New Cutting board for the Wife

[Christopher Pine]

A while back my wife and I were watching some cooking show and the host had this large cutting board she was using... my wife's eyes get big and she says hey when are you going to make me one like that? Well of course I understand that means "Make me one!" So This is my take on the cutting board. It is hard maple. Measure approx. 20 x 15 inches and a little more than 1.5 inches thick. I tried the finishing method that The Wood Whisperer used on the cutting board he made. I think I like this method. Using Thinned salad bowl finish to seal the wood vrs the age old mineral oil method. Put rubber feet on it for convenience and to keep it still on counter.

I still enjoy the simplicity of cutting board and the basic woodworking to achieve the end result.

Chris

[Jerome Hanby]

That's beautiful!

[Dave Lehnert]

Looks GREAT!
I made one for my nephew as a gift. Looks harder to make than they are.

[Terry Beadle]

I like your board ! Rock Maple is a very good choice of wood. I recently made a cutting board as an Xmas gift out of hickory ( long grain design ) with bread board ends out of cherry. I don't think I'll ever use hickory again as it's too hard to work manually. I just about had to do the whole thing with power tools. I used a card scraper and a Stanley 80 for cutting surface prep. The grain of the hickory switched directions some times 3 or 4 times in the 20 inch length.

Here's a pic ( ...cause it did happen ! Hoot ! )

frontSideCutBoard.jpg

I also made a end grain cutting board for myself out of some scrap black walnut. Lots of fun and challenges too. Surface prep included using a electric router with a jig to get the cutting surfaces flat enough. Then after two days the board split open in the middle of one piece. Evidently it was wet and all the other pieces were not. Even though it had three coats of oil. So I cut the bad piece out, made a replacement piece and re-glued. So far so good after several months. It also started to sag in the middle after about two weeks so I had to add another runner in the middle. Some how the board has made piece with itself and doesn't rock. I keep it oiled with some Canola oil after I give it a wash with some soap and hot water ( which I wipe off immediately ).

boardSag.jpgboardSagBottom.jpg

Food for thought ! ( pun intended and free of charge ) Hoot!

[Kevin Gregoire]

chris, yours looks great and i know your wife will get plenty of use out of it!
i really like the finger holds on the ends, very smart addition.

and dave yours is awesome too, that pattern looks familiar tho? was it from a
build in one of the wood mags?

[John Nesmith]

Very nice Chris.

One question: How do you like having feet on it? Each time I make a cutting board, I consider adding feet, but ultimately decide I would rather be able to use both sides. I've never pulled the trigger on feet, so I have no frame of reference.

[David Winer]

"I still enjoy the simplicity of cutting board and the basic woodworking to achieve the end result."

Exactly. Same here. I have always liked to put wood together as end-grain cutting boards. Something so satisfying about the process and results. Your post inspired me to take a picture of one I just made for a gift, and is about to be packaged up for the post office. This one is black cherry out of a ratty old board from my wood shed.

I rub cutting boards with Watco and 400 grit wet-or-dry, then "season" after finishing for a couple of weeks before use with food. Touch up when needed with Mahoney's heat treated walnut oil.Cherry for Cutting Board-1.jpgcheese board Dec'11.jpg

[Kevin Gregoire]

david, thats a nice board, very nice!

[john bateman]

I made one for the neighbor's daughter who is moving out on her own.
Although I understand end grain is superior, I was reluctant to try gluing up that many squares successfully. Plus I liked the way the geometric pattern reverses from front to back and also left to right on this one.

My own boards I use mineral oil and beeswax. But I tried General Finishes Salad bowl finish on this one, and I'm anxious to see how it holds up.
Being a young girl, I don't really expect her to use/abuse it that much.

I used Turquoise Inlace for the inlaid area up front.

[Dave Mura]

Those look great! Nice job!

[Matthew N. Masail]

That's beautiful, simple, elegant.

[Dave Lehnert]

chris, yours looks great and i know your wife will get plenty of use out of it!
i really like the finger holds on the ends, very smart addition.

and dave yours is awesome too, that pattern looks familiar tho? was it from a
build in one of the wood mags?

Yes, The pattern came from WOOD magazine.