Cutting board repair

I made this cutting board in Junior High shop class back in the 70's. [1970's!] I gave it to my mother. After over 30 years of of using it almost daily it cracked. To anyone else they would say toss it in the garbage but I want to repair it. It is from a slab of White Oak that came from my parents farm and we cut it on our saw mill so needless to say I have an attachment to it.:D

Tonight I finished breaking it in half. It is to rough to reglue in its present shape. If I flatten the edges it will change the shape to narrower.. I set in a scrap of Black Walnut that I still have left from the farm and I am thinking that if I place similar in between the pieces it will keep more of its origional shape and I maybe can pass it on as Grandpa's 3 piece cutting board. Would glue have enough strength or would I have to pin it to be strong? Would the odd colored piece look weird.

What do you think?

Attachment 187285Attachment 187286Attachment 187287

You are good. Glue, clamp and wait! Neat board! :tu

That's a neat piece. The story is even more neat!! :D

Most cutting boards are multiple pieces that are glued and they work fine. If you treat it with food grade mineral oil after you fix it you shouldn't have anymore drying and cracking. Also it's recommended if you're going to use it so food doesn't penetrate the wood. Apply and let stand for awhile and reapply until it quits absorbing. Wipe off excess and your good to go.

Excellent heirloom board!!

Best Regards,

Howard :)

Thanks. There are a couple of minor cracks that are hard to see in the pictures that I question if I could get the glue to penetrate. Feathered from the main crack. that is why I was thinking about having to flatten it before gluing. I guess the worst that would happen is that the cracks would show again and then I could flatten it.

You might try clamping it without glue to see how tight the cracks will be and check flatness while clamped.

If you're going to use it, open cracks are kind of a bad thing for letting in food and bacteria.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SirStropalot

If you treat it with food grade mineral oil after you fix it you shouldn't have anymore drying and cracking. Also it's recommended if you're going to use it so food doesn't penetrate the wood. Apply and let stand for awhile and reapply until it quits absorbing. Wipe off excess and your good to go.

---

Howard, Excellent Advice!!! :bow:

Now you shouldn't need to 'purchase' Food Grade Mineral Oil. Talk to your local Meat Department People and see if you can bring your repaired cutting board in and use the spray that they use on their equipment (sometimes call Keene Oil) as that's exactly what Keen Oil is/Food Grade Mineral Oil!

They may even be able to sell you a bottle.

One negative note: If it's a Chain Store, you may not have much luck (stupid people behind desks wearing white shirts and ties counting beans) so you might try a local owned and operated store.

Just a thought :shrug:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cudarunner

Howard, Excellent Advice!!! :bow:

Now you shouldn't need to 'purchase' Food Grade Mineral Oil. Talk to your local Meat Department People and see if you can bring your repaired cutting board in and use the spray that they use on their equipment (sometimes call Keene Oil) as that's exactly what Keen Oil is/Food Grade Mineral Oil!

They may even be able to sell you a bottle.

One negative note: If it's a Chain Store, you may not have much luck (stupid people behind desks wearing white shirts and ties counting beans) so you might try a local owned and operated store.

Just a thought :shrug:

---

We just get the mineral oil from the pharmacy section of Walmart, etc.. It's sold as a laxative. :D

I think Keene Oil has a small amount of bees wax added and they somehow make it even thinner than regular mineral oil and it penetrates very quickly. I've read about it, but never tried it. At least I think it was Keene.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SirStropalot

We just get the mineral oil from the pharmacy section of Walmart, etc.. It's sold as a laxative. :D

I think Keene Oil has a small amount of bees wax added and they somehow make it even thinner than regular mineral oil and it penetrates very quickly. I've read about it, but never tried it. At least I think it was Keene.

---

hehehe, a Little too much information on the Walmart oil :banghead:

The Keen is very thin and works well with sharpening knives on a Norton Tri Stone setup, it also soaks in really well on my wooden handled knives/been using it for years and it's hard to beat/there are other brands out there/I just happened to have a Ton of it so I've never needed to buy the others but I would presume that they are close.

