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#1 ·
I was asked for this primer - hope it helps

I was asked by several newbies if I would take some time to do a blog on building cutting boards that will cover the basics that may not get covered in the blogs/forums that detail how to do the real fancy boards that we all aspire to. So I'm going to try my best to hit the simple things that a novice trying to learn on their own may not think about or not realize until after they've made the mistake. It's been a very long time since I've taken on a task like this - so please feel free to help me along.

First I'd like to point out that my way is not the only way. My way works for me and can probably work for others - I don't do anything that unusual - but since I pretty much taught myself - I may not be using the most conventional methods. I welcome all replies, suggestions or another explanation of what I've done.

I know that the holidays are coming up and some are going to be making their first cutting boards so I'm going to try to get some of the blog moving along soon. However, as I said the holidays are coming and I have two large holiday shows that I'm doing this year so I'm in full building mode. I'll do the best I can and I will, at the very least, get the simpler face grain and edge grain boards covered before Thanksgiving.

My intent is to show all the warts, pimples and opps that I've made over the years and try to help those new to this wonderful hobby/sport/pastime to avoid the same. I'll try to be picture heavy to help make up for any lack of literary clarity.

Finally - just a bit of my philosophy - a very little bit. There is not one single cutting board made that I think has a mistake, or error, that cannot be "fixed" in some way. There are multiple ways to do so and I've used many of them and will show them as well. I detest throwing a board out - I fix it or repurpose the lumber if I absolutely don't think I would like my fix.

As examples - here are a few "mistakes" - fixed and sold within the last 2 or 3 years or so.

The first one was supposed to be a regular chevron board - I messed up the angle and could not get the corners lined up - so I punted to this. It sold for more than the typical board - at a friend's suggestion I put a bigger price on it because it looked more "artsy farts."

Brown Wood Sleeve Gold Collar


The second one was supposed to be a "full sized" board - about 15Ă—11 - but I had a crack in the middle of one slice. I cut the board in half at the offending slice and sold both halves as individual boards.

Brown Wood Rectangle Beige Tints and shades


Not sure I should do this next thing - don't want to be a thought of as a braggart - but I wanted to give you an idea of how many boards I've made within the last 3 months or so - this load is 284 of all sizes and types. A great many of these sold at my last two shows and from calls from former customers. (It's hard to see but there are actually 2 rows deep of boards on top of the piano.) All but one or two of these boards are your standard flat, edge grain and end grain boards that are simple and fast. There are a few that are not as easy - but are doable. I have a pretty good system down that works well for me. I'll try to share some of that as we go along.

Building Wood Table House Art


Table Wood Shelving Interior design Building


I hope you will come along for the ride. If anyone has questions or suggestions as I go along, as I've said, I welcome them.
 

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#2 ·
I was asked for this primer - hope it helps

I was asked by several newbies if I would take some time to do a blog on building cutting boards that will cover the basics that may not get covered in the blogs/forums that detail how to do the real fancy boards that we all aspire to. So I'm going to try my best to hit the simple things that a novice trying to learn on their own may not think about or not realize until after they've made the mistake. It's been a very long time since I've taken on a task like this - so please feel free to help me along.

First I'd like to point out that my way is not the only way. My way works for me and can probably work for others - I don't do anything that unusual - but since I pretty much taught myself - I may not be using the most conventional methods. I welcome all replies, suggestions or another explanation of what I've done.

I know that the holidays are coming up and some are going to be making their first cutting boards so I'm going to try to get some of the blog moving along soon. However, as I said the holidays are coming and I have two large holiday shows that I'm doing this year so I'm in full building mode. I'll do the best I can and I will, at the very least, get the simpler face grain and edge grain boards covered before Thanksgiving.

My intent is to show all the warts, pimples and opps that I've made over the years and try to help those new to this wonderful hobby/sport/pastime to avoid the same. I'll try to be picture heavy to help make up for any lack of literary clarity.

Finally - just a bit of my philosophy - a very little bit. There is not one single cutting board made that I think has a mistake, or error, that cannot be "fixed" in some way. There are multiple ways to do so and I've used many of them and will show them as well. I detest throwing a board out - I fix it or repurpose the lumber if I absolutely don't think I would like my fix.

As examples - here are a few "mistakes" - fixed and sold within the last 2 or 3 years or so.

The first one was supposed to be a regular chevron board - I messed up the angle and could not get the corners lined up - so I punted to this. It sold for more than the typical board - at a friend's suggestion I put a bigger price on it because it looked more "artsy farts."

Brown Wood Sleeve Gold Collar


The second one was supposed to be a "full sized" board - about 15Ă—11 - but I had a crack in the middle of one slice. I cut the board in half at the offending slice and sold both halves as individual boards.

Brown Wood Rectangle Beige Tints and shades


Not sure I should do this next thing - don't want to be a thought of as a braggart - but I wanted to give you an idea of how many boards I've made within the last 3 months or so - this load is 284 of all sizes and types. A great many of these sold at my last two shows and from calls from former customers. (It's hard to see but there are actually 2 rows deep of boards on top of the piano.) All but one or two of these boards are your standard flat, edge grain and end grain boards that are simple and fast. There are a few that are not as easy - but are doable. I have a pretty good system down that works well for me. I'll try to share some of that as we go along.

Building Wood Table House Art


Table Wood Shelving Interior design Building


I hope you will come along for the ride. If anyone has questions or suggestions as I go along, as I've said, I welcome them.
I would like to follow this blog and see how YOU make cutting boards…I am sure to learn something new… thanks for doing this blog…all the best from the land down under..
 

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#3 ·
I was asked for this primer - hope it helps

I was asked by several newbies if I would take some time to do a blog on building cutting boards that will cover the basics that may not get covered in the blogs/forums that detail how to do the real fancy boards that we all aspire to. So I'm going to try my best to hit the simple things that a novice trying to learn on their own may not think about or not realize until after they've made the mistake. It's been a very long time since I've taken on a task like this - so please feel free to help me along.

First I'd like to point out that my way is not the only way. My way works for me and can probably work for others - I don't do anything that unusual - but since I pretty much taught myself - I may not be using the most conventional methods. I welcome all replies, suggestions or another explanation of what I've done.

I know that the holidays are coming up and some are going to be making their first cutting boards so I'm going to try to get some of the blog moving along soon. However, as I said the holidays are coming and I have two large holiday shows that I'm doing this year so I'm in full building mode. I'll do the best I can and I will, at the very least, get the simpler face grain and edge grain boards covered before Thanksgiving.

My intent is to show all the warts, pimples and opps that I've made over the years and try to help those new to this wonderful hobby/sport/pastime to avoid the same. I'll try to be picture heavy to help make up for any lack of literary clarity.

Finally - just a bit of my philosophy - a very little bit. There is not one single cutting board made that I think has a mistake, or error, that cannot be "fixed" in some way. There are multiple ways to do so and I've used many of them and will show them as well. I detest throwing a board out - I fix it or repurpose the lumber if I absolutely don't think I would like my fix.

As examples - here are a few "mistakes" - fixed and sold within the last 2 or 3 years or so.

The first one was supposed to be a regular chevron board - I messed up the angle and could not get the corners lined up - so I punted to this. It sold for more than the typical board - at a friend's suggestion I put a bigger price on it because it looked more "artsy farts."

Brown Wood Sleeve Gold Collar


The second one was supposed to be a "full sized" board - about 15Ă—11 - but I had a crack in the middle of one slice. I cut the board in half at the offending slice and sold both halves as individual boards.

Brown Wood Rectangle Beige Tints and shades


Not sure I should do this next thing - don't want to be a thought of as a braggart - but I wanted to give you an idea of how many boards I've made within the last 3 months or so - this load is 284 of all sizes and types. A great many of these sold at my last two shows and from calls from former customers. (It's hard to see but there are actually 2 rows deep of boards on top of the piano.) All but one or two of these boards are your standard flat, edge grain and end grain boards that are simple and fast. There are a few that are not as easy - but are doable. I have a pretty good system down that works well for me. I'll try to share some of that as we go along.

Building Wood Table House Art


Table Wood Shelving Interior design Building


I hope you will come along for the ride. If anyone has questions or suggestions as I go along, as I've said, I welcome them.
First off, thanks for doing this blog.

I've only made one cutting board (so far)....
an end grain board, but need to crank out a few edge grain boards, for Christmas.
I'll be following along….
 

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#4 ·
I was asked for this primer - hope it helps

I was asked by several newbies if I would take some time to do a blog on building cutting boards that will cover the basics that may not get covered in the blogs/forums that detail how to do the real fancy boards that we all aspire to. So I'm going to try my best to hit the simple things that a novice trying to learn on their own may not think about or not realize until after they've made the mistake. It's been a very long time since I've taken on a task like this - so please feel free to help me along.

First I'd like to point out that my way is not the only way. My way works for me and can probably work for others - I don't do anything that unusual - but since I pretty much taught myself - I may not be using the most conventional methods. I welcome all replies, suggestions or another explanation of what I've done.

I know that the holidays are coming up and some are going to be making their first cutting boards so I'm going to try to get some of the blog moving along soon. However, as I said the holidays are coming and I have two large holiday shows that I'm doing this year so I'm in full building mode. I'll do the best I can and I will, at the very least, get the simpler face grain and edge grain boards covered before Thanksgiving.

My intent is to show all the warts, pimples and opps that I've made over the years and try to help those new to this wonderful hobby/sport/pastime to avoid the same. I'll try to be picture heavy to help make up for any lack of literary clarity.

Finally - just a bit of my philosophy - a very little bit. There is not one single cutting board made that I think has a mistake, or error, that cannot be "fixed" in some way. There are multiple ways to do so and I've used many of them and will show them as well. I detest throwing a board out - I fix it or repurpose the lumber if I absolutely don't think I would like my fix.

As examples - here are a few "mistakes" - fixed and sold within the last 2 or 3 years or so.

The first one was supposed to be a regular chevron board - I messed up the angle and could not get the corners lined up - so I punted to this. It sold for more than the typical board - at a friend's suggestion I put a bigger price on it because it looked more "artsy farts."

Brown Wood Sleeve Gold Collar


The second one was supposed to be a "full sized" board - about 15Ă—11 - but I had a crack in the middle of one slice. I cut the board in half at the offending slice and sold both halves as individual boards.

Brown Wood Rectangle Beige Tints and shades


Not sure I should do this next thing - don't want to be a thought of as a braggart - but I wanted to give you an idea of how many boards I've made within the last 3 months or so - this load is 284 of all sizes and types. A great many of these sold at my last two shows and from calls from former customers. (It's hard to see but there are actually 2 rows deep of boards on top of the piano.) All but one or two of these boards are your standard flat, edge grain and end grain boards that are simple and fast. There are a few that are not as easy - but are doable. I have a pretty good system down that works well for me. I'll try to share some of that as we go along.

Building Wood Table House Art


Table Wood Shelving Interior design Building


I hope you will come along for the ride. If anyone has questions or suggestions as I go along, as I've said, I welcome them.
Degoose - I bow down before your skill! I'd be honored to have your input/critique as I move along.

DIY - you're welcome.
 

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#5 ·
I was asked for this primer - hope it helps

I was asked by several newbies if I would take some time to do a blog on building cutting boards that will cover the basics that may not get covered in the blogs/forums that detail how to do the real fancy boards that we all aspire to. So I'm going to try my best to hit the simple things that a novice trying to learn on their own may not think about or not realize until after they've made the mistake. It's been a very long time since I've taken on a task like this - so please feel free to help me along.

First I'd like to point out that my way is not the only way. My way works for me and can probably work for others - I don't do anything that unusual - but since I pretty much taught myself - I may not be using the most conventional methods. I welcome all replies, suggestions or another explanation of what I've done.

I know that the holidays are coming up and some are going to be making their first cutting boards so I'm going to try to get some of the blog moving along soon. However, as I said the holidays are coming and I have two large holiday shows that I'm doing this year so I'm in full building mode. I'll do the best I can and I will, at the very least, get the simpler face grain and edge grain boards covered before Thanksgiving.

My intent is to show all the warts, pimples and opps that I've made over the years and try to help those new to this wonderful hobby/sport/pastime to avoid the same. I'll try to be picture heavy to help make up for any lack of literary clarity.

Finally - just a bit of my philosophy - a very little bit. There is not one single cutting board made that I think has a mistake, or error, that cannot be "fixed" in some way. There are multiple ways to do so and I've used many of them and will show them as well. I detest throwing a board out - I fix it or repurpose the lumber if I absolutely don't think I would like my fix.

As examples - here are a few "mistakes" - fixed and sold within the last 2 or 3 years or so.

The first one was supposed to be a regular chevron board - I messed up the angle and could not get the corners lined up - so I punted to this. It sold for more than the typical board - at a friend's suggestion I put a bigger price on it because it looked more "artsy farts."

Brown Wood Sleeve Gold Collar


The second one was supposed to be a "full sized" board - about 15Ă—11 - but I had a crack in the middle of one slice. I cut the board in half at the offending slice and sold both halves as individual boards.

Brown Wood Rectangle Beige Tints and shades


Not sure I should do this next thing - don't want to be a thought of as a braggart - but I wanted to give you an idea of how many boards I've made within the last 3 months or so - this load is 284 of all sizes and types. A great many of these sold at my last two shows and from calls from former customers. (It's hard to see but there are actually 2 rows deep of boards on top of the piano.) All but one or two of these boards are your standard flat, edge grain and end grain boards that are simple and fast. There are a few that are not as easy - but are doable. I have a pretty good system down that works well for me. I'll try to share some of that as we go along.

