I enjoyed the video! One extra step I take when making cutting boards is to spray thrm lightly with water before final sanding. Helps to raise the grain and then you can sand with super fine grit. Maybe do that a couple times before treating with mineral oil.
@@wernichtscharneck5368 Thanks for providing some extra feedback on sanding techniques. See my comments above and feel free to take a look at The American Flag cutting board on my TH-cam channel too.
Great work. The last few years I've done thinner width boards and call the lap boards. Used for car trips, couch, and other places. That way I can use dog woods and hardwoods. Soft woods
Thanks for stopping by to watch the video and for your comments. I'm not a huge fan of the extremely thick cutting boards (butcher block style). I've done a couple, but boards that are 3/4" to 1" in thickness is pretty much my wheelhouse. They're much lighter so they tend to get more usage from those I've created them for.
Loved the vid! One thing I do to help out my pieces in the planer- is not to cut them square until I'm done. That way if there's any tear off from the planer- it's on a piece of excess length.
Bryce, thanks for stopping by to watch and comment on the video. Excellent tip, I try to do that as well. This particular glue-up was difficult because I was trying to miss some of the voids in the wood (there were many). Just leaving some extra width and lengths in your projects gives you some options in case things go a little awry. Thanks again for your tip and comment.
@@DEJaegerWoodworking I hear ya. Love how it came out! I'm picking up some red this weekend, going to try and knock something out half as awesome as this!
Thanks for stopping by to watch the video and comment. Easter Red Cedar is a beautiful wood to work with. It's just on the cusp of hard woods so it may not be the best choice for a cutting board over something like maple, cherry, or walnut. But with good care it can definitely be a colorful choice. I have another video using Easter Red Cedar but I haven't gotten it edited quite yet. Hope the video helped.
I personally would never choose to use cedar for a board that is actually going to be used with food because the wood is generally too soft to be durable as a cutting board, but the more important reason is the natural oils or tannins in the wood make it smell nice but are potentially toxic making it a wood not good for food. Cedar is beautiful for many other things, just not for food related uses.
Thanks for watching the video and commenting. I appreciate it! In terms of wood softness I would tend to agree. Although eastern red cedar is considered a hardwood on the janka scale, it's barely over the line and still leans toward the soft side in terms of durability. In regards to food toxicity I'm not fully in agreement. Yes, cedar has some aromatic oils to it, but when you consider smoking salmon on a cedar plank, you're more likely to release those oils during that process than cutting some items on a dry board, so not really sure. Long story short, I like the cedar boards for their beauty but they matter be better suited for something like a serving board or for any purpose where food contact is somewhat limited.
I have kind of read both that it is safe, and not safe. Most woodworkers believe it is too soft to use as a cutting board even though eastern red cedar rates a 900 according the Janka hardness scale. With all the back and forth on whether it is or isn't a good wood to use, I only made this one board. It turned out beautiful, and it was given to a family member, but I have since gone with the traditional hardwoods (maple, cherry, walnut, etc.).
For all of my cutting boards I first apply Howard Food Safe Cutting Board Oil, then apply Howard Food Safe Cutting Board Conditioner. My original process was to apply one coat of oil, let dry at least 12 hours, apply second coat of oil, let dry at least 12 hours, then apply one coat of conditioner. If you watch a few of my newer cutting board videos, I've now filled a large plastic tub with food safe mineral oil and submerge the cutting board in it for a minute or two, then place it on a rack to drip dry (typically overnight). The next day I apply the Howard Cutting Board Conditioner by hand. Hope that helps. As far as using it on an entire counter top, I suppose for treating the wood it would work, but would think you would want to apply some sort of durable finish to it. Something like polyurethane works great for that application. Thanks for the question, and for stopping by to watch and comment on the video.
Thanks for watching the video and commenting. Eastern red cedar while considered a hard wood on the janka scale really starts to straddle the line between hard and soft woods. Other forms of cedar are definitely soft woods. That said, I don't make too many boards even from eastern red cedar. It's a beautiful wood, but cutting on it will definitely leave more marks and scoring that traditional hard woods.