Anyway if the Walmart/Human Lube works then great :tu

Titebond III wood glue - waterproof and FDA approved for food safety. Glue it and clamp it for 24 hours. Then sand the joint flat and plane the board if necessary. Finally start coating both sides and the edges with a lot of food safe mineral oil (also called salad bowl oil). Keep coating the board every day until it stops absorbing the oil which may take a week or more. The wood fibers will expand and hopefully fill in the small cracks.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cudarunner

hehehe, a Little too much information on the Walmart oil :banghead:

---

Yeah!!! :roflmao

I added it so they wouldn't pass on it thinking it had some additives or something. If it just said food grade mineral oil.......it's the same thing!! So far no one has ever had to run from the table. :D

One more thought before I go to bed. What if I glue it first. I don't think it will be perfect. But then I would be able to use the table saw and as one piece run down the crack and remove 3/16 or whatever the blade is wide and remove the imperfections. Then reglue it a second time.

I have a feeling I am way over thinking this!:rofl2:

Good night. Tim

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 32t

One more thought before I go to bed. What if I glue it first. I don't think it will be perfect. But then I would be able to use the table saw and as one piece run down the crack and remove 3/16 or whatever the blade is wide and remove the imperfections. Then reglue it a second time.

I have a feeling I am way over thinking this!:rofl2:

Good night. Tim

---

Good idea, I was thinking that too, but the crack doesn't look straight.

jig saw then

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 32t

One more thought before I go to bed. What if I glue it first. I don't think it will be perfect. But then I would be able to use the table saw and as one piece run down the crack and remove 3/16 or whatever the blade is wide and remove the imperfections. Then reglue it a second time.

I have a feeling I am way over thinking this!:rofl2:

Good night. Tim

---

Morning Tim,

I'd see what happens once you get it glued back together, then you can explore your options. I would be sure to take every measure you can to make sure that it glues up properly/straight/level/aligned etc

Please remember that it's an heirloom, keep it as close to original as possible. If it ends up being a display piece, so be it. You wouldn't be the only one who wanted to share something that they held dear but was damaged beyond repair:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...forgotten.html

Good morning,

I don't have enough room to display it even if it was pretty enough to. I want to continue to use it.

My wife just had the idea that I should continue to cut it up further and make a puzzle for the grandkids.:D

Now off to work!

Depending on which way you go, woodworking biscuits would make the joint very strong.

Get some saw dust from the same timber as your board, and mix it with glue to make a thick paste. Glue like normal, using regular glue, and stuff your glue/sawdust paste into all the cracks. Sand it down when dry. I doubt you will even see them afterwards.

Thank you all, good thoughts. Today I took it to work and at break used some titebond [spell?] to glue it up. I should have used the sawdust idea but I didn't read that until after the fact. :shrug: One side there is no indication of a crack unless you use a magnifier. The other you can see the crack but it is filled except for about 3/4 inch that I can feel. That is not deep though. Some of the old marks are just as deep. In the picture is my second wood board that I think I posted somewhere else but it also has a story. It is made from a Black walnut Burl that my Uncle Harvey found hard to sand. He got a friend to help him and the took it to the bridge in town and he grabbed the bumper of a car and "surfed" across the concrete bridge to sand it.

Attachment 187359

http://youtu.be/iaIW798vO3Q

Looks Great! :tu Nice Job and a Good Save! :rock:

Oh, please put me in touch with your Uncle Harvey as I do believe that I'd like to party with that man! :rofl2::roflmao:rofl2::roflmao :y

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cudarunner

Looks Great! :tu Nice Job and a Good Save! :rock:

Oh, please put me in touch with your Uncle Harvey as I do believe that I'd like to party with that man! :rofl2::roflmao:rofl2::roflmao

---

He has been dead about 15 years but you might meet him some day! :D

He gave the board to his mother also and when I bought the house from my grandmother I came into possession of it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JazzWillie

http://youtu.be/iaIW798vO3Q

---

GOOD STUFF! :tu

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 32t

He has been dead about 15 years but you might meet him some day! :D

---

Sorry to hear that he's no longer amongst us, would have been fun, I like a man who thinks outside the box/Surfing to sand a board/now That's Creative!:rock:

Excellent job, it looks great!! :tu

I'm glad you saved it, I was worried it was a jig saw puzzle by now. :)