u/singlemaltmario

This is my first time trying to make an end grain cutting board. Maple. This morning I was at the flattening stage.

I used a router sled and a spoilboard bit. At first, I was pretty pleased with how things were going. I was taking very small cuts (1/32"). I had expected the visible back and forth lines; from what I heard, "they just sand out". But, I was also getting large areas of ... end grain tearing? Not tear out, per se, but visible damage to the ends.

I used a new 1 1/4" diameter (1/4" shank) bit with 2 cutters (carbide inserts). At one point, I wondered if the cutters were dulling, so I rotated them. Maybe that made things worse.

It seems the only hope I have is to sand this. I have a 5" ROS and have been working on this for hours. 80 grit and 120 grit. If this is the way, then so be it. I've made some progress, but I want to believe there's a better way. Is a belt sander better? Will it make more of a mess of things?

And... I still have the other side to do. I am wondering if there's something I did wrong to end up with this amount of cleanup -- something I can avoid on the other side.

To make matters worse... the board is now cupped (concave on the side I have been working on) after working on it in the sun and heat all day. Probably lost a lot of moisture on that side. So, using a router sled on the other side will likely end up removing a lot of thickness. I'm hoping the board will level out overnight.

Thanks in advance.