End grain cutting boards

Step #1 must be to tune up your table saw. There are some good suggestions here:
http://lumberjocks.com/topics/2313

The video's youve seen are that simple. Cut strips on the table saw, glue them up, cut again, and glue again (usually).
But YES, your table saw must cut straight and square for it to work.

Boom

Without a good tune on the table saw, you will have to sand the sides flat and thats a lot of work… A really good hand plane will work but thats something I have not yet mastered.

as a rule of thumb - all tools in one's shop MUST be tuned properly-otherwise woodworking in general will end up feeling like a battle instead of creating projects as you are already experiencing with these non square cuts…

tune you saw NOW, make cutting boards LATER.

even a cheap table saw (or any other tool for that matter) can be tuned up to acceptable results.

What PurpLev and everyone else has said!!!! All that is critical to a successful project.

I also have an article and video on building end grain cutting boards. While I do use the table saw, I also use a table saw sled for the second round of cuts. Maybe that will help a little also.

End Grain Cutting Board Story

I bought my son a used , but really nice contractors saw last year, and I have begged him to take some instruction from me before he uses it .I just want to instill the basics into his head, then he is comfortably on his own.When I purchased my large table saw with the sliding table I admit I was a little timid about using it right away. So it lay in my shop for about three weeks until I read ,and read ,and read ,all the books articles about saw use and safety.And now I use it without any fear or intimidation.I also learned how to set it up to work at it's maximum so I too boring as it may seem beg you to do like I did. Alistair

Thank you for all your advice I appreciate it but in the end I think I will have to invest in a decent saw with a nice cast iron bed which is level and has a decent leadway to the blade because the saw I have now has a small cast aluminum table which is not level and a very short leadway to the blade.