Cutting boards for Christmas

[ars_lurker]

Built these from the plans in a Wood Magazine. My uncle sanded them in his shop's 24" wide-belt sander. I have a new tool to add to my dream shop wish list now. That is one sweet machine.

1/4" round-over on the top
1/8" round-over on the bottom
rubber non-slip feet on each
~11" wide x ~15" long x 1-5/8" thick
Walnut, Hard Maple, Cherry
Titebond III glue
Finished with Mineral oil until it wouldnt soak up any more. Top coated with Mineral oil/beeswax mix and buffed it out with a cotton rag.

I am very pleased with the results. These are all gifts but the missus has tasked me with making one for her now.

[phrog]

Absolutely beautiful, I bet putting them together was like doing a jigsaw puzzle. What issue was the mag? I may want to try that next year.
Richard

[JR]

Nice! They sure did pop once you got 'em oiled up.

JR

[ars_lurker]

The plans were in the October 2006 issue. It did not really take that long. You just glue up a blank about 40" long, cut the strips and then flip every other one. I spent more time waiting for glue to dry than anything else.

The Wood Whisperer website has a cutting board video also. He does a great job explaining the finishes and I used his oil/wax discussion to make mine.

[chopnhack]

Very nice cutting boards. They really look great after oiling up!

[lrogers]

There are going to be some VERY happy chefs when they get one of those. With all those "prototypes", the real "production unit" the LOYL gets is going to be something EXTRA special!

[dbhost]

Only time I had seen that sort of finish applied was by a peddler selling a wooden Panther head at Chichen Itza. Most of the peddlers had those things, it seems they get them as some sort of blanks, then sand them smooth, and finish them. Most are painted, but one guy was applying some sort of oil / beeswax finish that just looked fantastic...

[jhart]

Way to nice to cut anything on!!! Nice job

[kevincan]

Great looking cutting boards. I bet you made some people very happy on Xmas.

I made some last year for Xmas. The hardest part was sanding the end grain to make everything even. I wish my uncle had a belt sander.

Kevin

[ars_lurker]

Thanks for the kind words. By the time I got to the third one, I was able to have it all ripped, glued, crosscut, flipped and glued in about a day and a half.
I found if I let the glue cure for the whole 24 hours, I had trouble getting enough flex in the pieces to get good glue contact. I discovered that my 12" planer had it's knives higher (~.004") in the center. That distance adds up to a good size gap when you add 24 pieces.
One of the boards does have an odd number of pieces where I had to cut it out. I was afraid of a so-so joint failing.

-Mike

[SARGE..g-47]

Excellent Lurker... I too would love to have a drum sander but for the moment I will pass. But you never know what the future holds...

Well done...

[Bill in Buena Park]

Beautiful work - looks too nice to actually use, and get cut marks on!

[ironhat]

Very nice job!

[Pappy]

A trio of nice looking boards.

[footprintsinconc]

WOW, the color really comes out when they are oiled! very nice! now i have to make one of these too.