Thanks for stopping by to check out the video Robert. In regards to your question, although it's a softwood, hardwood grading standards apply because eastern red cedar is used primarily as a cabinet wood. Most of my cutting boards are more traditional in terms of the woods that I use (maple, cherry, walnut, hickory, etc.). I really just wanted to see what this would look like after finishing, and it was a real stunner!
Thanks for stopping by to watch the video and for your suggestion. When I first started using these clamps I was pretty irritated by the black left by the pipes. I figured over time the black would simply diminish, but it never did. Your suggestion is a great one, thanks! I've since started using a set of right angle bar clamps which I now prefer over these, but there are times when I need them, so I'll give this a try.
Thanks for stopping by to watch the video. So far, so good on durability. It was actually a gift I made for a family member and they love it. It was a little difficult to part with after finishing it, but if I kept everything I'd run out of storage.
@@fozzy19 for one, as you pointed out, it is a softwood. But more importantly, cedar contains a Lot of strong tannins, which will not only make food taste bad, they are also toxic. This is why people put cedar shavings out to keep bugs away, and also why the wood is so aromatic.... Tannins.
"original reply to @wkmg365's question 'i would highly recommend against it for multiple reasons'" -sorry I accidentally deleted this comment. I'm reposting it so that the thread makes since.
Thanks for watching the video and commenting. I haven't experienced that and neither has the owner of this specific board (sister in law). There's a lot of recipes with smoking fish , specifically salmon, on cedar boards and would assume that the smoking would cause the same sort of issue if this was the case.
Thanks for watching the video and commenting. So, eastern red cedar has a janka hardness of 900, which differs greatly from western red cedar which registers at 350. It's just on the edge of the hardwood specification. That said, after making a few of them I would definitely say it's not nearly as durable as the traditional domestic hardwoods (i.e. hard maple, cherry, walnut, etc.). It is likely to display cut marks more easily than those types of boards. After having made a few eastern red cedar boards and knowing this, I rarely make them anymore unless specifically requested.
I didn’t even k ow there was an eastern and a western. I recently made 2 small cutting boards using red cedar and then realized after that it was very easily scratched. Thanks for the knowledge
@@bennyferranti4548 I think the cedar is beautiful when finished, and for an every day cutting board would certainly be viable. For durability you'll definitely want something in the 1000+ janka rating.
tha5s awesome. i just happen to have so.e cedar and time on my hands . was that just a 2 part epoxy you filled the knotts with , and what oil did you use to finish it with. ?
Thanks for stopping by to watch the video and comment. The epoxy was just Gorilla brand epoxy that you can buy at Walmart and local hardware stores. I've started purchasing epoxy in bigger batches for some other projects but the small package of syringes by Gorilla was more than enough to fill the void in this project. I will give you a warning that the sanding afterward really sucked. I have another cedar cutting board project that I just finished and will posting soon. I think it turned out even nicer!
Sorry, I didn't see the question about the oil and only answered your epoxy question. The oil I used in this video is Howard's Cutting Board Oil. Since then I started oiling my boards via a vat process where I purchased a large tupperware container and filled it with a gallon of food safe oil. This allows me to drop the cutting board into the container and completely submerge it in the oil for a few minutes. If you view a couple of my newer videos you'll see that setup. It works great!
Nice board but I’ve never used red cedar for cutting boards or charcuterie boards since it will come in contact with food. It is toxic for food use. Using a food grade mineral oil might I don’t risk it. Red cedar makes a beautiful board I just mark mine not for food use. But that just me.
I enjoyed the video! One extra step I take when making cutting boards is to spray thrm lightly with water before final sanding. Helps to raise the grain and then you can sand with super fine grit. Maybe do that a couple times before treating with mineral oil.
Go 120, raise grain, 180, raise grain 240, raise grain and then 300. Done
@@wernichtscharneck5368 Thanks for providing some extra feedback on sanding techniques. See my comments above and feel free to take a look at The American Flag cutting board on my TH-cam channel too.
@@wernichtscharneck5368I’ve seen videos where they only do it once, but would you say 3 times is a lot better
Great work. The last few years I've done thinner width boards and call the lap boards. Used for car trips, couch, and other places. That way I can use dog woods and hardwoods. Soft woods
Thanks for stopping by to watch the video and for your comments. I'm not a huge fan of the extremely thick cutting boards (butcher block style). I've done a couple, but boards that are 3/4" to 1" in thickness is pretty much my wheelhouse. They're much lighter so they tend to get more usage from those I've created them for.