Building Wood Table House Art


Table Wood Shelving Interior design Building


I hope you will come along for the ride. If anyone has questions or suggestions as I go along, as I've said, I welcome them.
I'm on the train too… I'll be watching with great interest!
I've gotten out of practice with edge and end grain and I know you'll do a bang up job!
Ellen
 

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#6 ·
I was asked for this primer - hope it helps

I was asked by several newbies if I would take some time to do a blog on building cutting boards that will cover the basics that may not get covered in the blogs/forums that detail how to do the real fancy boards that we all aspire to. So I'm going to try my best to hit the simple things that a novice trying to learn on their own may not think about or not realize until after they've made the mistake. It's been a very long time since I've taken on a task like this - so please feel free to help me along.

First I'd like to point out that my way is not the only way. My way works for me and can probably work for others - I don't do anything that unusual - but since I pretty much taught myself - I may not be using the most conventional methods. I welcome all replies, suggestions or another explanation of what I've done.

I know that the holidays are coming up and some are going to be making their first cutting boards so I'm going to try to get some of the blog moving along soon. However, as I said the holidays are coming and I have two large holiday shows that I'm doing this year so I'm in full building mode. I'll do the best I can and I will, at the very least, get the simpler face grain and edge grain boards covered before Thanksgiving.

My intent is to show all the warts, pimples and opps that I've made over the years and try to help those new to this wonderful hobby/sport/pastime to avoid the same. I'll try to be picture heavy to help make up for any lack of literary clarity.

Finally - just a bit of my philosophy - a very little bit. There is not one single cutting board made that I think has a mistake, or error, that cannot be "fixed" in some way. There are multiple ways to do so and I've used many of them and will show them as well. I detest throwing a board out - I fix it or repurpose the lumber if I absolutely don't think I would like my fix.

As examples - here are a few "mistakes" - fixed and sold within the last 2 or 3 years or so.

The first one was supposed to be a regular chevron board - I messed up the angle and could not get the corners lined up - so I punted to this. It sold for more than the typical board - at a friend's suggestion I put a bigger price on it because it looked more "artsy farts."

Brown Wood Sleeve Gold Collar


The second one was supposed to be a "full sized" board - about 15Ă—11 - but I had a crack in the middle of one slice. I cut the board in half at the offending slice and sold both halves as individual boards.

Brown Wood Rectangle Beige Tints and shades


Not sure I should do this next thing - don't want to be a thought of as a braggart - but I wanted to give you an idea of how many boards I've made within the last 3 months or so - this load is 284 of all sizes and types. A great many of these sold at my last two shows and from calls from former customers. (It's hard to see but there are actually 2 rows deep of boards on top of the piano.) All but one or two of these boards are your standard flat, edge grain and end grain boards that are simple and fast. There are a few that are not as easy - but are doable. I have a pretty good system down that works well for me. I'll try to share some of that as we go along.

Building Wood Table House Art


Table Wood Shelving Interior design Building


I hope you will come along for the ride. If anyone has questions or suggestions as I go along, as I've said, I welcome them.
I'm here!!
 

Attachments

#7 ·
I was asked for this primer - hope it helps

I was asked by several newbies if I would take some time to do a blog on building cutting boards that will cover the basics that may not get covered in the blogs/forums that detail how to do the real fancy boards that we all aspire to. So I'm going to try my best to hit the simple things that a novice trying to learn on their own may not think about or not realize until after they've made the mistake. It's been a very long time since I've taken on a task like this - so please feel free to help me along.

First I'd like to point out that my way is not the only way. My way works for me and can probably work for others - I don't do anything that unusual - but since I pretty much taught myself - I may not be using the most conventional methods. I welcome all replies, suggestions or another explanation of what I've done.

I know that the holidays are coming up and some are going to be making their first cutting boards so I'm going to try to get some of the blog moving along soon. However, as I said the holidays are coming and I have two large holiday shows that I'm doing this year so I'm in full building mode. I'll do the best I can and I will, at the very least, get the simpler face grain and edge grain boards covered before Thanksgiving.

My intent is to show all the warts, pimples and opps that I've made over the years and try to help those new to this wonderful hobby/sport/pastime to avoid the same. I'll try to be picture heavy to help make up for any lack of literary clarity.

Finally - just a bit of my philosophy - a very little bit. There is not one single cutting board made that I think has a mistake, or error, that cannot be "fixed" in some way. There are multiple ways to do so and I've used many of them and will show them as well. I detest throwing a board out - I fix it or repurpose the lumber if I absolutely don't think I would like my fix.

As examples - here are a few "mistakes" - fixed and sold within the last 2 or 3 years or so.

The first one was supposed to be a regular chevron board - I messed up the angle and could not get the corners lined up - so I punted to this. It sold for more than the typical board - at a friend's suggestion I put a bigger price on it because it looked more "artsy farts."

Brown Wood Sleeve Gold Collar


The second one was supposed to be a "full sized" board - about 15Ă—11 - but I had a crack in the middle of one slice. I cut the board in half at the offending slice and sold both halves as individual boards.

Brown Wood Rectangle Beige Tints and shades


Not sure I should do this next thing - don't want to be a thought of as a braggart - but I wanted to give you an idea of how many boards I've made within the last 3 months or so - this load is 284 of all sizes and types. A great many of these sold at my last two shows and from calls from former customers. (It's hard to see but there are actually 2 rows deep of boards on top of the piano.) All but one or two of these boards are your standard flat, edge grain and end grain boards that are simple and fast. There are a few that are not as easy - but are doable. I have a pretty good system down that works well for me. I'll try to share some of that as we go along.

Building Wood Table House Art


Table Wood Shelving Interior design Building


I hope you will come along for the ride. If anyone has questions or suggestions as I go along, as I've said, I welcome them.
I have had this on my to do list to learn. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to help the newbies!
 

Attachments

#8 ·
I was asked for this primer - hope it helps

I was asked by several newbies if I would take some time to do a blog on building cutting boards that will cover the basics that may not get covered in the blogs/forums that detail how to do the real fancy boards that we all aspire to. So I'm going to try my best to hit the simple things that a novice trying to learn on their own may not think about or not realize until after they've made the mistake. It's been a very long time since I've taken on a task like this - so please feel free to help me along.

First I'd like to point out that my way is not the only way. My way works for me and can probably work for others - I don't do anything that unusual - but since I pretty much taught myself - I may not be using the most conventional methods. I welcome all replies, suggestions or another explanation of what I've done.

I know that the holidays are coming up and some are going to be making their first cutting boards so I'm going to try to get some of the blog moving along soon. However, as I said the holidays are coming and I have two large holiday shows that I'm doing this year so I'm in full building mode. I'll do the best I can and I will, at the very least, get the simpler face grain and edge grain boards covered before Thanksgiving.

My intent is to show all the warts, pimples and opps that I've made over the years and try to help those new to this wonderful hobby/sport/pastime to avoid the same. I'll try to be picture heavy to help make up for any lack of literary clarity.

Finally - just a bit of my philosophy - a very little bit. There is not one single cutting board made that I think has a mistake, or error, that cannot be "fixed" in some way. There are multiple ways to do so and I've used many of them and will show them as well. I detest throwing a board out - I fix it or repurpose the lumber if I absolutely don't think I would like my fix.

As examples - here are a few "mistakes" - fixed and sold within the last 2 or 3 years or so.

The first one was supposed to be a regular chevron board - I messed up the angle and could not get the corners lined up - so I punted to this. It sold for more than the typical board - at a friend's suggestion I put a bigger price on it because it looked more "artsy farts."

Brown Wood Sleeve Gold Collar


The second one was supposed to be a "full sized" board - about 15Ă—11 - but I had a crack in the middle of one slice. I cut the board in half at the offending slice and sold both halves as individual boards.

Brown Wood Rectangle Beige Tints and shades


Not sure I should do this next thing - don't want to be a thought of as a braggart - but I wanted to give you an idea of how many boards I've made within the last 3 months or so - this load is 284 of all sizes and types. A great many of these sold at my last two shows and from calls from former customers. (It's hard to see but there are actually 2 rows deep of boards on top of the piano.) All but one or two of these boards are your standard flat, edge grain and end grain boards that are simple and fast. There are a few that are not as easy - but are doable. I have a pretty good system down that works well for me. I'll try to share some of that as we go along.

Building Wood Table House Art


Table Wood Shelving Interior design Building


I hope you will come along for the ride. If anyone has questions or suggestions as I go along, as I've said, I welcome them.
YOO HOO!
Am I late for the ride?
I hope not. Even though I've made quite a few boards, there's ALWAYS ideas shared that I can stea … I mean LEARN from !
 

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#9 ·
I was asked for this primer - hope it helps

I was asked by several newbies if I would take some time to do a blog on building cutting boards that will cover the basics that may not get covered in the blogs/forums that detail how to do the real fancy boards that we all aspire to. So I'm going to try my best to hit the simple things that a novice trying to learn on their own may not think about or not realize until after they've made the mistake. It's been a very long time since I've taken on a task like this - so please feel free to help me along.

First I'd like to point out that my way is not the only way. My way works for me and can probably work for others - I don't do anything that unusual - but since I pretty much taught myself - I may not be using the most conventional methods. I welcome all replies, suggestions or another explanation of what I've done.

I know that the holidays are coming up and some are going to be making their first cutting boards so I'm going to try to get some of the blog moving along soon. However, as I said the holidays are coming and I have two large holiday shows that I'm doing this year so I'm in full building mode. I'll do the best I can and I will, at the very least, get the simpler face grain and edge grain boards covered before Thanksgiving.

My intent is to show all the warts, pimples and opps that I've made over the years and try to help those new to this wonderful hobby/sport/pastime to avoid the same. I'll try to be picture heavy to help make up for any lack of literary clarity.

Finally - just a bit of my philosophy - a very little bit. There is not one single cutting board made that I think has a mistake, or error, that cannot be "fixed" in some way. There are multiple ways to do so and I've used many of them and will show them as well. I detest throwing a board out - I fix it or repurpose the lumber if I absolutely don't think I would like my fix.

As examples - here are a few "mistakes" - fixed and sold within the last 2 or 3 years or so.

The first one was supposed to be a regular chevron board - I messed up the angle and could not get the corners lined up - so I punted to this. It sold for more than the typical board - at a friend's suggestion I put a bigger price on it because it looked more "artsy farts."

Brown Wood Sleeve Gold Collar


The second one was supposed to be a "full sized" board - about 15Ă—11 - but I had a crack in the middle of one slice. I cut the board in half at the offending slice and sold both halves as individual boards.

Brown Wood Rectangle Beige Tints and shades


Not sure I should do this next thing - don't want to be a thought of as a braggart - but I wanted to give you an idea of how many boards I've made within the last 3 months or so - this load is 284 of all sizes and types. A great many of these sold at my last two shows and from calls from former customers. (It's hard to see but there are actually 2 rows deep of boards on top of the piano.) All but one or two of these boards are your standard flat, edge grain and end grain boards that are simple and fast. There are a few that are not as easy - but are doable. I have a pretty good system down that works well for me. I'll try to share some of that as we go along.

Building Wood Table House Art


Table Wood Shelving Interior design Building


I hope you will come along for the ride. If anyone has questions or suggestions as I go along, as I've said, I welcome them.
Thanks for the blog. I will be following it as I would like to add cutting boards to what I make.
 

Attachments

#10 ·
I was asked for this primer - hope it helps

I was asked by several newbies if I would take some time to do a blog on building cutting boards that will cover the basics that may not get covered in the blogs/forums that detail how to do the real fancy boards that we all aspire to. So I'm going to try my best to hit the simple things that a novice trying to learn on their own may not think about or not realize until after they've made the mistake. It's been a very long time since I've taken on a task like this - so please feel free to help me along.

First I'd like to point out that my way is not the only way. My way works for me and can probably work for others - I don't do anything that unusual - but since I pretty much taught myself - I may not be using the most conventional methods. I welcome all replies, suggestions or another explanation of what I've done.

I know that the holidays are coming up and some are going to be making their first cutting boards so I'm going to try to get some of the blog moving along soon. However, as I said the holidays are coming and I have two large holiday shows that I'm doing this year so I'm in full building mode. I'll do the best I can and I will, at the very least, get the simpler face grain and edge grain boards covered before Thanksgiving.

My intent is to show all the warts, pimples and opps that I've made over the years and try to help those new to this wonderful hobby/sport/pastime to avoid the same. I'll try to be picture heavy to help make up for any lack of literary clarity.

Finally - just a bit of my philosophy - a very little bit. There is not one single cutting board made that I think has a mistake, or error, that cannot be "fixed" in some way. There are multiple ways to do so and I've used many of them and will show them as well. I detest throwing a board out - I fix it or repurpose the lumber if I absolutely don't think I would like my fix.

As examples - here are a few "mistakes" - fixed and sold within the last 2 or 3 years or so.

The first one was supposed to be a regular chevron board - I messed up the angle and could not get the corners lined up - so I punted to this. It sold for more than the typical board - at a friend's suggestion I put a bigger price on it because it looked more "artsy farts."

