Kitchen / Dining Room Blog, Cutting Boards Blog
What is end grain wood
May
What is end grain
End grain, also known as cross grain or head grain, is a type of wood product manufacturing process. The biggest difference to conventional processing is the arrangement of the glued pieces of wood. These are not cut lengthways to the wood and reassembled as usual, but cut across the grain. The annual rings, or the respective part of the ring, can thus be seen on the surface.
Contents
Steps to make
1️⃣Saw strips of wood (lengthways to the trunk). These can be of different widths, but must be the same height.
2️⃣The wooden strips are glued together
3️⃣After the glue has hardened, you have a board with several strips of wood lined up next to each other. This is then cut into strips of equal thickness, this time across the trunk.
4️⃣The resulting strips are now placed with the grain facing upwards and lined up next to each other. A first pattern can be laid here. Then all the strips are glued together.
5️⃣After the glue has dried again, you can start working on the resulting board. Planing it smooth (here I recommend planing it smooth with the router), several sanding passes from coarse to fine and oiling.
Why end grain
extreme resilience
The wood fibres in end grain perpendicular to the load. The Front side is much harder than the long side. Sharp knives separate the fibres and destroy them not. With some moisture (wet sponge) sources the fibers and the Cutting grooves close
Warped, no problem
End grain boards tend to warp, but they are just as easy to make flat again and much easier to do than traditional cutting boards. They usually warp due to moisture on one side (humidity or one-sided use). It is enough to lay the board on the hollow side facing down overnight. The next morning it is usually flat again.
special look
The great optics is caused by the vertical arrangement of the individual dice. This means that the Annual rings of the tree upwards. When assembled correctly, this creates Mosaic-like motifs on the board.
Wood favorite
End grain products
Advantages at a glance
🔒 ROBUST and stable
End grain can be cut transversely to the grain, absorb more pressure. In addition, the natural Abrasion much lower than with classic cutting boards.
❎ No warping
Due to the composition of smaller cube, which are assembled vertically, the board is given the internal distortion forces taken and therefore remains stable in shape.
♻️ Self-healing
Since small cuts do not split the fibers but rather separate them, the board can close them itself. Moisture, for example from a damp cloth, The fibres swell and close by itself.
🛠 Sandable
If the cutting board is already a few Years in use it can be just a few millimeters sanded and thus shines in new shine
💦 High absorbency
Due to the natural capillary effect, the absorbency the raised fibers of the wood, much higher than lengthwise. This is an advantage especially for foods with a high liquid content.
⚙️ complex production
The production time of end grain is approx. three times as long than with normal boards. Not only that double gluing, first lengthwise, then across the grain, but also the planing or sanding, requires the right tools and time.
So why an end grain board now?
