Old cutting boards

I have never taken a bite out of a boat, but you do you!

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We have a local Buy Nothing. I am a user and a fan.

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But did you not seal the gap. Of the three wood cutting boards I have, it is the one which sealed the best which spills liquid. That is because it is so water-proof that liquid has nowhere to go but to spill out the side. Any chance that is what is happening? Liquid rolling out on the side of the cutting board?

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Iā€™m seriously puzzled by OPā€™s apparent desire to repair, rather than simply replace, a $20 wooden cutting board that has surely been fully amortized over its 34-47 years of service (even the one with five years of service, to be honest). Unless these are treasured heirlooms, constructed from now-extinct tree species, personally made and signed by George Nakashimaā€¦for Godā€™s sake, just throw them out and buy new ones!

(My oldest cutting board was purchased at IKEA in 1991ā€“I can date it by the electric-stove burn on one side, because I havenā€™t lived in a place with an electric stove since then. Not once have I ever done any maintenance on it beyond washing it with soap and water. Still works like a charm, but if it cracked or leaked or warped, Iā€™d toss it in a heartbeat.)

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He just wants to know if there is a way to fix it. Let it be $10 or $100. I used to spend hours to fix a $20 wok. Why right?
I think different people have different priority. I also donā€™t understand why people spend hundred of hours on Facebooksā€¦
The way I see it is thatā€¦ if you can help him, great. If not, donā€™t worry about it too much.

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Yep. I sealed it, obviously imperfect, and several other things. Imagine a one inch v, a very narrow one, between pieces of wood in the center. If something like a juicy street is on the board, the juice will seep through.

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Anyway, in my experienceā€¦ I use beeswax to seal my cutting board, but if you have already used wood seal and glueā€¦ then I donā€™t know what else to do. In theory, it should be a way to fill the gap, but I donā€™t know your board enough to make more suggestions.

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Well the one I bought for $20 is about $150 today. I do not know for prevailing prices on the other two. I am just not a fan of throwing things away if there is a relatively easy fix. I have looked at the various glues and fillers to see if they were food safe. The prevailing answer is ā€œsort of.ā€ The Gorilla Glue Filler was the biggest yuck. It was touted as sandable. Yes, I was able to sand it BUT it pulled out, despite being quite well cured. I guess I failed to clean out the crack sufficiently.

I wonder how well a cutting board will biodegrade.

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this link may help with the poison epoxy theories:

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Heartless Bastard!!!

LoL, just kidding.

Sorta.

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I just ordered a 12x18 end grain maple. While it is being made and shipped, Iā€™ll continue to tinker with the smaller ones.

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Do you like maple? Are you a Canadian? Sound like you are ordering a custom made cutting board. Congratulation.

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Considering whatā€™s already in the cracks, Iā€™m not surprised. Any oil, wax, fat, etc., will pretty much frustrate any bonding that lasts.

Iā€™ve used good ā€˜ol carpentersā€™ glue (nontoxic and probably used in your original layups). Wipe it on the diagonal into the cracks with a scraper/puttyknife, making somewhat opposite passes while the glueā€™s still thin. Then sand it after it dries.

How thick are these boards? If thereā€™s enough thickness to cross-drill through the slats, you can run some continuous thread through and cinch the slats together (countersink and dowel-plug if fancy). Do the glue step right before you turn down the nuts.

Are you willing to take the board back to slats? Is there enough meat to plane and biscuit-join it all back together?

People also use ā€œcrazy glueā€ gels, but Iā€™d only do that if you put a food-grade sealer on afterward and then wax it frequently.

Ask Charlie, heā€™s a real woodworker.

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I am not Canadian. I grew up in the northeast and mid-Atlantic, went to college, etc. up and down the west coast, and now live in Texas. I have always liked maple. I found a good deal on Etsy.

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I tried good old carpenterā€™s glue and a putty knife to push it in. It sort of worked.

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Donā€™t pitch! Can you repurpose for serving platters or charcuterie?

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Just for the record, all cutting boards have glue in them unless they are one solid piece of wood.

There are several ways to fix yours depending on your desire & woodworking abilities.

  1. Use Titebond II which is waterproof & you can get it at HD or lowes. Work it completely into the cracks with a wire, a pin or air pressure if you have access to a compressor. Then use two pipe clamps, on top & one bottom. Before you apply the clamps, clamp the cutting board between a pair of clamping cauls (look it up).

  2. Use a table saw or a circular saw & a straight edge to cut into the board at the crack. It may take more than one cut to completely cut away the crack. Then cut a slice of mayching wood to slide into the cut. Glue & clamp as above.

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You can repurpose your cutting board. Cut it into pieces thar will be used to set hot pans on .Not thrown away . But put into retirement for good use.

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Just teasing about the maple. :slight_smile:

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If my small kitchen were not so crowded with (cool) stuff, this would be a great use, but I have soapstone counters and put hot pans on them. I think they will go the Buy Nothing route as I come across good deals and replace them. Repairing them does not sound unduly hard, but I do not want to spend money on clamping cauls as suggested by @JoeBabbitt unlikely to be used again. I have no neighbors who seem likely candidates to loan me some.

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