Brown Wood Sleeve Gold Collar


The second one was supposed to be a "full sized" board - about 15Ă—11 - but I had a crack in the middle of one slice. I cut the board in half at the offending slice and sold both halves as individual boards.

Brown Wood Rectangle Beige Tints and shades


Not sure I should do this next thing - don't want to be a thought of as a braggart - but I wanted to give you an idea of how many boards I've made within the last 3 months or so - this load is 284 of all sizes and types. A great many of these sold at my last two shows and from calls from former customers. (It's hard to see but there are actually 2 rows deep of boards on top of the piano.) All but one or two of these boards are your standard flat, edge grain and end grain boards that are simple and fast. There are a few that are not as easy - but are doable. I have a pretty good system down that works well for me. I'll try to share some of that as we go along.

Building Wood Table House Art


Table Wood Shelving Interior design Building


I hope you will come along for the ride. If anyone has questions or suggestions as I go along, as I've said, I welcome them.
Count me in. I knew you were very good at making CB's but I had NO idea you were as fast as you are too. I am very impressed. There is a lot of work in that many boards and you have done them well.
 

Attachments

#11 ·
I was asked for this primer - hope it helps

I was asked by several newbies if I would take some time to do a blog on building cutting boards that will cover the basics that may not get covered in the blogs/forums that detail how to do the real fancy boards that we all aspire to. So I'm going to try my best to hit the simple things that a novice trying to learn on their own may not think about or not realize until after they've made the mistake. It's been a very long time since I've taken on a task like this - so please feel free to help me along.

First I'd like to point out that my way is not the only way. My way works for me and can probably work for others - I don't do anything that unusual - but since I pretty much taught myself - I may not be using the most conventional methods. I welcome all replies, suggestions or another explanation of what I've done.

I know that the holidays are coming up and some are going to be making their first cutting boards so I'm going to try to get some of the blog moving along soon. However, as I said the holidays are coming and I have two large holiday shows that I'm doing this year so I'm in full building mode. I'll do the best I can and I will, at the very least, get the simpler face grain and edge grain boards covered before Thanksgiving.

My intent is to show all the warts, pimples and opps that I've made over the years and try to help those new to this wonderful hobby/sport/pastime to avoid the same. I'll try to be picture heavy to help make up for any lack of literary clarity.

Finally - just a bit of my philosophy - a very little bit. There is not one single cutting board made that I think has a mistake, or error, that cannot be "fixed" in some way. There are multiple ways to do so and I've used many of them and will show them as well. I detest throwing a board out - I fix it or repurpose the lumber if I absolutely don't think I would like my fix.

As examples - here are a few "mistakes" - fixed and sold within the last 2 or 3 years or so.

The first one was supposed to be a regular chevron board - I messed up the angle and could not get the corners lined up - so I punted to this. It sold for more than the typical board - at a friend's suggestion I put a bigger price on it because it looked more "artsy farts."

Brown Wood Sleeve Gold Collar


The second one was supposed to be a "full sized" board - about 15Ă—11 - but I had a crack in the middle of one slice. I cut the board in half at the offending slice and sold both halves as individual boards.

Brown Wood Rectangle Beige Tints and shades


Not sure I should do this next thing - don't want to be a thought of as a braggart - but I wanted to give you an idea of how many boards I've made within the last 3 months or so - this load is 284 of all sizes and types. A great many of these sold at my last two shows and from calls from former customers. (It's hard to see but there are actually 2 rows deep of boards on top of the piano.) All but one or two of these boards are your standard flat, edge grain and end grain boards that are simple and fast. There are a few that are not as easy - but are doable. I have a pretty good system down that works well for me. I'll try to share some of that as we go along.

Building Wood Table House Art


Table Wood Shelving Interior design Building


I hope you will come along for the ride. If anyone has questions or suggestions as I go along, as I've said, I welcome them.
I too would love to learn from you.
 

Attachments

#12 ·
I was asked for this primer - hope it helps

I was asked by several newbies if I would take some time to do a blog on building cutting boards that will cover the basics that may not get covered in the blogs/forums that detail how to do the real fancy boards that we all aspire to. So I'm going to try my best to hit the simple things that a novice trying to learn on their own may not think about or not realize until after they've made the mistake. It's been a very long time since I've taken on a task like this - so please feel free to help me along.

First I'd like to point out that my way is not the only way. My way works for me and can probably work for others - I don't do anything that unusual - but since I pretty much taught myself - I may not be using the most conventional methods. I welcome all replies, suggestions or another explanation of what I've done.

I know that the holidays are coming up and some are going to be making their first cutting boards so I'm going to try to get some of the blog moving along soon. However, as I said the holidays are coming and I have two large holiday shows that I'm doing this year so I'm in full building mode. I'll do the best I can and I will, at the very least, get the simpler face grain and edge grain boards covered before Thanksgiving.

My intent is to show all the warts, pimples and opps that I've made over the years and try to help those new to this wonderful hobby/sport/pastime to avoid the same. I'll try to be picture heavy to help make up for any lack of literary clarity.

Finally - just a bit of my philosophy - a very little bit. There is not one single cutting board made that I think has a mistake, or error, that cannot be "fixed" in some way. There are multiple ways to do so and I've used many of them and will show them as well. I detest throwing a board out - I fix it or repurpose the lumber if I absolutely don't think I would like my fix.

As examples - here are a few "mistakes" - fixed and sold within the last 2 or 3 years or so.

The first one was supposed to be a regular chevron board - I messed up the angle and could not get the corners lined up - so I punted to this. It sold for more than the typical board - at a friend's suggestion I put a bigger price on it because it looked more "artsy farts."

Brown Wood Sleeve Gold Collar


The second one was supposed to be a "full sized" board - about 15Ă—11 - but I had a crack in the middle of one slice. I cut the board in half at the offending slice and sold both halves as individual boards.

Brown Wood Rectangle Beige Tints and shades


Not sure I should do this next thing - don't want to be a thought of as a braggart - but I wanted to give you an idea of how many boards I've made within the last 3 months or so - this load is 284 of all sizes and types. A great many of these sold at my last two shows and from calls from former customers. (It's hard to see but there are actually 2 rows deep of boards on top of the piano.) All but one or two of these boards are your standard flat, edge grain and end grain boards that are simple and fast. There are a few that are not as easy - but are doable. I have a pretty good system down that works well for me. I'll try to share some of that as we go along.

Building Wood Table House Art


Table Wood Shelving Interior design Building


I hope you will come along for the ride. If anyone has questions or suggestions as I go along, as I've said, I welcome them.
Thanks guys - appreciate the compliments.

My intention is to get the face grain board portion on the site this weekend. I have several to build so I'll be taking tons, maybe pounds, of pictures.

Stay tuned!

Betsy
 

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#13 ·
Face Grain

Simple First

While there are infinite number of ways to make and styles to attempt there are basically only three varieties of cutting boards: face grain, edge grain and end grain. Face grain is the easiest and also the least durable. Having said that, some of the prettiest boards are face grain and if the board is properly cared for it can last for ages. As an example, my father made a board for my mother when they first got married. That was 73 years ago. My brother still uses that board - I can tell you it was not "properly" cared for and it looks a bit rough - but still on the job.

Fair warning - those of you who are well into learning may be a bit bored with what follows - but I was asked for simple-- soooooooo….. off we go.

I am going to make a couple of assumptions - one that you are going to start with good lumber. I sold my jointer long ago because the darn thing scared me - couldn't get past it so I made a conscious decision that I would pay extra to get surfaced lumber - so I'm not the best to teach preparing lumber for working. But the very basics are you need lumber that is flat and straight. That said, I do not turn my nose up to a board that may have a bow or a twist. A long board with either of those "defects" can be handled without a jointer for a cutting board - often simply cutting the board into sections will do the trick - if it's a bad warp or bow - I draw of line down the center and cut it on the band saw - also a good work around. However, I will only buy a board like this if it has some type of grain pattern that is really striking. I also, do a little bartering with the yard to see if I can take that defective board off their hands - it works - sometimes.

An Internet search will provide more than your fill of how to prep lumber either with hand or power tools. YouTube alone will keep you busy for quite some time. Of course, just because it's on YouTube doesn't mean it's worth watching. I'd probably stick with the magazine web sites to get the best information or the larger bloggers, such as The Wood Whisperer.

Another thing about buying lumber for me is that I can't carry eight or ten foot boards. So I have the boards cut down at the yard to generally 3' or 4' pieces. That alone saves me a lot of time. Not many cutting boards I make are going to call for lumber longer than 3' so it's not a problem. My preference is 3' sections - but if I know I've got some face grain boards to make I can use that 4th foot on those boards.

First off - I apologize for the poor photography and formatting - I've got to relearn a few things.

I am doing some quick and easy face grain boards to have for a show next weekend. I'm going to do two similar to this:

Wood Rectangle Road surface Beige Asphalt


I usually make face grain boards from scrap - and these boards will have mostly scrap - but the maple I wanted to be very clear/clean so I used a piece cut from a longer board.

First a little tip to take care of. Cutting your pieces to length is not just go to the chop saw and chop away - it could be - but not worth it. The first photos just shows that you put the cleanest edge of your board against the chop saw fence.
Wood Yellow Floor Paint Gas

Wood Yellow Automotive design Art Flooring


Notice in the next picture the fuzz from the cut. That's because I didn't use a backer board on the chop saw.
Wood Yellow Automotive exterior Vehicle door Material property


This fuzz, if not knocked down - can lead to the board not being flush against the table saw fence. The picture below shows the fuzz against the fence - notice that it does not sit flat against the fence. This has been a problem for me in the past - I've cut the board, taken it to the saw and because it's generally a long piece, I didn't notice the fuzz and how it effected the cut until I had already cut through most of the board and the fuzz finally hitting the fence- so this is just something to watch for. (The picture stinks.)
Wood Automotive tire Automotive exterior Vehicle door Wood stain


To avoid the fuzz - use a backer board such as this:
Wood Floor Flooring Wood stain Hardwood

You'll see that now the pencil is pointing to a clean edge that will sit flat to the table saw fence.

The board I've cut for the 2 sidepieces of maple has a rough edge on both sides but one is straighter than the other - but not perfect. As you will recall - I do not have a jointer so I have to have a way to make one straight edge.

Because one edge is rough but straight - I will place it against the fence and cut the other rough and not so straight edge. I know it might be hard to believe - but it took me a little while to learn to save time when setting the fence to the blade to make that straight edge. I would just slap the board against the fence and move the fence toward the blade until it hit the edge of the blade and cut. It didn't always happen that the board would be cut clear through - that's because one end is usually skinnier than the other. The second picture shows the other end with a gap between the blade and the edge of the wood.
Wood Road surface Automotive tire Asphalt Bumper

Hood Automotive tire Wood Road surface Asphalt


So, long and short on this point - put the skinniest end of the board against the blade and you will get a cut clean through the entire length of the board. This made a clean straight edge on one side, I then flip the board edge over edge and cut a small portion off the other side and I've got two straight edges.

For those boards that I have two funky edges neither of which are near straight I use a clamping kit such as: http://www.rockler.com/e-z-jointer-clamp-kit. Here is my set up to use this jig.
Wood Flooring Floor Rectangle Hardwood


My jig board is long to accommodate many different projects. The clamps should be moved to about 2" from either end of the work piece. The next photo is an attempt to show the ledge you need to create on the back of the board to allow the clamps to set flat. You have to cut the board on edge with your saw blade run up. It's an easy cut but you need to be careful with your measurement.
Wood Flooring Floor Bumper Hardwood


I will admit to not being 100% sure I have the clamps the way they are intended to be used/set up - the instructions are sketchy. Regardless, you can see in the next picture that the board, once tightened in the clamps, leaves the board not sitting flat on the tabletop.
Hood Wood Road surface Asphalt Bumper


Now you can cut the edge like this - but you will not get a square edge and you'll chatter the board all the way through the cut. The chatter is a disturbing sound. To fix this issue and avoid that chatter, I place a scrap piece of ply under the board.
Wood Rectangle Floor Flooring Composite material


One thing to be careful of - is you don't want the spacer ply to be under the clamps themselves - that will give you more than the support than you need and you end up with an clean edge with a slant the other way.
Wood Milling Saw Machine tool Machine


This jig is easy to set up and easier still to use. After I get my first edge - I lay that edge up against my saw's fence to make sure it is straight then just run it through the blade. Generally it's right on the money.

Okay - that's my spiel on lumber prep. It's much more involved then that if you buy rough lumber but, again, I'm not the one to explain all of that.

As to the board I'm making I selected a piece of maple that was clear/clean that was wide enough to accommodate both 3" pieces and left enough to cut the 1/8" pieces. The wider walnut pieces are 1".

You have probably noticed in my pictures that I do not have a blade guard on my saw. Generally I don't run without the guard, but the fact of the matter is - I busted it moving lumber around - don't ask - it wasn't pretty. I've ordered a replacement. It's always better to use a guard or in the very least a riving knife (which is also missing from the pictures - but that's another story).

Without a blade guard with pawls you have to bet aware of the dangers involved. Such as pushing the board through the blade and once the cut is finished but not through/past the blade - if you pick up your push stick/move your hand releasing your hold on the board - it will become a missile and fire right back at you. The force of that board coming back can be tremendous. I've never had the issue but I've seen the bruises on others and it's not pretty. The same can happen with your off cut. In the situation with no pawls I always use a featherboard.

