[butleraustin92]

The restaurant next door to mine closed and they where tossing out all their old equipment and i was able to snap a really nice chopping block but i was wanting to refurbish it. it looks like it has been well worn and i wanted to make it like new. any advice

 

[foodpump]

If you're handy with woodworking tools then you can do it yourself.

First how badly is the surface "dished" or hollowed out?

If its more than 3/4" you'll need to rig up a router with a flat bottom bit and make a sled. With this set up you slowly take off wood in the high areas by 1/16" at a pass.

Your best option is to snap a couple of pics and show them to any friends who have the tools for this.

 

[kokopuffs]

A good cabinet maker could certainly help with this project.

 

[butleraustin92]

It's not that bad I just grabbed it from the dumpster. It was gravely used and is a solid block. With surface mold its a Catskil block I know that much

 

[dcarch]

It it almost impossible for normal home tools to give a large wood cutting board a new truly flat surface, not with a belt sander, not with a router, not with a wood plane.

A large cabinet maker shop can do it in seconds and will not charge you a lot.

There is a way you can do it with a router or a table saw. You need to make a setup to do that.

Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of my setup when I was making a few end grain cutting boards.

dcarch

 

[luc_h]

How thick is the block?

how much do you think you need to cut off to get to the good wood?

any gaping cracks that seem to run deep?

Luc H.

 

[butleraustin92]

No gaping crack or anything it's about 4 inches thick and I've been told by my chef at the restaurant about 1/4 inch of sanding and no no large gapping crack or anything of that nature. I just want to be sure that I am doing t right.

 

[lisasd]

@dcarch - Please post a picture of the beautiful cutting board you made from those end-grain small logs. It was so beautiful! I still haven't seen anything as nice as that!

 

[jake t buds]

How big is it? You said 4" thick but how wide/deep? 16 X 18? How much does it need taken off before it's flat and level? 1/16"? 1/4"? 1/2"?

If you can't get anything else (power tools, cabinet shop etc) you can spray adhesive full sandpaper sheets to a large surface - a table or even your work table in the kitchen - and flip the board upside down and use its weight and your "push" to flatten the surface. If that surface is flat. Use the flatness of the table as the "bed." Back and forth, to and fro. Copy the karate kid. Then you use finer grades of sandpaper until smooth/ oil. It's not ideal but it can dress the surface enough to use depending on how much you need to take off. More than 1/6" means a lot of sanding. A lot. Something I don't recommend. 

Look for cabinet shops in your area and offer them a case of beer if they can do it during their lunch hour?