124 - How to Fix a Cracked or Split Cutting Board

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A few months ago, I woke up one morning, poured my coffee, and was incredibly disappointed to see that my cutting board exploded! OK so maybe it wasn't all that violent but it was cupped like crazy and had a very large split. Upon further inspection, I noticed a bit of trapped water in the center of the underside of the board. Now the thing to remember about end grain cutting boards is that even after finishing, they will still soak up moisture like a sponge. So standing water is your cutting board's Kryptonite!

What Happened? So how does the split actually occur? Well let's think about what happened. The water soaked into the center of the board and as a result, the center "squares" swelled and expanded. Because the moisture was in the center only, the wood in the outer perimeter did not expand. So something had to give. The resulting crack is really nothing more than pressure relief. Think of it like surrounding a piece of solid wood in a frame. Eventually, the joints in the outer frame will open up if the board in the middle expands.

The Epoxy Fix:
The first step in repairing this disaster simply involves waiting. After a few weeks, the board flattened out and the crack closed up almost completely. But the gap was still big enough that I wanted to use a gap-filling glue, so epoxy did the trick. Now I know what you are thinking. Is epoxy food-safe? While I have heard that food grade FDA-approved epoxies do exist, I have never seen them. And I can definitely say that the West System Epoxy I use is not FDA-approved. So why would I use this on my cutting board? Generally speaking, its the same logic I subscribe to when discussing the safety of film finishes. That is, once cured, the product is inert. In other words, its not chemically reactive and its not actively leaching chemicals under normal room temperature conditions. Furthermore, the crack represents such a small area that actual food contact would be absolutely minimal. Now while I am not prepared to tell you epoxy is completely food-safe, I will say that I consider cured epoxy safe enough to use on a small crack on MY cutting board. Ultimately, the final decision is yours.

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[jaymanton]

Moral of the story is one should never you varnish with food preparation tools... True oil and canola oil will go rancid so use a blend of pharmaceutical mineral oil (paraffin oil ) mixed with beeswax or carnauba wax, this is completely non toxic and will seal and protect the board for many years to come.

[RobbieKirkwood]

I honestly don't remember clicking on this video but i watched it all the way through. and i'm not into wood working (if thats what its called) but i bet in like a few years i will randomly have to repair a cutting board to save somebody's life or something and now i will know how. Thank you sir.

[michaelturner]

You can reduce the viscosity of (some) epoxies by heating them with a heat gun. One would think it would make it set faster, but it only makes it thinner. I found this out when I wanted to make some epoxy set faster.

[DustySplinters]

Good repair...

Two thoughts which came to mind...

1) End grain Board must be made with woods that are all equal in moisture.
2) End Grain boards must never rest flat on a surface, I usually pit feet or a runner under each side to keep air on all 4 sides.

If you want them to lay flat, then they need to be picked up and allowed to air on all sides when not in use.

[woodwhisperer]

Nope. Meant it exactly as I said it. The epoxy is too viscous to simply drip into the crack. Thinner liquids have a lower viscosity and thicker liquids have a higher viscosity. In other works, the epoxy is too thick to drip into the crack. Make sense?

[hydynryk]

love it, , wish i knew this when i threw away my maple/walnut board 10 years ago after my son left it in the dishwater overnight.. o well. was fun makin new ones.. keep up the minis like this, they are very helpful and dont take a lot of time to get out..

[over]

I built this board a few years ago as my first real woodworking project. Not long ago, my wife sat a big cardboard box of mushrooms atop the board for a day or two and it wound up bowing like a cowboy's legs. Fortunately, it did not crack...but it never did flatten out completely. So yeah, keep the water away from the board!

[woodwhisperer]

@kburke18 Well it is hard to say for sure but that certainly could have been a factor. The board absorbed excess moisture in one localized area. Even if the board were made from only one species, this would have been bad news. But under normal usage conditions, these woods are fairly stable together.

[woodwhisperer]

Problem is there's a distinct design here. You can't cut it and glue it back up without making it look odd. Of course you could just remove one row of blocks if you don't mind changing the dimensions of the board, but I didn't want to do that. Also, I use varnish on all of my boards. Works great and it's non-toxic when cured.

[jaymanton]

Btw I love everything think you do mate... Excellent channel! Have learnt so much! 👍🏼

[woodwhisperer]

@calypsobomber Yeah despite the FDA approval, that's just another type of long oil varnish. It contains the same resins and solvents found in any regular varnish.

[woodwhisperer]

The board is varnished on all sides. But after sitting on a wet spot for several days, there's only so much you can do. Ultimately the wood will absorb it.

[oldbearnews]

Had to think about this for a bit and it makes only sense if the board flattened the bow out again, as it dried out! (wood expands with water and contracts as it dries out - normally). It also highlights the fact that just because Timber has a varnish on it is set for life - probably needs a regular "maintenance" schedule - eg re-varnish every so often. one day I will make one like that . . . :) Have fun

[Balenza]

Thanks for replying. Yes of course you are correct.
It looks absolutely fantastic by the way.

[woodwhisperer]

@BikeManDan1 I used Arm-R-Seal, which is not labeled as "food safe". But I am of the belief that any film finish is food safe once completely cured.

[TheMick]

Thanks for sharing the repair job with us. Excellent tip with the shop vac btw! Knowledge is power!

[joebelin]

Very nice job repairing ur cutting board.
I use rubber slip resistant feet on all of cutting board builds. Raising them up nearly 1/2"
Love ur channel bud

[TansyBlue]

Thank you so much, my beautiful, huge, expensive and much loved chopping board has just acquired a crack and I am devastated (I went away over a weekend and didn't realise there was a small spill on the board!). Going to try this and hope it works. 🫰🏻🫰🏻🫰🏻

[mfeduck]

After seing this video, I just added small feet to my board, using 1/4" wooden dowels about 1/4" proud. Works great for the moisture issue and makes the board easier to pick up!

[jgrimmier]

Fantastic Video, very well put together!..Makes me want to start woodworking again.

Quick question...What do you use for editing your videos? (cutting sections, adding music, pictures, transitions, ..the simple stuff)