The following quote from http://www.rockler.com/how-to/why-use-featherboards/ provides a good explanation of why you should use featherboards. The whole article is worth a read.

"Using a featherboard also offers safety benefits. Because of the angled orientation of its fingers, when a featherboard is set up to apply a gentle pressure, it will allow stock to move easily in the direction of the cut while all but preventing movement in reverse. And while it should be noted that they are not a replacement for the riving knife and anti-kickback pawls that now come standard with most tablesaws, featherboards do provide significant kickback insurance" (emphasis added).
Musical instrument Wood Automotive design Automotive exterior Keyboard


There are many articles on the net about featherboards, how to make them and how to use them but the above quote sums it up pretty well. I use a featherboard with magnetic hold-downs that work great. But like the woodworkers we are you can make your own and come up with all kinds of variety.

I addition to using the featherboard always finish the cut by pushing the board all the way past the blade.

To cut the 1/8" pieces I used a jig. You can make your own jig but mine is store bought. I dislike making jigs as a rule, but I get a lot of gift cards from friends who really have no idea what to buy a woodworker who has everything else she needs, but can always use another tool or gadget, and I use those to buy jigs that I simply don't want to make.
Wood Wood stain Hardwood Flooring Electric blue


It's a crummy picture and it's hard to see that the blue jig has a small ball bearing (which spins) that you use to place your board against (opposite the blade) to help give you repeatable, same width cuts. I use this jig get multiple thin strips. The ball bearing provides a positive stop and also allows the material to move easily through the cut. I still use a featherboard. This is a much easier and safer way to make thin strips. Trying to cut them next to the fence is not the best idea.
Wood Motor vehicle Rectangle Bumper Hood


The thin strips come out pretty much perfect - the only issue I've ever had with thin strips is getting a lot of fuzz on the edges. It's pretty simple little swipe with a piece of sandpaper - but there's probably a way to avoid the fuzz but I've not tripped over it.
Wood Table Rectangle Wood stain Flooring


My OCD requires that I number every piece - in some instances that's a good thing.

Tomorrow I'll go through how I glue and clamp the board. I hope the above is of some help to you in your adventure. If it's too simple and drawn out - please let me know.
 

Attachments

#14 ·
Face Grain

Simple First

While there are infinite number of ways to make and styles to attempt there are basically only three varieties of cutting boards: face grain, edge grain and end grain. Face grain is the easiest and also the least durable. Having said that, some of the prettiest boards are face grain and if the board is properly cared for it can last for ages. As an example, my father made a board for my mother when they first got married. That was 73 years ago. My brother still uses that board - I can tell you it was not "properly" cared for and it looks a bit rough - but still on the job.

Fair warning - those of you who are well into learning may be a bit bored with what follows - but I was asked for simple-- soooooooo….. off we go.

I am going to make a couple of assumptions - one that you are going to start with good lumber. I sold my jointer long ago because the darn thing scared me - couldn't get past it so I made a conscious decision that I would pay extra to get surfaced lumber - so I'm not the best to teach preparing lumber for working. But the very basics are you need lumber that is flat and straight. That said, I do not turn my nose up to a board that may have a bow or a twist. A long board with either of those "defects" can be handled without a jointer for a cutting board - often simply cutting the board into sections will do the trick - if it's a bad warp or bow - I draw of line down the center and cut it on the band saw - also a good work around. However, I will only buy a board like this if it has some type of grain pattern that is really striking. I also, do a little bartering with the yard to see if I can take that defective board off their hands - it works - sometimes.

An Internet search will provide more than your fill of how to prep lumber either with hand or power tools. YouTube alone will keep you busy for quite some time. Of course, just because it's on YouTube doesn't mean it's worth watching. I'd probably stick with the magazine web sites to get the best information or the larger bloggers, such as The Wood Whisperer.

Another thing about buying lumber for me is that I can't carry eight or ten foot boards. So I have the boards cut down at the yard to generally 3' or 4' pieces. That alone saves me a lot of time. Not many cutting boards I make are going to call for lumber longer than 3' so it's not a problem. My preference is 3' sections - but if I know I've got some face grain boards to make I can use that 4th foot on those boards.

First off - I apologize for the poor photography and formatting - I've got to relearn a few things.

I am doing some quick and easy face grain boards to have for a show next weekend. I'm going to do two similar to this:



I usually make face grain boards from scrap - and these boards will have mostly scrap - but the maple I wanted to be very clear/clean so I used a piece cut from a longer board.

First a little tip to take care of. Cutting your pieces to length is not just go to the chop saw and chop away - it could be - but not worth it. The first photos just shows that you put the cleanest edge of your board against the chop saw fence.



Notice in the next picture the fuzz from the cut. That's because I didn't use a backer board on the chop saw.


This fuzz, if not knocked down - can lead to the board not being flush against the table saw fence. The picture below shows the fuzz against the fence - notice that it does not sit flat against the fence. This has been a problem for me in the past - I've cut the board, taken it to the saw and because it's generally a long piece, I didn't notice the fuzz and how it effected the cut until I had already cut through most of the board and the fuzz finally hitting the fence- so this is just something to watch for. (The picture stinks.)


To avoid the fuzz - use a backer board such as this:

You'll see that now the pencil is pointing to a clean edge that will sit flat to the table saw fence.

The board I've cut for the 2 sidepieces of maple has a rough edge on both sides but one is straighter than the other - but not perfect. As you will recall - I do not have a jointer so I have to have a way to make one straight edge.

Because one edge is rough but straight - I will place it against the fence and cut the other rough and not so straight edge. I know it might be hard to believe - but it took me a little while to learn to save time when setting the fence to the blade to make that straight edge. I would just slap the board against the fence and move the fence toward the blade until it hit the edge of the blade and cut. It didn't always happen that the board would be cut clear through - that's because one end is usually skinnier than the other. The second picture shows the other end with a gap between the blade and the edge of the wood.



So, long and short on this point - put the skinniest end of the board against the blade and you will get a cut clean through the entire length of the board. This made a clean straight edge on one side, I then flip the board edge over edge and cut a small portion off the other side and I've got two straight edges.

For those boards that I have two funky edges neither of which are near straight I use a clamping kit such as: http://www.rockler.com/e-z-jointer-clamp-kit. Here is my set up to use this jig.


My jig board is long to accommodate many different projects. The clamps should be moved to about 2" from either end of the work piece. The next photo is an attempt to show the ledge you need to create on the back of the board to allow the clamps to set flat. You have to cut the board on edge with your saw blade run up. It's an easy cut but you need to be careful with your measurement.


I will admit to not being 100% sure I have the clamps the way they are intended to be used/set up - the instructions are sketchy. Regardless, you can see in the next picture that the board, once tightened in the clamps, leaves the board not sitting flat on the tabletop.


Now you can cut the edge like this - but you will not get a square edge and you'll chatter the board all the way through the cut. The chatter is a disturbing sound. To fix this issue and avoid that chatter, I place a scrap piece of ply under the board.


One thing to be careful of - is you don't want the spacer ply to be under the clamps themselves - that will give you more than the support than you need and you end up with an clean edge with a slant the other way.


This jig is easy to set up and easier still to use. After I get my first edge - I lay that edge up against my saw's fence to make sure it is straight then just run it through the blade. Generally it's right on the money.

Okay - that's my spiel on lumber prep. It's much more involved then that if you buy rough lumber but, again, I'm not the one to explain all of that.

As to the board I'm making I selected a piece of maple that was clear/clean that was wide enough to accommodate both 3" pieces and left enough to cut the 1/8" pieces. The wider walnut pieces are 1".

You have probably noticed in my pictures that I do not have a blade guard on my saw. Generally I don't run without the guard, but the fact of the matter is - I busted it moving lumber around - don't ask - it wasn't pretty. I've ordered a replacement. It's always better to use a guard or in the very least a riving knife (which is also missing from the pictures - but that's another story).

Without a blade guard with pawls you have to bet aware of the dangers involved. Such as pushing the board through the blade and once the cut is finished but not through/past the blade - if you pick up your push stick/move your hand releasing your hold on the board - it will become a missile and fire right back at you. The force of that board coming back can be tremendous. I've never had the issue but I've seen the bruises on others and it's not pretty. The same can happen with your off cut. In the situation with no pawls I always use a featherboard.

The following quote from http://www.rockler.com/how-to/why-use-featherboards/ provides a good explanation of why you should use featherboards. The whole article is worth a read.

"Using a featherboard also offers safety benefits. Because of the angled orientation of its fingers, when a featherboard is set up to apply a gentle pressure, it will allow stock to move easily in the direction of the cut while all but preventing movement in reverse. And while it should be noted that they are not a replacement for the riving knife and anti-kickback pawls that now come standard with most tablesaws, featherboards do provide significant kickback insurance" (emphasis added).


There are many articles on the net about featherboards, how to make them and how to use them but the above quote sums it up pretty well. I use a featherboard with magnetic hold-downs that work great. But like the woodworkers we are you can make your own and come up with all kinds of variety.

I addition to using the featherboard always finish the cut by pushing the board all the way past the blade.

To cut the 1/8" pieces I used a jig. You can make your own jig but mine is store bought. I dislike making jigs as a rule, but I get a lot of gift cards from friends who really have no idea what to buy a woodworker who has everything else she needs, but can always use another tool or gadget, and I use those to buy jigs that I simply don't want to make.


It's a crummy picture and it's hard to see that the blue jig has a small ball bearing (which spins) that you use to place your board against (opposite the blade) to help give you repeatable, same width cuts. I use this jig get multiple thin strips. The ball bearing provides a positive stop and also allows the material to move easily through the cut. I still use a featherboard. This is a much easier and safer way to make thin strips. Trying to cut them next to the fence is not the best idea.


The thin strips come out pretty much perfect - the only issue I've ever had with thin strips is getting a lot of fuzz on the edges. It's pretty simple little swipe with a piece of sandpaper - but there's probably a way to avoid the fuzz but I've not tripped over it.


My OCD requires that I number every piece - in some instances that's a good thing.

Tomorrow I'll go through how I glue and clamp the board. I hope the above is of some help to you in your adventure. If it's too simple and drawn out - please let me know.
Excellent, Betsy!!
 

Attachments

#19 ·
Face Grain #2

Okay now on to the fitting, gluing and clamping.

My admission is here that I use more clamps than necessary. Now that's not a job killer - but it can seriously deplete your clamp store while you are doing a run of boards. The general rule of one clamp under, one clamp on top, one clamp under, etc. is basically what I follow.

Let's discuss the "elephant-in-the-room" issue first - clamping pressure. My general rule is a good fitting joint needs to have just enough glue to have a small bead of squeeze out, and just enough pressure to hold the piece together while the glue dries/cures. While these two elements might be hard to gauge - clamping pressure seems to be the hardest to get a handle on. The cranks on most clamps I think give you a false sense of how much is too much. I've seen guys in some of my classes I've taught and some of the ones I've taken be absolute gorillas in tightening clamps. If your joints are good and you don't start with too little glue - a snug fit is good enough. Being a gorilla in the wilds of Africa where your strength is the test of the top-gorilla, in the shop being a gorilla has the potential to starve your joint of glue leading to a failed joint. Snug is, of course, a subjective concept and hard to quantify. But my gauge is that I tighten the clamp until it contacts the wood and I can't move the clamp from side to side. I then do an additional ½ to ¾ turn and stop. If you have zero squeeze out you may need to tighten a little more - HOWEVER, you may also have not used enough glue.

With all that said - there's a lot more to clamping than my simple explanation - you have to take into account, the wood type (hard or soft), grain types, the type of joint and so on. It's a subject all in itself and I've oversimplified it here. If you want to Google clamping pressure you'll be inundated with articles, suggestions, opinions, etc. Just remember that you start small and build in your knowledge - if you are just starting in woodworking don't out think yourself. A lot of this stuff is intuitive, some of it is learn-as-you-go, make a bum project, figure out what went wrong, or read and read and read. Can't learn it all in one go or on one project.

You can do the same with glue - you can drive yourself crazy looking at every article and every blog on the subject but really it comes down to try one, decide if it does the job for you, try another and so on. I'm not saying study up a little - but if all you do is read, watch, listen etc. you may not have time to do any actual woodworking. Don't drown in the minutia.

Now as to clamps - if you are using the pistol grip clamps - those are pretty flimsy and you will need to squeeze those are hard as you possibly can - gorilla away on those. But my opinion - on a board/panel/cabinet or whatever you want to be sure is clamped well stick with pipe clamps, bar clamps or the K-clamps. Pistol grips have their uses - but I don't use them on my boards.

Long and short, a good joint, the right amount of glue and the correct clamping pressure are all three components that need to be used together to end up with a successful project.

My initial clamp set up is to have 3 clamps as bottom clamps spaced at 1-2" in from each end and one in the middle. That's my base - when my board is clamped securely I add a clamp between the middle clamp and each end. So generally I end up with 5 clamps. (The picture below is not the same board - forgot to take a picture of the board I'm doing.)

Wood Water bottle Tool Hand tool Gas


After setting up my clamps I do a dry fit - this is where you place your boards in the order you need onto the clamps, snug the clamps up and carefully look at the joints. You want to see if there are any gaps, knick or stray chips that may keep your joints from closing up correctly. My board has a fuzz issue. As you may recall from the first section of this blog - when I cut my thin strips they had fuzz on the edges. I pulled one slice up to show the fuzz.

