LOML is always watching Food Network, and just about everybody on there has a great big wooden cutting board. I thought to myself, "surely I could make one of those." Hah!
It hasn't been all bad. I've learned that this is NOT a plan:
1) Go to wood store and by a 4' piece of hard maple
2) Cut it into strips and glue them
3) Cut the strips so I get end grain showing on top and bottom, glue those
4) Present to wife and proudly watch her use it
First off, I ended up with something roughly 12" x 12", smaller than my quick mental math told me I should have ended up with (forgot a multiplication step). After the first glue up, there were a lot of big gaps between strips, so I decided that the only way to salvage this thing was to cut it up and hope that the trip through the saw would leave me with flat faces. Ummm... that didn't quite work, but it may have been a little better.
Wait... I was saying it wasn't all bad... oh yeah--I've learned that I need to plan better, and I've almost got my low-angle block plane figure out. It may just be a late model Stanley from Lowes, but I like that little thing. I want more! Shooting boards are definitely in my future too, because I don't have room for a jointer.
Anyway... without a planer, do I stand any chance of getting this thing straight enough for gapless glue ups? How much can I expect clamping pressure to close the gaps? I've got 20 strips to try to surface with my little plane, or 38 mating faces. Working in the evenings, it could take me another week to get something that might work, if clamping pressure decides to be my friend. The final dimensions, after removing more wood during the planing process, will be smaller than the original 12" x 12"--which may not be useful for anything at all. Should I throw this one in the trash and try again IF I ever get a planer, or should I continue and try to develop whatever skills I can with what's left?
It hasn't been all bad. I've learned that this is NOT a plan:
1) Go to wood store and by a 4' piece of hard maple
2) Cut it into strips and glue them
3) Cut the strips so I get end grain showing on top and bottom, glue those
4) Present to wife and proudly watch her use it
First off, I ended up with something roughly 12" x 12", smaller than my quick mental math told me I should have ended up with (forgot a multiplication step). After the first glue up, there were a lot of big gaps between strips, so I decided that the only way to salvage this thing was to cut it up and hope that the trip through the saw would leave me with flat faces. Ummm... that didn't quite work, but it may have been a little better.
Wait... I was saying it wasn't all bad... oh yeah--I've learned that I need to plan better, and I've almost got my low-angle block plane figure out. It may just be a late model Stanley from Lowes, but I like that little thing. I want more! Shooting boards are definitely in my future too, because I don't have room for a jointer.
Anyway... without a planer, do I stand any chance of getting this thing straight enough for gapless glue ups? How much can I expect clamping pressure to close the gaps? I've got 20 strips to try to surface with my little plane, or 38 mating faces. Working in the evenings, it could take me another week to get something that might work, if clamping pressure decides to be my friend. The final dimensions, after removing more wood during the planing process, will be smaller than the original 12" x 12"--which may not be useful for anything at all. Should I throw this one in the trash and try again IF I ever get a planer, or should I continue and try to develop whatever skills I can with what's left?
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