Random End Grain Cutting Board

It's hard to believe that a half year has gone by since I last posted anything to this blog.  It has not been for lack of work though.  At the end of the year I left Nexen and have been working in construction full time,  Doing mostly renovations and such my time in the shop was reduced greatly and many of my woodworking projects were shelved.  As they came off the shelf and I worked on them I neglected to post anything about them.  Thus, I have a little catching up to do.

The random end grain cutting board grew out of a pile of offcuts.  Of course the project the offcuts came from has yet to be completed, but what's important is that it produced many 2' long scraps which had been cut at 60 degrees.  I took a maple and a cherry scrap and glued up the 60 deg faces to build back up to rectangles.  

60 Degree Maple and Cherry Scraps

The next few steps are pretty much like any other cutting board so I'll gloss over them with just the photos.     

Gluing Initial Panel

Crosscutting Strips of Initial Panel

First End Grain Glue Up

First End Grain Glue Up

This is where things get a little unusual.  Though the board was already a bit random in its appearance due to the angled pieces from which it started I didn't think it random enough.  So I set an angle on the mitre gauge on the table saw and cut the panel into angled strips (note the wedges at the top and bottom of the next photo).  

Glue Up of Angled Strips

This process of cutting the board at an angle and regluing the resultant strips randomly was repeated 4 times, which resulted in a board with a wide variety of angles and sizes of pieces.  Once satisfied with the degree of randomness, the board was squared up, leveled and sanded.  

The Board Sanded and Ready for Roundovers and Handles

With the addition of some roundovers and handles the board was completed.  Ready for a finish sanding and the application of mineral oil and some board butter.  

The Finished Board with Board Butter Applied