Brown Wood Beige Flooring Material property


The fuzz has to go. This is a spot where you can really foul up your project. The fuzz needs to go but you just can't hit it with sandpaper and make it go away - you have to sand it carefully. That means placing it on a hard, flat surface and lightly sanding it clean. You don't want to sand so much that you round the corners. If you round the corners you can end up with this.

Brown Wood Beige Rectangle Flooring


The photo is exaggerated - but if you round over the edges of your pieces you create a gap. The gap can be overcome by sanding a great deal or planning the board down below the rounding but avoiding it is best. For the most part I use a block wrapped with paper. I use very light swipes and I try to sand evenly along the length. When you put it back after sanding you should look more like this (the board is not clamped - so there is a gap toward the bottom but you get the idea).

Brown Wood Rectangle Beige Flooring


So once you are sure that all of your joints are good with no fuzz or stray chips etc. it's time to glue. Every woodworker has her/his own theory on how to apply glue. Some use a gallon of glue on every joint, others use just barely enough. Try to find a happy medium. Too much glue leads to a ton of squeeze out that has to be dealt with (not to mention the expense), it takes the joint longer to cure and generally creates a mess. Too little glue can lead to what is called a starved joint, which is, essentially, a failed joint.

Another consideration is your application method. Most will use the glue bottle to get the glue onto the joint. Where we deviate is will we use our god given appendage to spread the glue, a brush, a roller or whatever. I admit for a very long time I used my finger. Never lost it, never had to look for the box of brushes or rollers, and it washes easily. This worked well while I only did a few projects. Now that I'm doing a truckload of boards the finger is simple not up to the task. The glue can dry out your skin and lead to cracks, etc. Now I most often use an acid brush. I will say that if you are going to use a brush or a roller - you need to take into account that some of your glue will be sucked up into the tool and away from the joint so you need to take that into account when you apply your bead of glue. This is about right for me:

Stairs Wood Publication Wood stain Floor


Let me back up one step. You also need to consider where you are going to place the glue bead. Some swear by putting glue on both sides of the work piece, others swear by gluing one side of each piece. I go with one side. I've never had a failed joint so I don't see the need to use the extra glue. All that glue adds up over time and can eat into any profit margin you may be considering.
I start my glue up procedure by standing my boards on one edge.

Wood Rectangle Automotive exterior Hardwood Bumper


You'll notice in the picture that I have marked "glue" or "g" on all the edges. I don't do that all of the time but I did this time to illustrate where I intend to place my glue. You'll also notice that I do not set the very last (furthest away) board on its edge. That board will not receive glue as it will get its glue from the board before. Once the glue is spread each board is then turned flat and the adjacent board butted against it.

Table Wood Flooring Floor Wood stain


One other thing about my glue ups. I add a waste piece on each end of my board blank. The waste piece is always about 4-6" longer on each end. (If my project board is 10 inches then I have 18" waste pieces.) The reason for this is I will be putting the blank through the planer. The extra length will take up any snipe that I may get from the planer knives - leading to less sanding which is always a good thing.

Once all boards are put down flat I first pull in the center clamp and snug it up very slightly. Then I pull each end in and snug those up. Personally, I snug up each clamp a little at a time watching that I don't accidently get a board to ride up above the level of the others. Once you start to snug up clamps you'll notice that side-to-side slippage may occur. This is just the two boards sliding against each other with the wet glue. If you have some wiggle room in the length of your boards it's not that big of a deal. But if you are very close to limit the of what you can cut then you just need to adjust for the slippage.

Another thing that some folks use are cauls on their glue ups and I do as well on the larger boards. For one this skinny I don't use them. But it's good to have cauls to work with.

Now that I've snugged up my clamps you can see the squeeze out.

Brown Table Rectangle Wood Flooring


You can see two levels of squeeze out. The line at the top is more like I want to have. The middle row is way too much for my taste. The picture just shows the difference.

After I am sure my board is clamped to my satisfaction - I just set it aside. Once the glue dries I knock down any blobs of glue with a hand sander then get the board ready for the planner.

You'll notice in the previous pictures that my waste pieces are about 4" wide. That's too wide for the planer. I used what I had, but now I need to cut those down to be able to fit into my planer. Once that's done I head to the planer and run the board through until the surfaces are flat and smooth. I didn't take any pictures of that - but will do so in the next section of the blog.

Now it's back to the table saw to cut off the waste. I set the blade to cut just a tiny bit off the edge of the waste and a tiny bit off of the work piece.

Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Wood stain


After both waste pieces are cut off then I cross cut the uneven ends to square them up.

Wood Architecture Flooring Floor Gas


Finally, I check that both maple edges are the same width. This time they are not.
I use my square and bring the blade to the edge of the walnut, then snug up the nut and flip the square over to the other side. You can see in the picture that it's off just a bit under 1/32.

Wood Rectangle Table Flooring Office ruler

Ruler Office ruler Wood Measuring instrument Rectangle


I take that edge back to the saw and nip off a bit and now it's right on the money.

Ruler Office ruler Wood Rectangle Flooring


So now that I have the board to the length and width I've got to decide how I'm going to treat the corners - am I going with a complete square look, cut a rounded corner, an inside corner or an oval? These little templates are a great investment. I've had this set for about 15 years and I can tell you I've used one or another on almost every project I've done.

Gold Amber Creative arts Art Tints and shades

Wood Creative arts Art Tints and shades Symmetry

Creative arts Art Tints and shades Symmetry Pattern


These templates make the following corners.
Wood Sleeve Triangle Tints and shades Font

Handwriting Wood Netbook Font Rectangle

Wood Hood Triangle Rectangle Creative arts


Each template has a lip that fits over the corner of your work piece.
Table Triangle Wood Flooring Tree

Rectangle Triangle Wood Table Flooring


For this project I am going to go oval. This means I bring out the compass and a square. First you have to find dead center of the board. Simple enough measure the width, divide by two, set your square to that number, make a mark on the board THEN flip the square to the other edge and make another mark - if you are truly in the center your two marks will overlap.
Rectangle Wood Floor Flooring Wood stain

Wood Rectangle Office ruler Tool Wood stain

Brown Wood Rectangle Beige Flooring


I place the pin part of the compass on the center line and stretch the pencil part to the edge of the board.
Brown Wood Table Flooring Floor


I swing the compass around so that it hits just below the edge of the board.
Table Wood Writing implement Writing instrument accessory Office supplies

Brown Wood Rectangle Beige Flooring

Wood Table Flooring Floor Wood stain


The reason I go just below the edge is that it's easier to cut on the bandsaw with a little extra at the top.
Once I decide that my compass mark is okay, I make the same mark on the other end. Then it's off to the band saw. You'll notice in the next photo that I cut just barley outside the line of my arc. Much less to sand off. If you go inside the line - it's not a game breaker, just go back and swing a new curve and try again.
Automotive tire Wood Hood Bumper Grey


Then it's off to the sander.
Brown Wood Automotive design Automotive tire Beige


My sander is just the run of the mill bench top sander. It does a good job. But there are dangers if you don't watch what you are doing.
Automotive tire Wood Rectangle Stairs Grille

Rectangle Wood Flooring Floor Wall

Automotive tire Wood Tints and shades Audio equipment Synthetic rubber


You'll see the uneven chunk taken out of this junk piece. That's because I pushed the board too hard and unevenly against the disc. This can be an issue if you have a particular size you are looking for. More times than not you can redraw your line and re-sand.
After I am satisfied with the sanding it's off to the router to put on a round over.
Wood Table Flooring Rectangle Hardwood


This is what I ended up with - not to shabby.
Musical instrument Wood Top Tree Tints and shades


That's about it for this part of the project, but here's a little side tidbit.
While I was looking through my scrap box for a junk piece to show the sander picture above, I found a little cutoff from a prior project. I don't throw much of any wood away. In no time at all I turned this little scrap into a small cutting board. It's about 7" x 4" - not anything more than small - but it's good enough for the drawer for the one apple or one whatever that that you want to cut but not bring out the big board. It will probably be a stocking stuffer for a friend - or I just might keep it. Who knows!
Brown Rectangle Wood Road surface Flooring

Brown Wood Rectangle Road surface Flooring

Wood Beige Rectangle Flooring Tints and shades

Brown Wood Rectangle Beige Flooring


Brown Wood Rectangle Beige Tints and shades


Okay that's it for tonight. I know I tend on the side of verbose and I've probably left out some stuff and put too much of other stuff in - but I hope the above helps someone out a bit. Any questions, suggestions and comments are welcomed.
 

Attachments

#20 ·
Face Grain #2

Okay now on to the fitting, gluing and clamping.

My admission is here that I use more clamps than necessary. Now that's not a job killer - but it can seriously deplete your clamp store while you are doing a run of boards. The general rule of one clamp under, one clamp on top, one clamp under, etc. is basically what I follow.

Let's discuss the "elephant-in-the-room" issue first - clamping pressure. My general rule is a good fitting joint needs to have just enough glue to have a small bead of squeeze out, and just enough pressure to hold the piece together while the glue dries/cures. While these two elements might be hard to gauge - clamping pressure seems to be the hardest to get a handle on. The cranks on most clamps I think give you a false sense of how much is too much. I've seen guys in some of my classes I've taught and some of the ones I've taken be absolute gorillas in tightening clamps. If your joints are good and you don't start with too little glue - a snug fit is good enough. Being a gorilla in the wilds of Africa where your strength is the test of the top-gorilla, in the shop being a gorilla has the potential to starve your joint of glue leading to a failed joint. Snug is, of course, a subjective concept and hard to quantify. But my gauge is that I tighten the clamp until it contacts the wood and I can't move the clamp from side to side. I then do an additional ½ to ¾ turn and stop. If you have zero squeeze out you may need to tighten a little more - HOWEVER, you may also have not used enough glue.

With all that said - there's a lot more to clamping than my simple explanation - you have to take into account, the wood type (hard or soft), grain types, the type of joint and so on. It's a subject all in itself and I've oversimplified it here. If you want to Google clamping pressure you'll be inundated with articles, suggestions, opinions, etc. Just remember that you start small and build in your knowledge - if you are just starting in woodworking don't out think yourself. A lot of this stuff is intuitive, some of it is learn-as-you-go, make a bum project, figure out what went wrong, or read and read and read. Can't learn it all in one go or on one project.

You can do the same with glue - you can drive yourself crazy looking at every article and every blog on the subject but really it comes down to try one, decide if it does the job for you, try another and so on. I'm not saying study up a little - but if all you do is read, watch, listen etc. you may not have time to do any actual woodworking. Don't drown in the minutia.

Now as to clamps - if you are using the pistol grip clamps - those are pretty flimsy and you will need to squeeze those are hard as you possibly can - gorilla away on those. But my opinion - on a board/panel/cabinet or whatever you want to be sure is clamped well stick with pipe clamps, bar clamps or the K-clamps. Pistol grips have their uses - but I don't use them on my boards.

Long and short, a good joint, the right amount of glue and the correct clamping pressure are all three components that need to be used together to end up with a successful project.

My initial clamp set up is to have 3 clamps as bottom clamps spaced at 1-2" in from each end and one in the middle. That's my base - when my board is clamped securely I add a clamp between the middle clamp and each end. So generally I end up with 5 clamps. (The picture below is not the same board - forgot to take a picture of the board I'm doing.)

Wood Water bottle Tool Hand tool Gas


After setting up my clamps I do a dry fit - this is where you place your boards in the order you need onto the clamps, snug the clamps up and carefully look at the joints. You want to see if there are any gaps, knick or stray chips that may keep your joints from closing up correctly. My board has a fuzz issue. As you may recall from the first section of this blog - when I cut my thin strips they had fuzz on the edges. I pulled one slice up to show the fuzz.

Brown Wood Beige Flooring Material property


The fuzz has to go. This is a spot where you can really foul up your project. The fuzz needs to go but you just can't hit it with sandpaper and make it go away - you have to sand it carefully. That means placing it on a hard, flat surface and lightly sanding it clean. You don't want to sand so much that you round the corners. If you round the corners you can end up with this.

Brown Wood Beige Rectangle Flooring


The photo is exaggerated - but if you round over the edges of your pieces you create a gap. The gap can be overcome by sanding a great deal or planning the board down below the rounding but avoiding it is best. For the most part I use a block wrapped with paper. I use very light swipes and I try to sand evenly along the length. When you put it back after sanding you should look more like this (the board is not clamped - so there is a gap toward the bottom but you get the idea).

Brown Wood Rectangle Beige Flooring


So once you are sure that all of your joints are good with no fuzz or stray chips etc. it's time to glue. Every woodworker has her/his own theory on how to apply glue. Some use a gallon of glue on every joint, others use just barely enough. Try to find a happy medium. Too much glue leads to a ton of squeeze out that has to be dealt with (not to mention the expense), it takes the joint longer to cure and generally creates a mess. Too little glue can lead to what is called a starved joint, which is, essentially, a failed joint.

