Can my Cutting Board be fixed? It splits!
Maybe your board split, maybe it is just showing little cracks--in either case, what can you do?
Good news--it can be fixed. Bad news--it may be nearly as expensive as buying something new. More bad news--if you do it yourself, it might not save you as much as you'd like.
If you're fixing it yourself, and you don't have the tools to do so, you'll need to buy Titebond 3 (Glue), a random orbital sander, and a few grits of sandpaper (120 and 220 at least). If buy that from a big box store new, all told that can cost you $80 before you include your labor. But at least you can fix it a second time without needing to buy more, so that's a plus.
If you want me to fix it, I'm happy to but be aware that the unfortunate aspect to this is the shipping. Shipping between the general Northeast to Brooklyn & back is going to be at least $30. Shipping from the West Coast to BK and back is going to be at least $40 if not $50. Yikes! If I'm wrong, and you find a way, PLEASE let me know. Then, you also have to play for labor which can be anywhere between $20 and $50 depending on the issue. So there you go. Your range in price is $50 to $100 on a standard 12x18 board. If you live close by, you can drop off your board upon request and avoid the shipping cost.
So how do you go about fixing it yourself? Well, I'll be creating a little series demonstrating how, but for now I'll put it plainly. You want to sand the board evenly and create some dust. Besides resurfacing the board into something beautiful again, you also want that dust so you can mix it with the glue to create a putty. You use this putting to put into the smaller cracks and you'll continue to sand it at 120 grit. After you've done this for a little while, you'll do a finish sand at 220, trying to remove the marks made by the 120 grit. In the shop, we use a lot more grits (in this order): 60, 80, 120, 150 or 180, 220 or 240, 320. For a repair though, you should be able to get by with these two grits and some elbow grease.
Larger cracks will need the skills and tools of an expert. We're happy to help how we can, but if your board is more than a 5 years old, I would definitely at least consider getting a new one as opposed to paying someone to repair it. That's my two cents, but I'm happy to follow your lead :)
-Nils
