cutting board question

[Robert McGowen]

I have been making a few cutting boards for personal use and gifts. I have really liked and appreciated the threads by creeker Vaughn McMillan. After seeing on Vaughn's website how to make a board that is zigzag looking, I have a couple of questions. Everyones' description shows the board glued together as strips, then cut at a diagonal and then glued together again. This leaves two large triangle-shaped waste pieces on each end. (see 1st figure) The black horizontal pieces are the glued strips, the red lines are the next cuts, and the blue area is the waste. Being frugal, etc., etc., I did not want to waste expensive wood. No one has mentioned this before, but it has to be a common way to cut the wood. I lined up the wood and made a 60 degree mark across the first board. (any angle you chose would work) I then lined up the ends of the rest of the boards along the line and drew a line down all of the boards so that I could realign them together during glue up. (See figure 2) This resulted in about zero wasted wood. I glued about 6 boards at a time together and put a large Bessey clamp across each end to ensure good pressure on the staggered ends. I then glued the sets of 6 boards together and it worked great. No waste.

Two questions are:
1. Am I about to find out that there is a flaw somewhere in my thinking and it just won't work like I think it will?

2. What do you do with all the small laminated pieces sitting around after a few cutting boards?

Thanks!
I have learned tons from you guys and gals!

[Vaughn McMillan]

It took me a minute to figure out your description, but it looks like a good idea to me, Robert. As long as the ends are clamped tightly at the offsets, I don't see any drawbacks. I've got several of those relatively large triangle chunks sitting in the scrap drawer. They're too small to make a cutting board, and too big to throw away. I always figured if I made enough boards with the same pattern, I coud do something with the salvaged pieces. Still, I've never made more than two zig zag boardsalike, so that theory went out the window.

As for question #2, I saved them for a while, then decided I had too many little chunks of scrap cluttering up the shop, so I tossed most of them. I saved a few of the little triangles that come off the trimmed edges, and use 3 or 4 at a time to hold projects off the bench while the finish dries. (I've since started using a board with 3 rounded-off nails sticking up as a "platform" for drying small projects like boxes.)

Enough advice...let's see some pics! :)

- Vaughn

[Brett Baldwin]

Robert, that looks like a good method of maximizing your wood. Thanks for sharing your idea.

I was trying to think of how I'd do the clamping on the glue-up and I think I'd make a clamping jig with a flat piece big enough for any potential glue-up size, secure a straight-edge piece on one side and use a caul on the other. Start the clamping in the middle of your skewed glue-up and the rest would probably be easy.

[john whittaker]

Robert, I've done what you are asking about and it will help save wood. BUT, you must get a clamp on the angled ends somehow and it is difficult unless you leave enough overhang to allow the foot of a clamp to seat properly. In other works...about every 4th strip of wood should be 1" longer than normal so you can clamp it.