Another consideration is your application method. Most will use the glue bottle to get the glue onto the joint. Where we deviate is will we use our god given appendage to spread the glue, a brush, a roller or whatever. I admit for a very long time I used my finger. Never lost it, never had to look for the box of brushes or rollers, and it washes easily. This worked well while I only did a few projects. Now that I'm doing a truckload of boards the finger is simple not up to the task. The glue can dry out your skin and lead to cracks, etc. Now I most often use an acid brush. I will say that if you are going to use a brush or a roller - you need to take into account that some of your glue will be sucked up into the tool and away from the joint so you need to take that into account when you apply your bead of glue. This is about right for me:

Stairs Wood Publication Wood stain Floor


Let me back up one step. You also need to consider where you are going to place the glue bead. Some swear by putting glue on both sides of the work piece, others swear by gluing one side of each piece. I go with one side. I've never had a failed joint so I don't see the need to use the extra glue. All that glue adds up over time and can eat into any profit margin you may be considering.
I start my glue up procedure by standing my boards on one edge.

Wood Rectangle Automotive exterior Hardwood Bumper


You'll notice in the picture that I have marked "glue" or "g" on all the edges. I don't do that all of the time but I did this time to illustrate where I intend to place my glue. You'll also notice that I do not set the very last (furthest away) board on its edge. That board will not receive glue as it will get its glue from the board before. Once the glue is spread each board is then turned flat and the adjacent board butted against it.

Table Wood Flooring Floor Wood stain


One other thing about my glue ups. I add a waste piece on each end of my board blank. The waste piece is always about 4-6" longer on each end. (If my project board is 10 inches then I have 18" waste pieces.) The reason for this is I will be putting the blank through the planer. The extra length will take up any snipe that I may get from the planer knives - leading to less sanding which is always a good thing.

Once all boards are put down flat I first pull in the center clamp and snug it up very slightly. Then I pull each end in and snug those up. Personally, I snug up each clamp a little at a time watching that I don't accidently get a board to ride up above the level of the others. Once you start to snug up clamps you'll notice that side-to-side slippage may occur. This is just the two boards sliding against each other with the wet glue. If you have some wiggle room in the length of your boards it's not that big of a deal. But if you are very close to limit the of what you can cut then you just need to adjust for the slippage.

Another thing that some folks use are cauls on their glue ups and I do as well on the larger boards. For one this skinny I don't use them. But it's good to have cauls to work with.

Now that I've snugged up my clamps you can see the squeeze out.

Brown Table Rectangle Wood Flooring


You can see two levels of squeeze out. The line at the top is more like I want to have. The middle row is way too much for my taste. The picture just shows the difference.

After I am sure my board is clamped to my satisfaction - I just set it aside. Once the glue dries I knock down any blobs of glue with a hand sander then get the board ready for the planner.

You'll notice in the previous pictures that my waste pieces are about 4" wide. That's too wide for the planer. I used what I had, but now I need to cut those down to be able to fit into my planer. Once that's done I head to the planer and run the board through until the surfaces are flat and smooth. I didn't take any pictures of that - but will do so in the next section of the blog.

Now it's back to the table saw to cut off the waste. I set the blade to cut just a tiny bit off the edge of the waste and a tiny bit off of the work piece.

Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Wood stain


After both waste pieces are cut off then I cross cut the uneven ends to square them up.

Wood Architecture Flooring Floor Gas


Finally, I check that both maple edges are the same width. This time they are not.
I use my square and bring the blade to the edge of the walnut, then snug up the nut and flip the square over to the other side. You can see in the picture that it's off just a bit under 1/32.

Wood Rectangle Table Flooring Office ruler

Ruler Office ruler Wood Measuring instrument Rectangle


I take that edge back to the saw and nip off a bit and now it's right on the money.

Ruler Office ruler Wood Rectangle Flooring


So now that I have the board to the length and width I've got to decide how I'm going to treat the corners - am I going with a complete square look, cut a rounded corner, an inside corner or an oval? These little templates are a great investment. I've had this set for about 15 years and I can tell you I've used one or another on almost every project I've done.

Gold Amber Creative arts Art Tints and shades

Wood Creative arts Art Tints and shades Symmetry

Creative arts Art Tints and shades Symmetry Pattern


These templates make the following corners.
Wood Sleeve Triangle Tints and shades Font

Handwriting Wood Netbook Font Rectangle

Wood Hood Triangle Rectangle Creative arts


Each template has a lip that fits over the corner of your work piece.
Table Triangle Wood Flooring Tree

Rectangle Triangle Wood Table Flooring


For this project I am going to go oval. This means I bring out the compass and a square. First you have to find dead center of the board. Simple enough measure the width, divide by two, set your square to that number, make a mark on the board THEN flip the square to the other edge and make another mark - if you are truly in the center your two marks will overlap.
Rectangle Wood Floor Flooring Wood stain

Wood Rectangle Office ruler Tool Wood stain

Brown Wood Rectangle Beige Flooring


I place the pin part of the compass on the center line and stretch the pencil part to the edge of the board.
Brown Wood Table Flooring Floor


I swing the compass around so that it hits just below the edge of the board.
Table Wood Writing implement Writing instrument accessory Office supplies

Brown Wood Rectangle Beige Flooring

Wood Table Flooring Floor Wood stain


The reason I go just below the edge is that it's easier to cut on the bandsaw with a little extra at the top.
Once I decide that my compass mark is okay, I make the same mark on the other end. Then it's off to the band saw. You'll notice in the next photo that I cut just barley outside the line of my arc. Much less to sand off. If you go inside the line - it's not a game breaker, just go back and swing a new curve and try again.
Automotive tire Wood Hood Bumper Grey


Then it's off to the sander.
Brown Wood Automotive design Automotive tire Beige


My sander is just the run of the mill bench top sander. It does a good job. But there are dangers if you don't watch what you are doing.
Automotive tire Wood Rectangle Stairs Grille

Rectangle Wood Flooring Floor Wall

Automotive tire Wood Tints and shades Audio equipment Synthetic rubber


You'll see the uneven chunk taken out of this junk piece. That's because I pushed the board too hard and unevenly against the disc. This can be an issue if you have a particular size you are looking for. More times than not you can redraw your line and re-sand.
After I am satisfied with the sanding it's off to the router to put on a round over.
Wood Table Flooring Rectangle Hardwood


This is what I ended up with - not to shabby.
Musical instrument Wood Top Tree Tints and shades


That's about it for this part of the project, but here's a little side tidbit.
While I was looking through my scrap box for a junk piece to show the sander picture above, I found a little cutoff from a prior project. I don't throw much of any wood away. In no time at all I turned this little scrap into a small cutting board. It's about 7" x 4" - not anything more than small - but it's good enough for the drawer for the one apple or one whatever that that you want to cut but not bring out the big board. It will probably be a stocking stuffer for a friend - or I just might keep it. Who knows!
Brown Rectangle Wood Road surface Flooring

Brown Wood Rectangle Road surface Flooring

Wood Beige Rectangle Flooring Tints and shades

Brown Wood Rectangle Beige Flooring


Brown Wood Rectangle Beige Tints and shades


Okay that's it for tonight. I know I tend on the side of verbose and I've probably left out some stuff and put too much of other stuff in - but I hope the above helps someone out a bit. Any questions, suggestions and comments are welcomed.
Great blog so far….
 

Attachments

#31 ·
Face Grain #4 - short note on clamping

Just a short entry tonight - I had a monster show this weekend so I'm going to be making lots of dust between now and Thanksgiving to restock. I plan to take lots of pictures and post short blog entries while I take breaks in working.

I want to circle back a step to address one piece of business on clamps from the last entry. It's not a job breaker - but when I clamp my projects I make sure that all of my bottom clamps are the same size and height. This avoids having have several issues. The photo below, while quite exaggerated to show the point, will highlight two issues.
Wood Gas Flooring Hardwood Wood stain

The first issue is that center clamp has a large gap between its top surface and the bottom of the work piece. Obviously you now have an unsupported section of your board. Your board needs support along the entire length. Now, while I've never done this - did you hear me clear my throat - if you have a habit of pushing the boards downward while using your other hand to turn the crank - then having a clamp that is not the same height as the others while in all likelihood end up giving you a bowed board. I found pushing down on the board helps to avoid the individual boards slipping upward with the clamp pressure and the slick nature of the glue. Using a caul system would also deal with slippage.

The second issue is that the clamp head needs to have more "bite" on the side of the board so that it actually acts as a clamp and not as an impediment to a good glue joint. If you tighten up that center clamp with it sitting like it is all you'll manage to do is make the board want to come up and squeeze out of the clamp like a bar of soap spurts out of your wet hands.

I'm not going to even try to fake knowing how to explain clamping torque or how even pressure really works - but let it suffice to say - try to use all the same height clamps on your board and make sure you have plenty of bite on the board with your clamp head. I have seen some woodworkers use platforms to lay out their boards and if you use that system the height of your bottom clamps become a none issue.

Okay - I said short. Back to the shop for me. I'll post more later in the week. I hope this helps someone out there.
 

Attachments

#32 ·
Face Grain #4 - short note on clamping

Just a short entry tonight - I had a monster show this weekend so I'm going to be making lots of dust between now and Thanksgiving to restock. I plan to take lots of pictures and post short blog entries while I take breaks in working.

I want to circle back a step to address one piece of business on clamps from the last entry. It's not a job breaker - but when I clamp my projects I make sure that all of my bottom clamps are the same size and height. This avoids having have several issues. The photo below, while quite exaggerated to show the point, will highlight two issues.
Wood Gas Flooring Hardwood Wood stain

The first issue is that center clamp has a large gap between its top surface and the bottom of the work piece. Obviously you now have an unsupported section of your board. Your board needs support along the entire length. Now, while I've never done this - did you hear me clear my throat - if you have a habit of pushing the boards downward while using your other hand to turn the crank - then having a clamp that is not the same height as the others while in all likelihood end up giving you a bowed board. I found pushing down on the board helps to avoid the individual boards slipping upward with the clamp pressure and the slick nature of the glue. Using a caul system would also deal with slippage.

The second issue is that the clamp head needs to have more "bite" on the side of the board so that it actually acts as a clamp and not as an impediment to a good glue joint. If you tighten up that center clamp with it sitting like it is all you'll manage to do is make the board want to come up and squeeze out of the clamp like a bar of soap spurts out of your wet hands.

I'm not going to even try to fake knowing how to explain clamping torque or how even pressure really works - but let it suffice to say - try to use all the same height clamps on your board and make sure you have plenty of bite on the board with your clamp head. I have seen some woodworkers use platforms to lay out their boards and if you use that system the height of your bottom clamps become a none issue.

Okay - I said short. Back to the shop for me. I'll post more later in the week. I hope this helps someone out there.
Good advice, Betsy!
 

Attachments

#35 ·
Face grain #5 - moving along

Is it "scrap" or "scrape?"

Either way - the rule of the shop with scrap is this and always this: You will have scrap, you will never scrape the bottom of the scrap bin and you will always wonder how the bin got so full so fast.

Second reality of scrap is that no matter how much scrap you have you'll almost never find that one piece that will fit the project at hand. Hence the "absolute need" to go to the lumberyard to buy more lumber.

Third fact - you just have to live with it and learn to accept it as a fact of life in the woodshop.

The really good news is there are ways to manage it. For me the number one way is use the scrap for my face grain boards and/or to use it up in the infamous chaos boards that are so popular these days.

I have several rules with the scrap bin.
1. I don't put in the really ratty pieces that have knots; splits, or other major defects. I cut out those defects before the board hits the bin. This means that the only wood in my bin is usable pieces.
2. I try to only put in pieces with both edges clean. This is a rule that I, unfortunately, break on a regular basis. When the bin is fresh I start off really well but as time goes by this rule is broken.
3. If a piece is too thin to be put through the planer and it's not clear on both sides, I toss it.

To manage the scrap pile you really have to be brutal on what you will keep and not keep. Otherwise you'll be overrun.

With all that said, this is what I have today:

Wood Rectangle Natural material Composite material Gas

Wood Twig Flooring Natural material Hardwood


There's quite a lot in these two boxes - which is good for me. I need to make quite a few face grain boards so I'll get a lot out of these two boxes.

Despite my rules I do have some boards to clean up. This particular one has two issues, a small knot and an edge that is not acceptable for gluing.
Light Wood Line Rectangle Gas


The next pictures are from a different board as I managed to delete the pictures of my steps - no idea how - but there it is. So try to pretend that the following is the same as the piece above.

Brown Wood Wood stain Hardwood Tints and shades


You can see that my knot is also on an "unclean edge." I could simply place the board such that I cut the board right at the knot and not worry about the edge.

Hood Wood Orange Automotive design Flooring


Wood Cloud Automotive tire Flooring Floor


But if I take ten seconds and clean up the edge first then after I slice the knot out I can then cut the knot out of the ÂĽ" portion of the original board and have yet another piece of scrap to use for another project. How wonderful is that!

Brown Cloud Atmosphere Sky Wood


Brown Table Rectangle Wood Beige


The next picture shows a common issue that I used to say "so what" about. It didn't take long to realize that some of my bad joints were the result of the fact that I let things like this slide.

Brown Table Wood Flooring Floor


You can see in the picture that dark mark. That's a burn but when is almost impossible to see is that there is a crescent mark that resulted from poor cutting on my part. This type of burning or mark needs to be taken off of the board.

I've always understood that a burn on a board essentially seals the fibers of the board and can impede a good glue joint leading to a failure. I can't say that I have a good source to back that statement up, but it makes sense to me. The crescent will create a small gap in the joint. Either issue is easily taken care of. Set your blade so that it barely kisses the board, set the featherboard to hold the piece hard to the fence and push it through.

