Building a chopping block w/ questions

[DC Ross]

Hey all,

I'm new to the hobby & for a simple project, I'm going to be building a rock maple end-grain chopping block for a friend for Christmas. It should be pretty straight forward, but I'm not sure of the best way to glue it up. It will be made up of 160 1.5" x 1.5" x 2" blocks (16 rows of 10), which will come out to 15" x 24"

I was planning on gluing up rows of 10 first, then laminating them. What's the best way to glue up little blocks like that to keep them all straight & aligned?

Thanks!
-dcr

[jimb]

Cut strips 1.5" wide and then glue these together (use cauls to keep the edges aligned). Remember to leave enough length for the kerfs. Turn this "slab" 90 degrees and cut it into 1.5" strips and then glue it together again (again using cauls). I did a chess board this way, fliping every other row end for end and it came out perfect.

[Greenvilleguy]

I've used Jimb's method for chess boards, but the key word here is "end grain". I haven't done it, but I'm thinking I would:

1. cut 140 blocks 1 5/8 x 1 1/2 x 2 1/8
2. cut 20 blocks 1 5/8 x 1 5/8 x 2 1/8
3. glue up blocks to form 10 "sticks" 1 5/8 x 2 1/8 x 24 1/4 with a slightly over sized block from step 2 on each end.
4. Now trim the sticks to 1 1/2 x 2 1/8 on the jointer, planer or table saw.
5. glue up sticks into two blocks of 5 each so the two pieces will fit through your planer.
6. plan both sections to final thickness (2") and glue together
7. use belt sander to achieve perfectly flat panel
6. trim to final length.

This may seem extreme, but it will give you some "room for error" on the first glue up. All of those little blocks may tend to slide out of alignment. If you are really carefull and use cauls, you might can get them prefectly aligned, but I don't think I could.

[DC Ross]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I think a combination of techniques will work:

1. Rip 10 strips so width & thickness are same
2. Glue 5 strips together, minding the grain orientation (only 5 so they can fit in the planer)
3. Repeat the previous step with the remaining 5 strips
4. Plane the 2 boards
5. Glue them together, again minding grain orientation
6. Crosscut the board into 16 2" strips
7. Flip the new strips up on end and glue them together, once again minding the grain
8. Belt sand & oil

Whaddya think?

My local hardwood supplier has this in stock, does it sound like it would work?
6/4 SAB WHITE HARD MAPLE 1 5/16 SLR1E (I'm not really sure what the SLR1E means)

Thanks again!

[Greenvilleguy]

Oh, I get now. Yes that should work. Let us know how it turns out.

I have no idea what SLR1E means either.

[reible]

Straight Line Ripped One Edge

Ed

[Bruce]

Now we know what it means, but what is the process? Does it mean only one edge is "straight"?

[husker9]

Yes. What I have bought will not have a large variance but very common to have 1/4 to 1/2 inch difference in width at each end of board.