The birth of a free-form cutting board

[DaveO]

After making the last one of these, and attempting to stump y'all with the production method. I was asked by some to show the process in more detail, and I said that I would take pictures of the next one I made.
So here you go:

Ripped and jointed stock ready to be planed- Padauk and Purpleheart

After planing I glued the boards back together and trimmed to a uniform size.

Taped together and ready for the first set of cuts on the bandsaw.

After cutting and ready to have the Maple pinstripe strips added

A bunch of Maple strips ripped on the bandsaw and drum sanded to 1/16" thickness ready to be glued in place.

The first glue up

Stacked and taped and ready for the next set of cuts on the bandsaw

The final glue up.

Trimmed, planed and sanded. Still determining the finish to use, and waiting for the Purpleheart to turn purple (hopefully before the Padauk turns brown :crybaby2: )

As usual I am not trilled with the outcome of the project. Somehow my first set of cuts didn't line up well on one of the boards and I had to scribe and recut the curves and that is why my horizontal lines don't line up. And I had a few issues with gaps not closing up fully, so they got filled with epoxy. But if I did everything perfect then I wouldn't be learning anything and that wouldn't be fun and challenging.
Dave

 

[Ray Martin]

Dave,

The boards came out great. This looks like a good talk / show-n-tell at one of the TWA meetings.

Ray

 

[DaveO]

I thought about giving a class at Woodcraft on them, but I will have to learn how to make them without major errors first :BangHead: :BangHead:

Dave

 

[NCPete]

Totally cool Dave!

 

[Ray Martin]

Dave,

Give the class. Those aren't errors... they're unique features. The boards are really nice. (The problem I have is classes are often on Saturdays and I build that day... ok, I'll stop complaining now...) I'd really love to attend one.

Ray

 

[Monty]

Thanks for showing the process - now it makes more sense. I think I'll add that to my ever-growing project 'to-do' list... :eusa_danc

 

[D L Ames]

Awesome looking cutting boards Dave.:icon_thum Thanks for posting the how-to pix. As stated, the process is much easier to understand now.

D L

 

[DaveO]

Dave,

Give the class. (The problem I have is classes are often on Saturdays and I build that day... ok, I'll stop complaining now...) I'd really love to attend one.

Ray

If I was to do the class it would be on Thursday nights over two weeks. There is more glue drying time then anything else in this project. The cutting takes all of about 5 minutes. I like the glue to set up for at least 6 hrs. and there is two glue ups.
Dave

 

[jeff...]

Dave, truly awesome.

 

[cskipper]

The teacher shares his secrets! Thanks for the details. Great looking boards :icon_thum

 

[rickc]

Dave,

The boards came out great. This looks like a good talk / show-n-tell at one of the TWA meetings.

Ray

I agree. You might also want to consider a "weekend workshop" for a limited number of people. Wouldn't have to be as formal as a class.

Of course there is one more option - HOLLYWOOD! :eusa_danc Either set up a video camera or find a friend willing to spend some time with you in your shop to record the process! Then make the video available.

Hey - that gives me an idea for a whole new cottage industry - Weekend project videos! Create a tape/DVD of about 4 or 5 projects that would take about a weekend to complete! If you want an agent, let me know! You could do your cutting board, Cathy some trivets,...:-D

 

[DavidF]

Great stuff Dave, I might make one of those just for a laugh.

 

[NZAPP1]

WOW Great work Dave:notworthy :icon_thum

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

Very nice!!!!! The secret is out! No templates here! :-D:-D

A couple of quick questions-

What bandsaw blade are you using- size/tooth config?

Do you do any sanding or other clean-up of the bandsawn edges before glue-up with the maple?

 

[DaveO]

Very nice!!!!! The secret is out! No templates here! :-D:-D

A couple of quick questions-

What bandsaw blade are you using- size/tooth config?

Do you do any sanding or other clean-up of the bandsawn edges before glue-up with the maple?

I am going to guess that the blade is 1/4" and 6-7 tpi (I'll have to confirm that at home) Timberwolf from Woodcraft. No, I don't sand the edges before the glue up. This last go around I had to re-cut part of the curves because they didn't line up perfectly (why that happend I am not sure), but normally I haven't needed to do anything.
Dave

 

[sapwood]

Wunnerful DaveO! Your seminar answered several questions I pondered about the process. :eusa_clap

Alas, I have one more . . . sorta along the lines Alan was heading.

How do you get a smooth enough cut on bandsaw to enable seamless looking glueups??? :eusa_doh:

Roger

 

[DaveO]

How do you get a smooth enough cut on bandsaw to enable seamless looking glueups??? :eusa_doh:

Roger

Shop elves :lol::lol::lol::lol:

Luck I guess, I use a fast and smooth feed rate, and my BS is tuned pretty well. I have always got smooth cuts off the BS, not like off the table saw smooth, but good enough for this aplication. Possibly the force required to bend the Maple strips might compress the wood a little making a nice tight glue line :dontknow:
Dave

 

[woodguy1975]

Dave,

Nice job there dude! I really like the concept and can see applying that to other applications. Can you imagine that as a raised panel in a Figured maple frame. It would really be cool.

I do have a couple suggestions comments for ya to help you get error free if you don't mine. First of all your maple strips need to match the kerf of the balde you are cuttign exactly. 1/16" is pretty close, but doest that match your BS keft exactly?

A second thought on cutting them. I know you have a scroll saw (for some reason)... why not use it with a thick blade like a No. 9. You'll get an even smoother cut with it.

It really is great stuff. I can definitely see doing a pair of panels for a set of doors like this.

John

 

[chris99z71]

As to John's comment above-
I would imagine that the kerf of the cut vs the thickness of the maple doesn't matter at all. After the cut, the two sides should be perfectly parallel and therefore any thickness of strip (provided it will bend) would be able to be placed inbetween.

 

[DaveO]

John, the last batch I did I used 3/32" thick strips, this time I got to aggressive with the drum sander. That could have contributed to some of my fit problems. And I think a little thicker pinstripe looks better also, like on my first batch.
Dave