My First Cutting Board

[The A Train]

Ill start by saying my wife would like a butcher block style countertop center island in our new house and would like me to do it. I told her I would have to start somewhere smaller first, before even attempting something to that scale. KenofCary was nice enough to share some of his scrap walnut he had to help out. He gave me more than enough to make a few cutting boards and Im grateful for that and some sound advice.

Being a newbie with bare minimal power tools and experience I brought some of the walnut over to Fitch's in Carrboro. There was a guy there to offered to plane it down, square it up, and rip it down for me. We were able to get 8 pieces that measured 1.5"x1.5"x20". 3 of which were perfect, the others have some splits that will need to be cut out. It should still leave plenty to get a good sized board out of.

That is where I am as of now. I will head outside to start cutting them down into 1.5" cubes. It would be nice if all 8 pieces were perfect, then I could just glue them up together, then make cross cuts and rotate and glue again. But I believe I wont be able to do that. I may can for the 3 good pieces but we'll see.

I forgot to take a picture of what the wood was like when I picked them up from Ken but here it is as they are now.

 

[ck1999]

I normally would not post, but since you said this is your first cutting board I thought I would. It is alot harder (not saying you cant') to make a cutting board the way you are descrining. Most people cut the boards as you have in the picture and then glue those strip toether,to make an edge grain cutting board, then run that through a planer then crosscut those pieces to make a butcher block type (end grain) cutting board.

Making cubes and gluing is alot harder to keep lines straight.

This all being said unless you making a very small cutting board, you need to find some more wood and discards those pieces that are split.

Chris

 

[The A Train]

Thanks chris. Thats exactly how I would glue and make cuts but with what I have I was going to give it a shot.

After I cut off the splits, and if my math is correct, I should have enough for a 12"x12". I would like a larger board honestly. I may take some of the other scraps to Fitch's to get striped down.

 

[KenOfCary]

Looks good so far. If you want to collect some more scraps to make up some better strips to glue up let me know. I still have plenty of the scraps in that pile that I will not be able to use in the next 10 years likely. Glad somebody is able to use it for something useful. Glad to contribute more to the cause. Especially since you posted those great pictures of the progress so far.

That wood looks even better than I expected it would.

 

[JohnnyR]

I agree with Chris. My first project back in shop class half a century ago was a chess board. Trying to square up 64 pieces was a disaster. At a minimum, cross cut and throw out the poor pieces and glue up whats left. You'll be able to still be able to cross cut the smaller stacks and put it all together for next glue up. Good luck

 

[Jeff]

Adam, you're off to a good start with a good plan and some good advice. Here's a little supplemental info.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m08XLrcaXWk

End grain cutting boards work nicely for cutting and chopping in the kitchen, but a "butcher block" countertop can be edge or face grain grain instead of end grain. A few options to consider while you're planning the new house...

https://butcherblockco.com/custom-countertops

 

[KenOfCary]

Here's the video on how to build the end-grain board from the Wood Whisperer. You don't need to follow his pattern, but the steps are pretty basic for end-grain boards.

http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/videos/how-to-make-a-butcher-block-cutting-board/

Bell Forest Products sells kits to make this particular board - like the one I showed you.

 

[toolman]

Looks like you are off to a good start. As Chris was saying above a lot of woodworkers cut strips. I use 8/4 wood and saw them 2 1/16" wide and 4 1/16" wide by 20 1/2" if I am making a 16 x 20 End Grain block,





This block has 1 2" and 4 4" strips. The 2" and a 4" strip is Maple, 1 each 4" strip of Walnut, Cherry, and Mahogany. Then after gluing I sawed them 2" long and prep them and re glued.





Then sawed and finished to about 16 x 20 x 1 15/16.



I put some feet on this one..



Hope this will help you..

Here is a Maple and Walnut Edge Grain Block. 24 x 36 x 3






you can PM me if you need help.

 

[The A Train]

Thanks for the replies, and toolman, thats an awesome board!

Minor update: I swung back by to see Ken to rob him of some more scraps and dropped them off by Fitch's. I should have plenty board-length strips now. I will pick them up and have more pictures tomorrow.

 

[The A Train]

Another update: Got the rest striped down at Fitchs and I had 9 good clean pieces free of defects. That will yield roughly an 18"x13.5"x1.5" board. Plenty big.

Right now they are cut to length and the glue is drying.

 

[Kent Adams]

I've often got the greatest pleasure from making something from scraps. Its like finding a $20 bill in a pocket I didn't know was there. Nice boards!

 

[toolman]

Another update: Got the rest striped down at Fitchs and I had 9 good clean pieces free of defects. That will yield roughly an 18"x13.5"x1.5" board. Plenty big.

Right now they are cut to length and the glue is drying.

Looks good..

 

[KenOfCary]

You've certainly turned that old scrap wood into something worthwhile. Thanks for the pics. Glad it isn't still sitting in the carport waiting for somebody to find a use for it.

 

[The A Train]

Well I had a casualty...when I was cutting the strips down, one fell on the floor and broke. More updates to come. Is it possible to glue and clamp it back together?

 

[Hmerkle]

YEP!
A Woodworkers first lesson - "How do I fix what I broke!"

you are gluing the rest of it, so this is no different - just make sure the break is clean. (clamp it dry to verify there are no undesirable cracks or grooves that will present after gluing... then go for it!

 

[The A Train]

This is why I like you guys. Yall sure know how to mentor a beginner!

 

[TENdriver]

Hank, you are so right. I may not be the best at making things but for some reason I've gotten pretty good at fixing mistakes.

+1 on what Hank said. Glue it again and clamp. Usually works just fine. If it doesn't, you're no worse off.

 

[Jeff]

The pic shows an irregular break, not a glue line break, so I'd use epoxy because it has good gap filling properties. Maybe not TBII or TBIII for this fix? Am I wrong or perhaps either one will work just fine?

 

[The A Train]

TB 3 is what I was using. I dont have the epoxy so I hope thatll work

 

[TENdriver]

I have taken clean breaks that fit pretty much "perfectly " together and ended up with an excellent joint (assuming no real gap).

Make sure clean (no dust or stray splinters) joint surface area.