A few words about gluing:
This seems pretty simple - but don't use old, tacky or "doesn't look right" glue. My rule is that if glue has been around a year or more; or it's been frozen or heated - just get rid of it. Believe it or not glue does have a shelf life and can go bad. There is, of course, opinions on this issue. Some say as long as the glue flows easily it should be okay, others say that it starts to degrade over time. I use about two gallons of glue a selling season on my boards so I don't have the time issue. However, because I live in Texas, I am careful to keep the glue stored in the house and not in the uncooled garage. Long and short, if it's old, flows like oatmeal or looks odd - toss it out and get a new bottle.

Squeeze out - now here is a spot that you'll get arguments to rival politics. Do you clean up squeeze out as soon as you're done clamping, do you use a wet rag, do you wait until the glue hardens then scrape like mad with a paint scraper, do you let the glue skim over then scrape with a putty knife, do you let it dry then run it through the planer? Lots of opinions. This is, in my humble opinion, more of an issue and a more important one, when you are talking about projects involving stain - such as furniture. However, because we are talking cutting boards that will not be stained - I think the dynamics are different.

What do I do? First off, I try to keep my squeeze out to a minimum (as stated in early blog post). I admit that I'm a wiper. I get my clamps set then use a paper towel and clean up the squeeze out. On face grain boards this is not an issue. Since all of my boards go through the planer, I'm not at all worried about the possibility of a little skim of glue on the surface. I'm more concerned about a hard piece of glue causing a knick on my planer knives. (I do have a different opinion on end grain boards - but it's not much different.)

Now what about keeping the glue off of the clamps. Some people wax their clamps and swear by it. I've not had any luck with that. I protect my clamps using either wax paper or painter's tape. I've tried different methods of placing the wax paper on the pipe. I've used the crease and make a tent method:

Amber Wood Orange Tints and shades Metal


The problem with the tent is three-fold. One you have to use enough paper to cover the pipe and reach the tabletop. Secondly, it moves! I got frustrated with this method because as I would move my wood to glue or reposition it the paper would move. Third, and finally, because it may move, it can get bunched up and can get in between my work pieces causing more problems than I care to mention. So I skip this method and use much less wax paper by simply taping it in place with a little sliver of scotch tape. The paper doesn't move and it's easily removed when the clamps come off.

Wood Amber Road surface Street light Tints and shades


Now, despite using paper and/or painter's tape, I still get glue on the pipes. I'm the type of person that can get dirty doing the laundry so not being about to keep the glue completely off of my pipes is not a stretch for me. So here's your bonus tip. Every 5 or 6 months I'll sort through my clamps and will set about cleaning up any dried on glue. On regular pipe clamps the glue will sometimes just pop off with a good push of a putty knife. Doesn't happen often enough for me. I end up using good old vinegar to clean up the clamps. All I do is soak some paper towels and wrap the pipe. Let it sit for an hour or so, remove the towels and wipe off the glue. The vinegar stinks so I usually do this outside on a nice sunny day.

Okay that's all I've got today. The next entry I'll try to hit up some "opps how do you fix this" tips.

As always, comments and suggestions are welcome.
 

Attachments

#36 ·
Face grain #5 - moving along

Is it "scrap" or "scrape?"

Either way - the rule of the shop with scrap is this and always this: You will have scrap, you will never scrape the bottom of the scrap bin and you will always wonder how the bin got so full so fast.

Second reality of scrap is that no matter how much scrap you have you'll almost never find that one piece that will fit the project at hand. Hence the "absolute need" to go to the lumberyard to buy more lumber.

Third fact - you just have to live with it and learn to accept it as a fact of life in the woodshop.

The really good news is there are ways to manage it. For me the number one way is use the scrap for my face grain boards and/or to use it up in the infamous chaos boards that are so popular these days.

I have several rules with the scrap bin.
1. I don't put in the really ratty pieces that have knots; splits, or other major defects. I cut out those defects before the board hits the bin. This means that the only wood in my bin is usable pieces.
2. I try to only put in pieces with both edges clean. This is a rule that I, unfortunately, break on a regular basis. When the bin is fresh I start off really well but as time goes by this rule is broken.
3. If a piece is too thin to be put through the planer and it's not clear on both sides, I toss it.

To manage the scrap pile you really have to be brutal on what you will keep and not keep. Otherwise you'll be overrun.

With all that said, this is what I have today:

Wood Rectangle Natural material Composite material Gas

Wood Twig Flooring Natural material Hardwood


There's quite a lot in these two boxes - which is good for me. I need to make quite a few face grain boards so I'll get a lot out of these two boxes.

Despite my rules I do have some boards to clean up. This particular one has two issues, a small knot and an edge that is not acceptable for gluing.
Light Wood Line Rectangle Gas


The next pictures are from a different board as I managed to delete the pictures of my steps - no idea how - but there it is. So try to pretend that the following is the same as the piece above.

Brown Wood Wood stain Hardwood Tints and shades


You can see that my knot is also on an "unclean edge." I could simply place the board such that I cut the board right at the knot and not worry about the edge.

Hood Wood Orange Automotive design Flooring


Wood Cloud Automotive tire Flooring Floor


But if I take ten seconds and clean up the edge first then after I slice the knot out I can then cut the knot out of the ÂĽ" portion of the original board and have yet another piece of scrap to use for another project. How wonderful is that!

Brown Cloud Atmosphere Sky Wood


Brown Table Rectangle Wood Beige


The next picture shows a common issue that I used to say "so what" about. It didn't take long to realize that some of my bad joints were the result of the fact that I let things like this slide.

Brown Table Wood Flooring Floor


You can see in the picture that dark mark. That's a burn but when is almost impossible to see is that there is a crescent mark that resulted from poor cutting on my part. This type of burning or mark needs to be taken off of the board.

I've always understood that a burn on a board essentially seals the fibers of the board and can impede a good glue joint leading to a failure. I can't say that I have a good source to back that statement up, but it makes sense to me. The crescent will create a small gap in the joint. Either issue is easily taken care of. Set your blade so that it barely kisses the board, set the featherboard to hold the piece hard to the fence and push it through.

A few words about gluing:
This seems pretty simple - but don't use old, tacky or "doesn't look right" glue. My rule is that if glue has been around a year or more; or it's been frozen or heated - just get rid of it. Believe it or not glue does have a shelf life and can go bad. There is, of course, opinions on this issue. Some say as long as the glue flows easily it should be okay, others say that it starts to degrade over time. I use about two gallons of glue a selling season on my boards so I don't have the time issue. However, because I live in Texas, I am careful to keep the glue stored in the house and not in the uncooled garage. Long and short, if it's old, flows like oatmeal or looks odd - toss it out and get a new bottle.

Squeeze out - now here is a spot that you'll get arguments to rival politics. Do you clean up squeeze out as soon as you're done clamping, do you use a wet rag, do you wait until the glue hardens then scrape like mad with a paint scraper, do you let the glue skim over then scrape with a putty knife, do you let it dry then run it through the planer? Lots of opinions. This is, in my humble opinion, more of an issue and a more important one, when you are talking about projects involving stain - such as furniture. However, because we are talking cutting boards that will not be stained - I think the dynamics are different.

What do I do? First off, I try to keep my squeeze out to a minimum (as stated in early blog post). I admit that I'm a wiper. I get my clamps set then use a paper towel and clean up the squeeze out. On face grain boards this is not an issue. Since all of my boards go through the planer, I'm not at all worried about the possibility of a little skim of glue on the surface. I'm more concerned about a hard piece of glue causing a knick on my planer knives. (I do have a different opinion on end grain boards - but it's not much different.)

Now what about keeping the glue off of the clamps. Some people wax their clamps and swear by it. I've not had any luck with that. I protect my clamps using either wax paper or painter's tape. I've tried different methods of placing the wax paper on the pipe. I've used the crease and make a tent method:

Amber Wood Orange Tints and shades Metal


The problem with the tent is three-fold. One you have to use enough paper to cover the pipe and reach the tabletop. Secondly, it moves! I got frustrated with this method because as I would move my wood to glue or reposition it the paper would move. Third, and finally, because it may move, it can get bunched up and can get in between my work pieces causing more problems than I care to mention. So I skip this method and use much less wax paper by simply taping it in place with a little sliver of scotch tape. The paper doesn't move and it's easily removed when the clamps come off.

Wood Amber Road surface Street light Tints and shades


Now, despite using paper and/or painter's tape, I still get glue on the pipes. I'm the type of person that can get dirty doing the laundry so not being about to keep the glue completely off of my pipes is not a stretch for me. So here's your bonus tip. Every 5 or 6 months I'll sort through my clamps and will set about cleaning up any dried on glue. On regular pipe clamps the glue will sometimes just pop off with a good push of a putty knife. Doesn't happen often enough for me. I end up using good old vinegar to clean up the clamps. All I do is soak some paper towels and wrap the pipe. Let it sit for an hour or so, remove the towels and wipe off the glue. The vinegar stinks so I usually do this outside on a nice sunny day.

Okay that's all I've got today. The next entry I'll try to hit up some "opps how do you fix this" tips.

As always, comments and suggestions are welcome.
Great tips here, Betsy! Thanks for the one about vinegar and the clamps. I'm going to need it after this batch of rolling pins.

My rule for scraps- if it doesn't go thru the hose on the shop vac it's a keeper ;^)
 

Attachments

#43 ·
End Grain Portion

Well - I've certainly fallen behind on my blog. My apologies for not getting it finished by now. I got absolutely slammed for Christmas. I did three shows in December and did a lot of one on one selling and had my day job going on. Between all that I'm just plum wore out. So I'm resting this week and the weekend and will get back in the shop on Monday the 4th and start working on the end grain portion of the blog.

Hopefully the first portion of my blog helped someone before Christmas.

See you soon.
 
#45 ·
Starting on end grain

Hopefully you all had a good long holiday with family and friends. I certainly did and I took advantage of the time to rest up and rejuvenate. I had an amazing sales month but it was exhausting so I really needed time away from the shop but now I'm slowing getting back in the swing of things and getting ready for my first 2016 show in March.

So now we move onto end grain cutting boards.

Some general rules about end grain boards:
1. They all start off as face grain boards;
2. The thickness of your face grain board will equal the width of each slice turned on its edge (i.e. if your panel has been thickness planed to ½" then each slice will be ½" when turned on its edge);
3. The thickness of the finished end grain board is determined by the width of the slices you cut from the face grain panel (if you slice your board at 1.5" then the board will be 1.5" tall/thick);
4. Each slice is turned on it's edge to expose the end grain;
5. In a simple end grain board your pattern is made by flipping every other slice;
6. You are gluing face grain to face grain;
7. It's infinitely easier to mess up your pattern when doing the glue up on a end grain board than on a face grain board - been there, done that, got the tee-shirt.

1. They all start off as face grain boards.

All steps making a face grain board are the basis of building end grain boards There's very little difference. However, for an end grain board your beginning face grain board has to be set up so that when you get to the flipping slice stage there is some offset of pieces to make the pattern.

As an example: The following board is made by flipping every other slice.

Font Material property Rectangle Tints and shades Communication Device


Font Material property Rectangle Technology Pattern


The next board is still a good face grain board - but if you flip the slices you end up with the same pattern as if you didn't flip them at all.

Communication Device Gadget Mobile device Font Material property


Now add one more walnut board to that same plan then flip every other slice and you get a nice pattern.

Brown Wood Font Material property Rectangle


Brown Rectangle Textile Wood Material property


Using a cutting board designer program helps with making a pattern - you can experiment and not waste a single board foot of lumber. The designer program I use can be found here: www.1024studios.com/cuttingboard.html. It's a terrific program and easy to use. For you Mac users you are out of luck as this particular program only runs on Windows. I understand there is a way to run Windows on the Mac - but I have no idea how that works - so you're on your own on this issue.

2. The thickness of your face grain board will equal the width of each slice turned on its edge (i.e. if your initial face grain panel has been thickness planed to ½" then each slice will be ½" wide when turned on its edge);

Wood Tape measure Measuring instrument Plant Font


Wood Rectangle Ruler Wood stain Flooring


If working with a board that requires two or more panels - making both panels at different thickness/width to make one board adds interesting details to the finished board.

3. The thickness of the finished end grain board is determined by the width of the slices you cut from the face grain panel (if you slice your board at 1.5" then the board will be 1.5" tall/thick);

Ruler Wood Rectangle Office ruler Tape measure


Wood Flooring Rectangle Floor Road surface


4. Each slice is turned on it's edge to expose the end grain. Once you've made your cuts to the panel, each slice is turned on it's edge so that the end grain gets exposed.

Wood Flooring Watercraft Floor Road surface


5. In a simple end grain board your pattern is made by flipping every other slice. That would be flipped end for end not from left to right.

6. You are gluing face grain to face grain; When you glued your initial panel you were gluing edge grain to edge grain in a butt joint. No mechanical assistance is needed to make a good bond - i.e. no screws, no nails or dowels are needed.

7. It's infinitely easier to mess up your pattern when doing the glue up on a end grain board than on a face grain board - been there, done that, got the tee-shirt. Generally once flipped you would have a dark, light, dark, light sequence (from left to right or right to left however you like). I always just double check the sequence by actually touching each piece and mumbling under my breath light, dark, light, dark, light dark and so on. If I hit a light, light, dark - I've messed up catch my mistake before gluing. if you get into doing two or three panel boards it's even easier to screw up - so you need to find a system of keeping track of your pieces as you go along.

