What glue for an outdoor cutting board?

[rmwarren]

Almost ready to make the 4" thick 24" by 28" butcher's block for my grill cooking cart. Amusingly, I have some 8/4 & 12/4 hard maple that I bought over 30 years ago in Nevada then hauled to PA and finally NJ where it's been waiting patiently to find its purpose in the universe. I keep wondering if it wasn't originally from this area, but I digress.

Our area (South Jersy shore) ranges from mid-80's to below freezing, and it's always at least somewhat humid. I'll keep the cart covered but it'll experience the full temp/humidity swings year-round.

I've yet to figure out if I am going to make an end-gain block (2" by 2" by 4" blocks) or just mill everything to 2" by 4" by 24" and glue the faces. Any advice on pros/cons would be appreciated.

Any thoughts on the best adhesive to use to in either scenario?

Lastly, if I take the latter approach, I could run some threaded rod thru and back up the glue mechanically. Is this enough of a benefit to make this approach superior to going the end grain route?

Thanks in advance.

RMW

 

[TSO_Products]

Hello Richard,
for all the reasons you are concerned about, no adhesive I know of (and have worked with) comes close to RESORCINOL.

Since you will be able to achieve a very good glue joint preparation requiring no gap filling, it is a perfect fit for RESORCINOL which requires close fitting joint preparation and a reasonable amount of clamping pressure.

Moisture will not affect it. The wood will break before the glue joint separates. Very little effect of temperature or humidity in itself on the glue joint. Very thin glue line. Outperforms Epoxy or any other adhesive for this application.

You may still find some under the WELDWOOD brand but I think they have discontinued selling this under their private label. This is the adhesive used in manufacturing loadbearing beams used in construction.

Look for CASCOPOHEN G-1131 for liquid resin and separate powder catalyst.

Hans
Available from:https://www.wicksaircraft.com/shop/cascophen-kit/

 

[Birdhunter]

Many years ago, I built a bunch of outdoor Ipe benches for my club. I used two part epoxy on some of the tenons and Titebond III on others. I see zero differences between the two. The benches are unfinished and totally exposed to the weather. They are still totally solid.

 

[jeffinsgf]

If you're going to use it with food, I would not use resorcinol. Might be fine, but it is nasty to work with, and I wouldn't want it around anything I planned to put in my mouth.

I would probably go Titebond 3 or polyurethane (Gorilla Glue).

 

[rmwarren]

CASCOPOHEN looks interesting. I'm not super concerned about it being "food grade" given the use is binding layers of wood & not a surface finish. Thanks for the input, I'll do some more research but it seems to have impressive properties.

Keep it coming. 

RMW

 

[rvieceli]

Richard do some tests with your maple. Titebond III dries dark. Looks good on Walnut but it’s too dark for me on lighter stuff like cherry or maple.

For finish for the board consider plain old mineral oil. Soak the piece in it. Food safe.

Walmart has the best price I’ve found.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Equate-M...ive-Liquid-for-Constipation-16-fl-Oz/44807472

Ron

 

[jarbroen]

Why 4” thick?  Out of curiosity.

I recently made a butcher block top for my kitchen island and did a bit of research on which way to orient the grain. I ended up with face grain walnut because I like the look and I’m not chopping on it.
For cutting, chopping, etc, end grain is the toughest followed by edge grain.
I don’t like the look of the little end grain squares, but that’s just me. Plus, that’s a tricky grain to run through a planer.

For the glue I’m in the keep it simple camp. Titebond III is great for outdoor projects. I’ve had it hold up for years and still going strong outside. Easy to work with, as always. If you have tight joints I would avoid Gorilla glue as it’s and expanding adhesive.

So, edge grain and Titebond III is my amateur opinion.

 

[rmwarren]

Why 4” thick?  Out of curiosity.

Totally scientific, overly thought-out "just 'cause"...

I thought the mass would look interesting in juxtaposition to the adjacent concrete surface. I also decided to "band" the lower half with steel, again for appearance.

I'm probably going with Han's suggestion just to try it out.

Thanks for the input.

RMW

 

[Cheese]

Hey Richard, I would have gone for the resorcinol also…can’t beat the ratings.  [smile]

Let us know what you think of the stuff.

 

[Vondawg]

YES ! Let us know… I know you will report back and looking forward to it…..very nice project thank you for sharing (pics and findings) you always squeeze the most in the most restricted space lol…

 

[Michael Kellough]

resorcinol is great but it does have a limited shelf life so make sure it’s not too old.