Nice job. Cedar is beautiful wood.
Thanks for watching the video and commenting. I appreciate it!
Loved the vid! One thing I do to help out my pieces in the planer- is not to cut them square until I'm done. That way if there's any tear off from the planer- it's on a piece of excess length.
Bryce, thanks for stopping by to watch and comment on the video. Excellent tip, I try to do that as well. This particular glue-up was difficult because I was trying to miss some of the voids in the wood (there were many). Just leaving some extra width and lengths in your projects gives you some options in case things go a little awry. Thanks again for your tip and comment.
@@DEJaegerWoodworking I hear ya. Love how it came out! I'm picking up some red this weekend, going to try and knock something out half as awesome as this!
Awesome piece 👍. Like to swop decals with you to add yours to my board in my work shop.
Just what I was looking for, thanks
Thanks for stopping by to watch the video and comment. Easter Red Cedar is a beautiful wood to work with. It's just on the cusp of hard woods so it may not be the best choice for a cutting board over something like maple, cherry, or walnut. But with good care it can definitely be a colorful choice. I have another video using Easter Red Cedar but I haven't gotten it edited quite yet. Hope the video helped.
All I got is cedar, at this point in time.
Stuff is too expensive to buy, lol
I personally would never choose to use cedar for a board that is actually going to be used with food because the wood is generally too soft to be durable as a cutting board, but the more important reason is the natural oils or tannins in the wood make it smell nice but are potentially toxic making it a wood not good for food. Cedar is beautiful for many other things, just not for food related uses.
Thanks for watching the video and commenting. I appreciate it! In terms of wood softness I would tend to agree. Although eastern red cedar is considered a hardwood on the janka scale, it's barely over the line and still leans toward the soft side in terms of durability. In regards to food toxicity I'm not fully in agreement. Yes, cedar has some aromatic oils to it, but when you consider smoking salmon on a cedar plank, you're more likely to release those oils during that process than cutting some items on a dry board, so not really sure. Long story short, I like the cedar boards for their beauty but they matter be better suited for something like a serving board or for any purpose where food contact is somewhat limited.
Sorry I should have notice this is eastern red cedar. Which isn’t consider toxic. Beautiful board.
I have kind of read both that it is safe, and not safe. Most woodworkers believe it is too soft to use as a cutting board even though eastern red cedar rates a 900 according the Janka hardness scale. With all the back and forth on whether it is or isn't a good wood to use, I only made this one board. It turned out beautiful, and it was given to a family member, but I have since gone with the traditional hardwoods (maple, cherry, walnut, etc.).
What product did you put on as a final finish? I was not able to read it on my screen. Would this process work for and entire counter top?
For all of my cutting boards I first apply Howard Food Safe Cutting Board Oil, then apply Howard Food Safe Cutting Board Conditioner. My original process was to apply one coat of oil, let dry at least 12 hours, apply second coat of oil, let dry at least 12 hours, then apply one coat of conditioner. If you watch a few of my newer cutting board videos, I've now filled a large plastic tub with food safe mineral oil and submerge the cutting board in it for a minute or two, then place it on a rack to drip dry (typically overnight). The next day I apply the Howard Cutting Board Conditioner by hand. Hope that helps. As far as using it on an entire counter top, I suppose for treating the wood it would work, but would think you would want to apply some sort of durable finish to it. Something like polyurethane works great for that application. Thanks for the question, and for stopping by to watch and comment on the video.
How are you making it from cedar ? I was always told it was way too soft ??
Thanks for watching the video and commenting. Eastern red cedar while considered a hard wood on the janka scale really starts to straddle the line between hard and soft woods. Other forms of cedar are definitely soft woods. That said, I don't make too many boards even from eastern red cedar. It's a beautiful wood, but cutting on it will definitely leave more marks and scoring that traditional hard woods.
Beautiful board but correct me if I am wrong I have always been told to use only hard wood when making a cutting board
Thanks for stopping by to check out the video Robert. In regards to your question, although it's a softwood, hardwood grading standards apply because eastern red cedar is used primarily as a cabinet wood. Most of my cutting boards are more traditional in terms of the woods that I use (maple, cherry, walnut, hickory, etc.). I really just wanted to see what this would look like after finishing, and it was a real stunner!