Let's back up just a little bit and go to the cutting slices stage. This can be a problem stage on getting all the slices the same. If you've already tried an end grain board and realize the some of your slices are taller than others or when you put all your slices next to each other you find some that are taller on one end is shorter on the other, the problem could be that your stop block moved or that you failed to notice a gap between your workpiece and the face of your crosscut sled. If you have the taller on one end shorter on the other then more than likely there was a gap between your sled and the panel. You simply need to find out what caused the gap and remove it. You probably will need to trim the end of your panel so that it's straight again and not compounding the problem in the opposite direction.

When you've finished your slicing you should put all your slices side by side and make sure they are all the same height. When doing this check both sides of each slice to see if you have any burn marks. Hopefully you don't have any burn marks, but if you do, depending on how you plan to smooth your glued up board, will depend on how you may want to address the burn marks. In my opinion, you will save yourself time and effort by taking off that burn mark before you glue up the board. It's easy enough to just shave a tiny bit off of the slices at the table saw. Generally it can be a skim cut. If you do this method - you must skim cut ALL of the pieces so that they remain the same height.

In theory, when you are ready to glue your board all of the pieces should be square and, therefore, the corners of your pattern through the board should match up like they do on your paper/computer pattern. However, if they do not - your board may not be what you envisioned but it's not a lost cause. You can do several things (I'm sure there are more). One is to simply adjust the corners to fit the way you want and deal with the uneven edges of the board by slicing them off at the table saw. However, if the fit is way off, or just off more than you like, you may choose to use a little eye trickery. By putting slices of a solid color between each slice you move the corners away from each other and the eye is less likely to see that the corners do not match.

Now as for glue ups. I'm of the opinion of just a tiny bit of squeeze out is a good thing. You don't want to be sloppy with the glue on an end grain board. You have to be aware that any liquid will seep into the pores of an end grain board. Glue is liquid - now this is only my opinion but it makes since to me, but you don't want glue to clog up your pores because then your oil will not soak in. This is why I'm not a "wiper" when I glue end grain boards. I let the glue set to a consistency that I can shave it off with a dullish old chisel.

One thing about the clogging up the pores thought. I don't know how deep the glue could get before it hardens. Since glue is pretty thick it may not penetrate far at all and planing or sanding may deal with the clogs but since I don't know the answer, I err on the side of caution and don't wipe up excess glue.

Now as to the smoothing the glued up board to prepare for edging and sanding. This can be done with a hand plane, a belt sander, a random orbital sander, or an electric planer. Your glue up technique really plays a role here. If you have a lot of high/low spots you've got a lot of work to do. But if your glue up is good and you start with a pretty even board to start with you'll thank yourself at this stage.

The lingering problems from past health issues means I don't have the hand strength to do hand planing and have no desire to smooth a board with an electric sander. Both methods are used every day by many woodworkers to great affect. But my preference is to use a electric planer. This is a very controversial method. If you are new to woodworking IT IS NOT the method I would advise you to use. Planing end grain is a very dangerous method - if you try to take off too much in a pass the board could blow up in the planer sending pieces of the board like projectiles. You can be injured easily and you could, at a minimum damage your planer beyond repair.

With all that said, if you are comfortable with using a planer all I can tell you is what I do - I'm NOT telling you to use my method - but since this is my blog and I figure I need to be honest about my method. My first thing is to make sure my slices are all good, all the same height, etc. I make sure my glue up is absolutely dead on flat, and I glue on a sacrificial pine board on both ends of my board to deal with any tear out which will happen on any end grain board that is not pre-cut or protected with a sacrificial board. I sneak up on the cut and once I make contact with my board I barely change the height on each pass. "Barely change" is I gently bump my height wheel. Because my glue ups are good, I generally only have to pass the board through the planer two or three "barely bumping" times on each side. Once I'm happy with the finish I can sand with a hand sander from 100 to 150 to 200 and I'm ready for oil.

I realize that using an electric planer is very controversial but I can honestly say that I've been doing this method since I started making boards which is a long time ago and ALL of my end grain boards go through the planer. I've never had an issue with an end grain board. (I did have some curly maple blow up on me and got a piece caught in my planer fan, but thankfully, the machine was not damaged beyond repair.)

I only use mineral oil on my boards. I do use bees wax from time to time, but plain oil is my preference. Because I do so many boards at a time, I keep oil in a tub and soak each board 15 minutes. I determined the time by experimenting with some boards sacrificed to the experiment. I soaked boards at different time periods, let them dry and then cut them in half to see how far the oil penetrated with each time period. 15 minutes won out.

So I hope all of the above helps you out a bit. I'm open to questions and any comments. (I will say I know some will want to take issue with using an electric planer, but like I said earlier - I'm not recommending it - just being honest of how I do things.)

Happy WW'ing to all and to all a good night!
 

Attachments

#46 ·
Starting on end grain

Hopefully you all had a good long holiday with family and friends. I certainly did and I took advantage of the time to rest up and rejuvenate. I had an amazing sales month but it was exhausting so I really needed time away from the shop but now I'm slowing getting back in the swing of things and getting ready for my first 2016 show in March.

So now we move onto end grain cutting boards.

Some general rules about end grain boards:
1. They all start off as face grain boards;
2. The thickness of your face grain board will equal the width of each slice turned on its edge (i.e. if your panel has been thickness planed to ½" then each slice will be ½" when turned on its edge);
3. The thickness of the finished end grain board is determined by the width of the slices you cut from the face grain panel (if you slice your board at 1.5" then the board will be 1.5" tall/thick);
4. Each slice is turned on it's edge to expose the end grain;
5. In a simple end grain board your pattern is made by flipping every other slice;
6. You are gluing face grain to face grain;
7. It's infinitely easier to mess up your pattern when doing the glue up on a end grain board than on a face grain board - been there, done that, got the tee-shirt.

1. They all start off as face grain boards.

All steps making a face grain board are the basis of building end grain boards There's very little difference. However, for an end grain board your beginning face grain board has to be set up so that when you get to the flipping slice stage there is some offset of pieces to make the pattern.

As an example: The following board is made by flipping every other slice.

Font Material property Rectangle Tints and shades Communication Device


Font Material property Rectangle Technology Pattern


The next board is still a good face grain board - but if you flip the slices you end up with the same pattern as if you didn't flip them at all.

Communication Device Gadget Mobile device Font Material property


Now add one more walnut board to that same plan then flip every other slice and you get a nice pattern.

Brown Wood Font Material property Rectangle


Brown Rectangle Textile Wood Material property


Using a cutting board designer program helps with making a pattern - you can experiment and not waste a single board foot of lumber. The designer program I use can be found here: www.1024studios.com/cuttingboard.html. It's a terrific program and easy to use. For you Mac users you are out of luck as this particular program only runs on Windows. I understand there is a way to run Windows on the Mac - but I have no idea how that works - so you're on your own on this issue.

2. The thickness of your face grain board will equal the width of each slice turned on its edge (i.e. if your initial face grain panel has been thickness planed to ½" then each slice will be ½" wide when turned on its edge);

Wood Tape measure Measuring instrument Plant Font


Wood Rectangle Ruler Wood stain Flooring


If working with a board that requires two or more panels - making both panels at different thickness/width to make one board adds interesting details to the finished board.

3. The thickness of the finished end grain board is determined by the width of the slices you cut from the face grain panel (if you slice your board at 1.5" then the board will be 1.5" tall/thick);

Ruler Wood Rectangle Office ruler Tape measure


Wood Flooring Rectangle Floor Road surface


4. Each slice is turned on it's edge to expose the end grain. Once you've made your cuts to the panel, each slice is turned on it's edge so that the end grain gets exposed.

Wood Flooring Watercraft Floor Road surface


5. In a simple end grain board your pattern is made by flipping every other slice. That would be flipped end for end not from left to right.

6. You are gluing face grain to face grain; When you glued your initial panel you were gluing edge grain to edge grain in a butt joint. No mechanical assistance is needed to make a good bond - i.e. no screws, no nails or dowels are needed.

7. It's infinitely easier to mess up your pattern when doing the glue up on a end grain board than on a face grain board - been there, done that, got the tee-shirt. Generally once flipped you would have a dark, light, dark, light sequence (from left to right or right to left however you like). I always just double check the sequence by actually touching each piece and mumbling under my breath light, dark, light, dark, light dark and so on. If I hit a light, light, dark - I've messed up catch my mistake before gluing. if you get into doing two or three panel boards it's even easier to screw up - so you need to find a system of keeping track of your pieces as you go along.

Let's back up just a little bit and go to the cutting slices stage. This can be a problem stage on getting all the slices the same. If you've already tried an end grain board and realize the some of your slices are taller than others or when you put all your slices next to each other you find some that are taller on one end is shorter on the other, the problem could be that your stop block moved or that you failed to notice a gap between your workpiece and the face of your crosscut sled. If you have the taller on one end shorter on the other then more than likely there was a gap between your sled and the panel. You simply need to find out what caused the gap and remove it. You probably will need to trim the end of your panel so that it's straight again and not compounding the problem in the opposite direction.

When you've finished your slicing you should put all your slices side by side and make sure they are all the same height. When doing this check both sides of each slice to see if you have any burn marks. Hopefully you don't have any burn marks, but if you do, depending on how you plan to smooth your glued up board, will depend on how you may want to address the burn marks. In my opinion, you will save yourself time and effort by taking off that burn mark before you glue up the board. It's easy enough to just shave a tiny bit off of the slices at the table saw. Generally it can be a skim cut. If you do this method - you must skim cut ALL of the pieces so that they remain the same height.

In theory, when you are ready to glue your board all of the pieces should be square and, therefore, the corners of your pattern through the board should match up like they do on your paper/computer pattern. However, if they do not - your board may not be what you envisioned but it's not a lost cause. You can do several things (I'm sure there are more). One is to simply adjust the corners to fit the way you want and deal with the uneven edges of the board by slicing them off at the table saw. However, if the fit is way off, or just off more than you like, you may choose to use a little eye trickery. By putting slices of a solid color between each slice you move the corners away from each other and the eye is less likely to see that the corners do not match.

Now as for glue ups. I'm of the opinion of just a tiny bit of squeeze out is a good thing. You don't want to be sloppy with the glue on an end grain board. You have to be aware that any liquid will seep into the pores of an end grain board. Glue is liquid - now this is only my opinion but it makes since to me, but you don't want glue to clog up your pores because then your oil will not soak in. This is why I'm not a "wiper" when I glue end grain boards. I let the glue set to a consistency that I can shave it off with a dullish old chisel.

One thing about the clogging up the pores thought. I don't know how deep the glue could get before it hardens. Since glue is pretty thick it may not penetrate far at all and planing or sanding may deal with the clogs but since I don't know the answer, I err on the side of caution and don't wipe up excess glue.

Now as to the smoothing the glued up board to prepare for edging and sanding. This can be done with a hand plane, a belt sander, a random orbital sander, or an electric planer. Your glue up technique really plays a role here. If you have a lot of high/low spots you've got a lot of work to do. But if your glue up is good and you start with a pretty even board to start with you'll thank yourself at this stage.

The lingering problems from past health issues means I don't have the hand strength to do hand planing and have no desire to smooth a board with an electric sander. Both methods are used every day by many woodworkers to great affect. But my preference is to use a electric planer. This is a very controversial method. If you are new to woodworking IT IS NOT the method I would advise you to use. Planing end grain is a very dangerous method - if you try to take off too much in a pass the board could blow up in the planer sending pieces of the board like projectiles. You can be injured easily and you could, at a minimum damage your planer beyond repair.

With all that said, if you are comfortable with using a planer all I can tell you is what I do - I'm NOT telling you to use my method - but since this is my blog and I figure I need to be honest about my method. My first thing is to make sure my slices are all good, all the same height, etc. I make sure my glue up is absolutely dead on flat, and I glue on a sacrificial pine board on both ends of my board to deal with any tear out which will happen on any end grain board that is not pre-cut or protected with a sacrificial board. I sneak up on the cut and once I make contact with my board I barely change the height on each pass. "Barely change" is I gently bump my height wheel. Because my glue ups are good, I generally only have to pass the board through the planer two or three "barely bumping" times on each side. Once I'm happy with the finish I can sand with a hand sander from 100 to 150 to 200 and I'm ready for oil.

I realize that using an electric planer is very controversial but I can honestly say that I've been doing this method since I started making boards which is a long time ago and ALL of my end grain boards go through the planer. I've never had an issue with an end grain board. (I did have some curly maple blow up on me and got a piece caught in my planer fan, but thankfully, the machine was not damaged beyond repair.)

I only use mineral oil on my boards. I do use bees wax from time to time, but plain oil is my preference. Because I do so many boards at a time, I keep oil in a tub and soak each board 15 minutes. I determined the time by experimenting with some boards sacrificed to the experiment. I soaked boards at different time periods, let them dry and then cut them in half to see how far the oil penetrated with each time period. 15 minutes won out.

So I hope all of the above helps you out a bit. I'm open to questions and any comments. (I will say I know some will want to take issue with using an electric planer, but like I said earlier - I'm not recommending it - just being honest of how I do things.)

Happy WW'ing to all and to all a good night!
Great job, Betsy!

I need to try the soaking method. Right now I just apply the oil let it soak in and the apply more.

Here's a link to another program for designing the cutting board pattern-
http://www.lastalias.com/cbdesigner/
 

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