Project Information
I made this end-grain cutting board as a wedding gift. It is approximately 13" x 18½" x 1¼". The pattern was inspired by Sinister and greenology. [Sinister's blog gives you all the details on how to build it; I just used different proportions and species.] The board contains 570 pieces of 6 wood species: 1. cherry, 2. walnut, 3. oak, 4. birch, 5. maple, and 6. ash. Some of the wood-especially the birch-had a considerable variation in color, making the pattern appearance less precise. I had less-than-perfect results attempting to chamfer the edges with the router so after cutting off enough to do away with the router's chip-out, I used a utility knife to add a 45-degree chamfer to the edge. The board is finished with mineral oil.
I thought that gluing up the board would be a nightmare, but it was actually relatively easy. (I used Titebond III.) Getting the "sticks" perfect was the harder part!
I sliced the "sticks" on the band saw (to save material). Then made a jig for gluing up the blocks.
Because of the notch in the block, they all fit together very nicely.
I used CrafsMan's method of printing on wood to include the couple's name and wedding date and also my name in the hand-grip area and then used several coats of polycrylic over the printing.
I wanted to wood-burn the names but the limited area proved too difficult to access on the large board.
I don't like to waste anything! So, I used the off-cuts to make two smaller boards. This elongated board is about 6¼" x 11¼" x 1" and (in these photos) is unfinished.
The lighter center piece in this 7½" x 9¼" x 1" board (not yet finished in these photos) was less than an inch thick so I glued two pieces together so one side is all the darker pattern and one side has a light-colored center piece.
The dates on the two smaller boards were wood-burned.
All your comments, questions, and suggestions for improvement are appreciated. Thanks for taking a look.
L/W
I thought that gluing up the board would be a nightmare, but it was actually relatively easy. (I used Titebond III.) Getting the "sticks" perfect was the harder part!
I sliced the "sticks" on the band saw (to save material). Then made a jig for gluing up the blocks.
Because of the notch in the block, they all fit together very nicely.
I used CrafsMan's method of printing on wood to include the couple's name and wedding date and also my name in the hand-grip area and then used several coats of polycrylic over the printing.
I wanted to wood-burn the names but the limited area proved too difficult to access on the large board.
I don't like to waste anything! So, I used the off-cuts to make two smaller boards. This elongated board is about 6¼" x 11¼" x 1" and (in these photos) is unfinished.
The lighter center piece in this 7½" x 9¼" x 1" board (not yet finished in these photos) was less than an inch thick so I glued two pieces together so one side is all the darker pattern and one side has a light-colored center piece.
The dates on the two smaller boards were wood-burned.
All your comments, questions, and suggestions for improvement are appreciated. Thanks for taking a look.
L/W