Yes beautiful I love the look of cedar
How’s the durability?
Put pvc pipe over your pipes so you don’t get the black marks. Cut them long enough just to cover the glue lines,just my two cents
Thanks for stopping by to watch the video and for your suggestion. When I first started using these clamps I was pretty irritated by the black left by the pipes. I figured over time the black would simply diminish, but it never did. Your suggestion is a great one, thanks! I've since started using a set of right angle bar clamps which I now prefer over these, but there are times when I need them, so I'll give this a try.
Nice looking piece, can't beat the look of cedar. How is it holding up to use?
Thanks for stopping by to watch the video. So far, so good on durability. It was actually a gift I made for a family member and they love it. It was a little difficult to part with after finishing it, but if I kept everything I'd run out of storage.
@@DEJaegerWoodworking I bet. I was thinking of doing a cedar board, but was wondering about the durability being a soft wood. Thanks!
@@emostorm7 why you say that ?
@@fozzy19 for one, as you pointed out, it is a softwood. But more importantly, cedar contains a Lot of strong tannins, which will not only make food taste bad, they are also toxic.
This is why people put cedar shavings out to keep bugs away, and also why the wood is so aromatic.... Tannins.
"original reply to @wkmg365's question 'i would highly recommend against it for multiple reasons'"
-sorry I accidentally deleted this comment. I'm reposting it so that the thread makes since.
Doesn't cedar leave a bitter taste in the food you cut on it?
Thanks for watching the video and commenting. I haven't experienced that and neither has the owner of this specific board (sister in law). There's a lot of recipes with smoking fish , specifically salmon, on cedar boards and would assume that the smoking would cause the same sort of issue if this was the case.
What is the name of the epoxy your using
Jonathan, on this particular board I was just using Gorilla Glue Epoxy. You can pick it up at Walmart or other hardware stores.
So red cedar is a soft wood. Do you recommend hardwood cutting boards more than softwood or it doesn’t matter
Thanks for watching the video and commenting. So, eastern red cedar has a janka hardness of 900, which differs greatly from western red cedar which registers at 350. It's just on the edge of the hardwood specification. That said, after making a few of them I would definitely say it's not nearly as durable as the traditional domestic hardwoods (i.e. hard maple, cherry, walnut, etc.). It is likely to display cut marks more easily than those types of boards. After having made a few eastern red cedar boards and knowing this, I rarely make them anymore unless specifically requested.
I didn’t even k ow there was an eastern and a western. I recently made 2 small cutting boards using red cedar and then realized after that it was very easily scratched. Thanks for the knowledge
@@bennyferranti4548 I think the cedar is beautiful when finished, and for an every day cutting board would certainly be viable. For durability you'll definitely want something in the 1000+ janka rating.
tha5s awesome. i just happen to have so.e cedar and time on my hands . was that just a 2 part epoxy you filled the knotts with , and what oil did you use to finish it with. ?
Thanks for stopping by to watch the video and comment. The epoxy was just Gorilla brand epoxy that you can buy at Walmart and local hardware stores. I've started purchasing epoxy in bigger batches for some other projects but the small package of syringes by Gorilla was more than enough to fill the void in this project. I will give you a warning that the sanding afterward really sucked. I have another cedar cutting board project that I just finished and will posting soon. I think it turned out even nicer!
Sorry, I didn't see the question about the oil and only answered your epoxy question. The oil I used in this video is Howard's Cutting Board Oil. Since then I started oiling my boards via a vat process where I purchased a large tupperware container and filled it with a gallon of food safe oil. This allows me to drop the cutting board into the container and completely submerge it in the oil for a few minutes. If you view a couple of my newer videos you'll see that setup. It works great!
Looks like BACON.
Thanks for stopping by to watch the video and comment. Agreed, and there is certainly nothing wrong with bacon!
Nice board but I’ve never used red cedar for cutting boards or charcuterie boards since it will come in contact with food. It is toxic for food use. Using a food grade mineral oil might I don’t risk it. Red cedar makes a beautiful board I just mark mine not for food use. But that just me.