Carpentry and Woodworking - sanding a chopping block

I have a very old tongue and groove chopping block. Its probably 60+ years old. The top is bowed from all the cutting and the sides/legs are a little stained / dirty.

I have two questions. One is it possible to just sand down the legs and take a belt sander to the top and sides to even it out?

Two, would i be degrading its value ( if its worth nething ) by sanding it down. It was used in a butcher shop / deli from 1950 ish till the early 90's.

Sand that puppy down... smooth it out, clean it up. You'll have a beautiful, interesting coffee table/end table.

Personally, I can't stand those old chopping blocks with the worn out centers.. reminds me of all the dead meat, pooling blood, bacteria,etc.... stuck in the wood. But that's just me.

Not sure about "value" of such an item when refinished vs not-refinished.... I'd contact a junk,,,, er antique store for their appraisal before doing anything.

If the top is removable I would take it to a cabinet shop and have 'em run it through a time saver (wide belt sander). You'll get it planed and sanded at the same time......be like new.

Wide belts ROCK, I love them, wish we had one. You could also run it through a planer, which will flatten it out in a HURRY and leave a hand-sandable finish so long as it has sharp knives. Either way, NO NAILS or staples or screws. Wide belts and planer knives are pricey to replace.

A hand held belt sander (4" preferably!) will work but it's not easy on something that's bowed in the middle. Wide sweeps moving the sander sideways is the key. Use a 40-60 grit, and when done, step up to 80/100/120. Toward the latter two grits, shift movement to have the sander pulling the belt in the direction of the grain, will give a nicer look with no cross scratches.

Well ya could chain it upside down to your bumper & take a spin on the E-way……….
Ya have any neighbor kids that want a thrill ride?

Really, I might start with a hand held power planer, although that end grain would tend to be troublesome & prove fatal on blades.
My next choice would be a 9" disk grinder with a 16 or 24grit disk. Then switch over to the belt sander as others have suggested.
The oil in the wood is going to cause the belts to load up very quickly, so rather than fine grit belts you may have to resort to hand scraping to remove scratches from coarse belts.

Will this item resume its function as a food preparation surface or will it become furniture?
Once the top is approximately flat and level, your choice of hardwood surface could be attached and finished. I had an old milk table (used in the barn to set milk cans on) that was badly warped from all the hot water used to clean it off. It was taken to a cabinet shop, run through a planer, then glued together and to a piece of plywood. The legs did not match either. Beautiful walnut surface when it was completed.

Thanks for all the replies, but now im even more confused.....

The top of the block is like 30x30 ish. I would like to reuse it since im a chef.
I guess the top is removable but its probably 24" tall.


Is this feasable to do myself if i purchased a 4" belt sander or should i just find a cabinet shop or give me a suggestion on where to bring it.

Yes, it is feasable, unless it's *literally* shaped like a ")" .

Good 4" belt sanders, like Porter Cable, are expensive, so if you know anyone that will loan you one, just buy the belts and return the sander with a couple more belts than they had to begin with.

The more coarse you start, the easier it will be.

If you're going to reuse the chop block, I'm partial to "salad bowl finish" and I build it very, very heavy on the cutting surface. I made a walnut cutting block out of solid end grain blocks glued up, and coated with several thick coats of salad bowl finish, and it looks and works great. Superior, IMO, to mineral oil or "butcher block oil" which is, well, mineral oil.

Also if you're going to reuse it as a cutting surface, don't bother getting the top perfect, you're just going to gore it up anyhow.