How to make a Tardis end grain cutting board

Hello everyone! Today I am excited to share the details on my latest project: a Tardis end grain cutting board.  This is my first end grain cutting board, and despite a few flaws, I’m happy with how it turned out.

Tardis End Grain Cutting Board

Let’s get started!

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Tools and Supplies

The following items are some of the tools and supplies that I gathered to create the Tardis end grain cutting board.

Tools

• Table saw
• Bandsaw
• Jointer
• Planer
• Orbital sander
• Clamps

Supplies

• Walnut
• Maple
• Cherry
• Wood Glue
• Mineral oil or Butcher block oil

How-To Video

Watch the video below for a visual tutorial:

How to make a Tardis end grain cutting board

This is the template I used for the Tardis end grain cutting board:

Pixel Tardis template

Step 1: Mill the boards

Hardwood boards

Typically when you purchase hardwood it comes rough sawn and will need to be milled before it is ready to use. The objective here is to get the board flat on all four sides.  I flatten the boards with my jointer and planer.  For more details on the process hop over to my blog post How to Make a Wooden Cutting Board.

Using my Dewalt planer

Plane all the boards down to the same thickness.  (I planed my boards down to 3/4″ thick.)

Step 2: Rip boards to size

On the table saw, rip the boards to the same thickness as the board. (In my case this was 3/4″ wide strips.)

Boards ripped into 3/4″ wide strips

Step 3: Cut pixels

Cut the strips of wood into 2″ long pieces.

I did this on my bandsaw.  I went with 2″ tall pixels to account for future material loss.  (Final thickness of the Tardis cutting board was a little more than 1″.)

Step 4: Glue up the pixels

Use a straight edge to help with alignment, and glue up the pixels.  I recommend gluing a few sections at a time and then gluing the cutting board as a whole.

A dry fit of the pixels. I’m not looking forward to the glue up. I’m using walnut, maple and cherry. The plan was to use 4 shades of wood but I didn’t do my research before purchasing sassafras. Thank you @woodrazor @inkslingerpens @imattdaddy and @love_and_liberty_ww for your input! . #tardis #drwho #whovians #cuttingboard #maple #walnut #cherry #hardwood #wood #diy #woodworker #woodworking #dowoodworking #dryfit #practice #hardwood #homemadegift #handmade #handmadegift #handmadewithashley #geek #pixel #geekcraft #weddingpresent #weddinggift

A post shared by Ashley Grenon (@handmadewithashley) on Jun 8, 2017 at 8:41pm PDT

Step 5: Clean up the cutting board

At this point, ensure the board surface is level and the dried glue is cleaned up. On a long grain cutting board such as the one I made here, I would run the cutting board through the planer on both sides. Unfortunately, using a planer with an end grain cutting board is dangerous and not recommend.

There are a few things you can do to clean up the surface of the board:

• Build a router flattening sled
• Sand aggressively
• Use a drum sander

Flatten cutting board with a router flattening sled

I built a quick router flattening sled from scraps, and I used my trim router to level the surface. I lost a lot of material at this step.

Step 6: Route a profile to the edge (optional)

To jazz up the edges, use a router to add to round over the edges or add a chamfer.  I added a 45 degree chamfer.  At first I regretted decision, but the profile has since grown on me.

Step 7: Sand and prep for finish

Sand the entire surface of the cutting board. Cycle through 80, 100, 150, 220 grits of sand paper. Grab a damp cloth and wipe the board to raise the grain.  Finish sanding with 220 grit sand paper again.

Sanding the cutting board

Step 8: Apply a food safe finish

Seal the cutting board with your favorite food safe finish (I used mineral oil) and enjoy!

Yay! I’m finally applying a finish to this cutting board. It’s really soaking up the oil. Tomorrow I’ll buy some more mineral oil and submerge the whole board in it. . #almostdone #endgrain #endgraincuttingboard #cuttingboard #walnut #maple #cherry #tardis #drwho #whovian #whovians #mfpbehindthescenes #geek #geekcraft #drwhocrafts #nerd #mineraloil #wood #woodworker #woodworking #dowoodworking #makersgonnamake #makeallthethings #kitchen #cutlery #handmadewithashley

A post shared by Ashley Grenon (@handmadewithashley) on Jun 27, 2017 at 5:50pm PDT

A  Tardis End Grain Cutting Board

If you make a Tardis end grain cutting board, leave a comment below or tag me on Instagram @handmadewithashley or Twitter @handmadewithash.   I’d love to see your pictures!

I’m linking up to:

• Remodelaholic

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DIY Tardis End Grain Cutting Board

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