 

[rmwarren]

resorcinol is great but it does have a limited shelf life so make sure it’s not too old.

I noticed that and it's a drawback given I tend to bounce around project-wise and end up with way too many two-thirds full containers of finish etc. I'll get it from somewhere like Aircraft Spruce that likely turns over their inventory pretty frequently but it'll probably only get used on this one project.

RMW

 

[rvieceli]

Richard suggest you try some on some scraps to see if you like working with it before you commit completely.

ROn

 

[rvieceli]

[member=8712]Richard/RMW[/member]

Please give us an update on this stuff. I used it about 40 years ago but I can't remember the details  [scared] How long it lasts after mixing and the open time once applied, etc.

Ron

 

[rmwarren]

[member=8712]Richard/RMW[/member]

Please give us an update on this stuff. I used it about 40 years ago but I can't remember the details  [scared] How long it lasts after mixing and the open time once applied, etc.

Ron

Ron, will do. I haven't ordered it yet, thanks for the reminder.

Should be finishing up the frame this weekend and then pivoting over to milling the maple.

RMW

 

[rmwarren]

On its way, should be here Monday shipping from GA. $42/pint delivered. Product info available here, open time was better than expected:
https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/pdf/cascophentech.pdf

RMW

 

[rmwarren]

Only ~2 years later, I'm getting ready to glue up this cutting board & finish the grill cart.  [doh]

Long story but the Cascophen arrived (2021) already past its use-by date, and they didn't have any more. I got sidetracked, covered the work-in-progress cart, and didn't get back to it until a couple of weeks ago. Last weekend I dug out some 6/4 maple and milled it up.

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The TCS-55 did a surprising great job ripping down 1-1/4" stock, taking 2 passes.

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I bored thru holes for 3/8" SS all-thread and Shapered some bungs.

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Now it's time to glue it up and the re-ordered Cascophen hasn't arrived. Anyone have strong feelings about using Titebond 3 or something else available locally, or should I just be patient & wait for the Cascophen to arrive?

I hadn't originally planned to add the all-thread, so I'm trying to decide if that will provide enough extra pressure to prevent everything from separating over time. This will live on the deck winter/summer and be covered. Appreciate any thoughts/suggestions.

Thanks,

RMW

 

[LazyGretlWoodWorks]

CASCOPOHEN looks interesting. I'm not super concerned about it being "food grade" given the use is binding layers of wood & not a surface finish.

You should be; contact is contact. It's **probably** fine once fully cured, however if you do any real cutting on it, you're introducing synthetic polymers into your food. That's not a maybe, that's a for-real, gonna-happen thing. Again ** probably ** fine according to some chart that says it's also ok to have x% of rat feces in your food and still be "safe and healthy".

I'd go with titebond 3, screw the color concerns, and know you're 100% food safe.

Stay away from synthetic polymers. That's not me as a hippie talking, that's me as a guy whose first career was using some nasty ass chemicals fashioning race cars together, including body panels made from 100% synthetic polymers.

I really can't caution you enough. "Interesting" doesn't mean do it.

"Your Scientists Were So Preoccupied With Whether Or Not They Could, They Didn’t Stop To Think If They Should." -- Dr. Ian Malcom

 

[rvieceli]

Richard that looks nice. Titebond III would be the logical choice but try a joint on some scrap to see if you like it.

I find that T III dries dark, I’ll use it on Walnut but prefer T original or T II on lighter woods. T III usually leaves a dark glue line I can see the others blend in more. YMMV test it first.

If you keep applying mineral oil, it usually doesn’t give the wood a chance to shrink too much. But you might want to make the plugs removable so you could tighten the rods.

Don’t forget about the bottom of it either for oil. When you cover it I’d leave some space to let it breathe.

Ron

 

[Packard]

Titebond III is chosen by woodworkers for cutting boards for many reasons. The main reasons are that it has been proven to be waterproof as well as FDA approved for indirect food contact. These two key features make it perfect for cutting boards and it has become the number one choice for woodworkers.

I don’t know who Tyler Brown is and if he is a reliable authority.  I would probably check directly with Titebond.

I also am not sure what “indirect food contact” really means.
https://www.tylerbrownwoodworking.com/articles/best-glue-for-cutting-boards#