Manufacturing Process
Drouin’s Glen cutting boards are the superior product on the market.
I have been asked, “why are you being open on your building process?” Well, that’s an easy one, I want to be transparent to our clients on how well our cutting boards are crafted versus the others on the market. If somebody copies our manufacturing process, well imitation is the greatest form of flattery. I have no worries; our cutting boards are the superior product on the market in my humble opinion.
Our cutting boards start out like all other wooden cutting boards…we use wood. However, this is where the Drouin’s Glen Heirloom Cutting Board building process comes into play. Every one of our boards are handled by a craftsman, from the initial inventory input of rough-cut lumber to the final burning of the Drouin’s Glen branding onto the board. No elaborate automated machines are used to create our boards like our big-name competition, our boards are strictly hand-crafted.
Our American Walnut stock is ripped into strips to standardize the sizing of each strip. We then layout each piece to make sure that all boards are edge-grained * aligned as much as possible to ensure the wood grain is in the correct orientation to prevent board warp. There may be an occasional face-grained * piece where the overall fit is tighter than an edge-grained; plus, it adds a little bit more flair to the board. After all, our cutting boards are not only a tool used for cooking, but each is a piece of art.
Now, instead of following the flock we create our own superior high-quality pathway. We utilize furniture making processes into creating our boards. Other cutting boards are simply glued together and that’s it, however we use biscuit joinery using the largest #20 biscuits. These large biscuits allow more gluing surface to be used to increase the mechanical bond of each joint. This extra step “dramatically” increases the strength of each individual joint, overall board strength and create the heirloom quality that we strive to achieve.
After gluing the strips into boards, the blanks are then planed down to their final thickness. We try to keep the boards around one and a half inches in thickness. Please note, thickness could vary plus/minus an eighth of an inch due to what it may take to make each board visually perfect. Perfection is a great gift when you make it work for you!
Each board is then crosscut to their final lengths, ensuring each end cut being 100% square. This then allows the next step to occur which separates Drouin’s Glen cutting boards from every other cutting board and helps create the superior heirloom quality that we strive to attain. Each board is capped with our signature visual and structural design feature, an inch and half wide cherry board. This feature is not simply glued onto the board, but again, a #20 biscuit is used to strengthen these joints as well. The cherry end caps ensure that the board stays straight and true as they add “immense” strength to the each joint as they lock everything together. As an added benefit, the cherry wood being perpendicular to the walnut really makes all our board a stunning work of art.
Even using the #20 biscuit is not good enough for our goal of making an heirloom piece. So, each cherry end cap then has two 2” stainless steel wood screws ** inserted into each outer walnut strip. This further strengthens the board and locks the walnut pieces into the end pieces to prevent any possibility of joint’s separating. Overkill in the design? Sure. Overengineered for maximum strength? You betcha…and no apologies for either! We want our boards to be around for a very, very, very long time for you and your family to use and enjoy.
Now the final step that turns our boards into a piece of art that you will be proud to display on your countertop…sanding. Not just a simple sanding, all our sanding steps takes almost as long to complete as the whole manufacturing process. We do not use any big, automated sanding machines like the big-name companies use, just straight up palm sanders. Meticulous and repetitive hand sanding is the secret to creating a superior product, and our craftsmen take pride that our boards are akin to a finely crafted piece of furniture. We go through a total of 5 differing sanding grits on each board. After 3 sanding grits are done on our 18” cutting boards, our craftsmen hand router a “gravy cut” on one side of the board. This deep cut will ensure that any juices from your cooking will be kept on the board and not your counter.
The final two sanding steps then proceed. However, prior to the final 180 grit and 220 grit sanding steps, we use an old woodworking trick. Each board is dampened and left to dry overnight. What this does is raise the wood grain on each board, which thereby lifts any sanding swirls remaining from the first three sanding grits. The final two sanding steps then fully remove any small sanding swirls or imperfections, which creates you a stunning “Drouin’s Glen Heirloom Cutting Board” work of art.
Every board is finally QA inspected by the owner. Any board that does not meet Phil’s meticulous standards are then relegated to the “Island of Misfit Boards” page here on our website to be presented to you for a discounted price. They will still be fully functional and beautiful, and most people will most likely not see the blemish; but as a craftsman, Phil cannot QA the board as 100% if there is even a slightest blemish with the board. Like Phil says, “OCD is a great gift when you make it work for you!”
* Wood Grain Information:
Face Grain: this is the grain that you see on the face (wide side) of the board. Furniture makers use face grains as that is the most beautiful piece of the wood. An example is your dining room tabletop, that is made with face grain. Our trivets are all made with face grain American Walnut or if a client special orders a board(s) to be created using the face grain.
Edge Grain: This is the grain that you see on the side (edge side) of the board. The grain is still beautiful, but the grains tend to be tighter together. As edge grain is the stronger of the two grain patterns, this is the grain that Drouin’s Glen uses on our boards (unless a client special orders a face grain specific cutting board)
Edge Grain vs Face Grain Cutting Boards:
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- Edge grain cutting boards are tougher than face grain, so they are superior at hiding knife marks.
- Face grain cutting boards are a gentler grain, so they show up more cut marks than edge grain does. However, from a visual aspect, these are truly stunning boards.
** Stainless Steel Wood Screw Information:
The screws used in our manufacturing process are not decking screws you find at your local hardware store. The stainless screws are special ordered and each individual screw costs around 25 cents. Additionally, the screws are RoHS, RoHS2 and RoHS3 Compliant and California Prop 65 Compliant (Fastener Superstore Certification – 02/07/2022). Also, as an added step, prior to installing in our cutting boards, we soak the screws in Isopropyl Alcohol to sterilize the screws as well as to ensure that any remnants of the manufacturing process are removed.
RoHS, RoHS2 and RoHS3 Compliant Definition: They do not contain Lead, Cadmium, PBB, PBDE, DEHP, BPP, DBP, DIBP or Hexavalent Chromium. Additionally, they have not come into contact with Mercury or Mercury Compounds during manufacturing or subsequent processing.
California Prop 65 Definition: Proposition 65 requires businesses to provide warnings to Californians about significant exposures to chemicals that cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm. List of Prop 65 Chemicals: https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65/proposition-65-list
Phil Drouin Comment: The stainless-steel screws used in our products are NOT manufactured in China (PRC). As an American and a Service-Connected Disabled Veteran, I will not purchase any product used in our cutting boards that support an enemy communist regime financially. That would violate my United States Military Oath of Enlistment that I swore to uphold.
Address:
Drouin's Glen
Heirloom Cutting Boards
& Custom Woodworking
607 Charlestown Road
Acworth, NH 03601-4109
Contact:
Phone: 603-835-2085
Email: info@DrouinsGlenWoodworking.com
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