (that's the standard blade),
• 40* gives 52* effective which suits Australian hardwoods.
• big curve on the blade and you have a scrub plane.
• Or any combination that you can think of.

I often set my blades course for jointing, then close the mouth a set the blade fine for smoothing. Like all precision products it likes a really sharp blade and some lubricant on the sole.


Cheers

Graeme

What glue are you planning to use?

Originally Posted by Pirate323i

Is Oregon going to be ok for an endgrain butchers block?

Hi Pirate,

Well if all I had was Oregon and I needed an endgrain cutting board, I would make it out of Oregon. I note you are using Oregon to fit in with the rest of the kitchen but I would prefer to use hardwoods, particularly if it is to be full-on used as a cutting board.

Having said that, I have a lot of Oregon in my shed and have had a lot of Oregon pass through my hands over the years since I helped my Dad build a boat frame out of it in the early 1970's, as a teenager.

Oregon can vary in its properties a lot - even within the same board. What you want for an endgrain cutting board is some of the harder bits of Oregon. With Oregon, the closer the growth rings the harder the timber is and there is often a large variation in the distance between the growth rings from one side of a quartersawn board to the other. You want to use the part with the rings as close together as possible as this is the hardest part.

100mm thick should be enough and you would want to laminate squares of 50 to 100mm together to make up the full dimensions of the board. Alternate the grain direction of the squares, sort of like a chequerboard.

Titebond-3 should be ok for the glue-up unless it is going to be subjected to extreme use, then epoxy may be needed.

Finish with a food grade mineral oil. Don't use a vegetable oil as they all go rancid.

Just my opinion - others may differ

Cheers

Doug

If you use Oregon I would not, It's too soft and will not last Blackwood or Jarrah would be a better choice, If you use Oregon make sure it is well seasoned or it will bleed sap for months I use this oil FoodSafe Plus

Oregon is way too soft for an endgrain chopping board, Better to use spotted gum or tallow if you want the same colour but much more durable timber.

Thanks everyone for your comments! (sorry havent quoted everyones replies as i am on my phone/dont know how)

Thanks Graeme for the feedback/sanity-check regarding the Luban Planes! I was aware they need some tuning before use. 😊 (Dear Santa... )

Elanjacobs / Doug: I had been planning to use Titebond 2 (i have heaps, but will look at Titebond 3 if people think it would be better? The block will not be immersed in water as it will be VERY heavy and wont fit in the sink!, likely only ever wiped down with a wet cloth)

Doug / China / Toymaker Len: thanks for the info around Oregon. If Oregon is too soft I could go for something like spotted gum... will check out the colour differences. (Its main purpose is to extend the bench, not as a full on chopping block &#128298

I have some mineral oil left over from another chopping board (my first one, long grain) It is the stuff from Ikea sold for their chopping boards and bench tops. It is food safe and easy to come by.

Thanks again guys!

Titebond III is well regarded for end grain cutting boards. I'd go with a harder timber myself too.

Like others have said, I would go for a hardwood in preference to oregon for a utility/food preparation/chopping block.

Even though it will not be immersed in water, Titebond 3 is also what I would use (you never know what will happen in a kitchen over the years ahead).

So, this is likely to be a slow project as I am recovering from leg surgery... However, I went out to The Builders Market | Recycled timber and second hand building materials Sydney in SW Sydney and bought a bunch of reclaimed Spotted Gum and Oregon (for the Butchers Block support/cart)! Nice bunch of guys and VERY reasonably priced. Also visited Carbatec and picked up a gallon of Titebond III. So now I just have to wrestle my ancient (inherited) cast iron table saw into a space long enough to mill down all the timber! I also need to replace the bearings in the jointer (which is attached to the table saw) I replaced the saw's bearings a few weeks ago, but couldn't figure out how to remove them from the jointer, which I didnt need at the time, however now with 30 linear meters of lumber that needs cutting in half lengthwise and dressing all round it might be time to figure that out! I dont really want to be dusting off the No. 7 for all of that!

Thanks again for everyone's input! I am really looking forward to getting this underway! and hopefully oneday being able to post a picture of the finished item.

Double post...