I first selected contrasting woods. Hard Maple, Purple Heart and Brazilian Cherry.
Step 1

I cut them to different widths, aranged them then glued them together.
Step 2

With the first raft glued together I marked off strips that were 3/4 of an inch wide.
Step 3

Step 4

Steps 3 and 4 I arranged the strips i just cut so that end grain was up and checked fit
Step 5

I glued them all together making sure that the piece looked visually straight
Step 6

I used my flat 18 in drum sander ( similar to a sand flee ) to smooth and flatten both sides.
Closeup Detail

At this point I have either a bowl blank or an end grain cutting board of high quality. I have not decided yet which

DW