Cutting Board Learning #2: Making Progress

good job! you will greatly benefit from having pipe clamps (Pony). they are 10-15$ each and will last you a lifetime (you need two and some 3/4” pipes). they give you the best baseline for your cutting board (the pipes) and have very accurate pressure. if I were you, that would be my next purchase.

keep making them!

-- The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep...

Well now , isn’t that special : ) You’re going to be putting me out of business in no time at all : ) Great job considering your tool selection at the moment . Any luck with the bandsaw at work thoughts ? How much have the pen blanks cost you so far ?

-- You know you're getting old when you know the difference between you're (you are) and your (belonging to you) AND how to use them in a sentence .

looking good.

let me start with the clamps – I think those are terrific clamps ! and not some sub-par quality clamps… I have the same and I love those, they are actually heavier duty then other clamps in the same range!

2 things:
1. I would recommend (hand/power) planing the pieces prior to glue up – this will give you a better looking joint, and a better/stronger joint
2. I would recommend (hand/power) planing the surfaces of the glued-up panel before you sand it – it’ll clean up those joint lines, and give you a more uniformed “single piece” look to the board, and reduce any gaps in between the pieces that make up for it.

keep up the good work ! and thanx for sharing.

-- When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.

I agree with planing after glueup. If you are worried about snipe then glue sacrificial boards to the two outboard sides of your board. The sacrificial pieces must be longer than your board. Run this assembly through your planner. Any snipe will be in the longer sacrificial pieces. Cut them away on the table saw when you are done. I do this when I make end grain boards for smooth results.

Hey guys. Thanks for the tips…however, as of now, I don’t have a planer (hand or power) and I don’t have a table saw, or a band saw, or anything big as I’m working in an apartment. I have a jigsaw, circular saw, router, sheet sander, miter saw, and a drill. That’s about it….Call it “Powered Traditional woodworking”.... It looks like I may be in the market for a hand planer, huh?

you can use the router as a planer with a jig. however, this is not trivial. I still think that with pipe clamps, assuming that the blanks are all 100% alike, you will get much better results as you can get very level gluing.
decent #5 plane will also work wonders, but this is also a skill that has to be learned. the big bonus is that hand planes are quite and make no sawdust, which is very important in apartments. dont forget to lap and hone whatever plane you get, otherwise you will be discouraged by the result.

-- The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep...

good job!

-- jeanmarc manosque france

Yo Bro , any progress to date ?

-- You know you're getting old when you know the difference between you're (you are) and your (belonging to you) AND how to use them in a sentence .

@Dusty56: Waiting on permission to begin my #5 hand plane mission. Hopefully next week I can go look for one. Will definitely keep updating here when I’ve made progress. Thanks for checking!