I spent some time making end grain cutting boards for a buddy of mine. Mahogany and Cherry (looks similar but definitely cheaper than a Walnut / Maple combo).
After shipping them out, he got them and gave them a first wash and suddenly they felt to him like the grain had all raised up!
I’m a bit bummed and confused considering the steps I took. I would appreciate if anyone here has any insight. Note that the steps are the same I’ve used on previous end-grain boards and have not had this review of them.
Here’s how I prepped and finished them:
All steps leading up to final glue up. Then.
Flattened on the Wide Belt sander
After a few weeks, flattened again
After a few weeks, sanded and final flattening on the drum sander
Orbital Sanding with 80 grit, 150 grit, 220 grit.
Completely soaked in water to raise the grain.
Orbital Sanding with 220 again.
Cleaned off with mineral spirits and let dry completely.
Oiled with Howards Cutting board oil for about 1.5 days.
Let dry for a few days then coated with Howards Butcher Block Conditioner.
Packed and shipped.
At no point did I feel raised grain after step 6/7. Not after the mineral spirits or the oil bath.
Traditionally, and I have a very elaborate and “silky” oil-finishing technique that could be adapted from Tung Oil to use w/ food-safe Mineral Oils, I will saturate with oils, wait a few days.
Then repeat and wet-sand with oil all the way up to 600 grit (320 - 400 prolly fine for a cutting board). It is important to do these oil-wet-sand steps by hand, not with an Orbital (and with grain, if you are on side grain). This tends to eliminate some later grain-raising effects.
So, after your machine 220x, do oil and soak, 2days, then an oil wetsand by hand, maybe 220x or 240x, wait a day, then 320x with oil. So wet sand, rest, next grit wetsand.
I’m thinking another round of water popping or two would do the trick. FWIW I don’t think you need to soak the board in water, I usually just wet it with a spray bottle. That way you can do two or three rounds of water popping without waiting for the entire board to dry.
Alternatively, your buddy can try 80-150-220 grit on his finger tips and he won’t feel the fuzzy grain anymore.
I like this sandpaper to the fingertips idea!! Ha.
When I say soak the board, I basically ran it under the sink for a moment to make sure every surface was wet and then let it set to air out for a few minutes.
All signs and everyone’s advice certainly leads up to. Maybe I should have just done it again. Next time I’ll be sure to check it twice!
