"woven" cutting board in wenge, quartersawn white oak and honduran mahogany

Beautiful pattern.

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

I loved this pattern too. The first time I every noticed it was on TIMBER’S project. It stuck with me.

-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever

Wow Dan. I like the way the wood looks woven. very nice patern, whoever gets it will be lucky to have it.

-- bryano

Cool!

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Very nice

-- Marge, Colorado

Almost to nice to cut on, no wait it is to nice to cut on, the pattern is amazing I don’t get how you did but it look great.

-- Jeff B.

Darn! Now I’ve got another project that I just have to try. Looks great.

-- Bruce from Central New York

Very nice. I like the weave too. The wenge makes the pattern really pop.

-- Jeff, St. Paul, MN

Hi Dan;

GREAT job!

Very good looking cutting board, the finest I’ve seen.

Lee

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com

Really cool. There are just too many good ideas on this site.

-- Matt - Syracuse, NY

I really like cutting boards. I’ve seen several very nice patterns here on LJ’s forum – but yours is the most visually appealing that I’ve seen. Outstanding pattern Dan.

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/

is the flip side for cutting on??

Gorgeous
and one evening???

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

IT is to nice to cut on :)

I wonder how that pattern would be if you used the end grain for the cutting surface. Is there a link to the steps used to create the pattern? It makes my brain hurt just thinking about how it was created.

-- "so much to learn and so little time"..

Dan – that is a really amazing cutting board! It is truly one of a kind.

Whoever gets this can be sure that nobody has one like theirs ;^D

Thanks for sharing it with us!

-- Tom, Surfside Beach, SC - Romans 8:28

Really good work, Dan. Thanks for sharing

-- Thos. Angle

Wow is all I can say. Great selection of contrasting woods.

-- Dave _-^-_ Baltimore, MD

Major thanks for all the great feedback !

Have fun making one of your own.

Email me if you want need a dimensioned sketch of the project. It is in WORD format or a Autocad lite file.

-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever

Beautiful Dan, and being a chef I can really appreciate it…....

-- James - Geneva, Switzerland

“I used my drum sander and dial calipers to make very precise parts.” – Dan Walters

Dan, I’m getting the impression by this post and one by Greg Mitchell, that a stationary drum sander is pretty handy for making these cutting boards.

Also, the use of dial calipers to make a cutting board indicates that your boards are not just some glued up wood scraps but extremely precise works of art.

-- Tom, Surfside Beach, SC - Romans 8:28

Hello Tom

I couldn’t work without my drum sander. I use it every day and this is just a hobby for me. It is a awesome labor saver and adds another level of precision.

For me, with my background, dial or digital calipers are hugely useful. Not only do I measure stock thicknesses, but also tennon thicknesses, drill bits, overall lengths etc. I have six digital and dial calipers laying around. Bought several at garage sales from retired machinists in the 10 to $20 range and found a new set of digital 12 inch calipers on eBay from $45 from a wholesale tool seller. Granted the calipers were made in China, not a aerospace grade tool, but very good for a hobby woodworker who wants the added ease and precision that .0005 calipers can not be beat.

Regards
Dan

-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever

Beautiful piece Dan. You are a true craftsman with a very good eye for what works. Thanks for this posting as well as all of your other amazing pieces. I always look forward to seeing them.

-- Better to say nothing and be thought the fool... then to speak and erase all doubt.

dan great cutting board. The pattern is intense.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Beautiful!!! I’d have loved to seen the final glue-up process. Great piece.

Very nice!!

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Great visual effect, beautiful work!

-- Bob A in NJ

Glue up was pretty fun.
First started by making a stage out of 3/4 plywood, about 10 inches square. I covered the plywood with priority mail packing tape. Epoxy doesn’t stick to the shiney side of packing tape. Then made 4 glue blocks about 10 inches long x about 1/2 thick from left over scrap. I marked the glue-squeeze-out joint spacing on each and cut rough dados about 3/8 inch wide on each block using the bandsaw and chisel. Epoxy was two part and luckily mixed up just about the right amount .. i.e. ... 4 tablespoons of resin and 2 tablespoons of hardner. Mixed in a small amount of the powdered dye and used a glue brush to paint it on each block. Dados in the glue blocks were postioned to clear the glue lines and bar clamps squeezed the assembly together. Five on each side. I tapped down any raized blocks with the butt of a small hammer…. Fun stuff !!

-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever

Now that’s a beautiful cutting board. Great job Dan. I made a lot of cutting boards this year, but that’s the best I’ve seen. Thanks for sharing. The wood you selected goes together nicely.

-- Greg Mitchell--Lowell, AR--gdamitchell@sbcglobal.net

I missed the original “inspiration”, so I had to look at them both. Beautiful job! Maybe there will be a “CUTTING BOARD COMPETITION” in the future here at LJ.

-- http://ye-olde-cabinet-shoppe.com/

That is a beautifull board, love the use of contrasting materials. It has a cool basket weave kinda feel. I dont think I would cut food on it though..I dont think epoxy, anilyne dye, or polyurethane glue are aproved for food contact, not to mention I’m not sure if wenge, or mahogany are on the list of toxic woods, although the toxic wood thing isn’t that big of a deal. Most toxic wood you have to ingest quite alot to get sick.. Besides, that board is too beautiful to ruin with cut marks!

-- David, South Windsor, CT "I love the smell of sawdust in the morning"

Toxisity and food safe is a valid concern.
Before making the project I did a little research … googled … and the downloadable manual for the epoxy was a bit vague on the subject and even more vague about the addition of anilyne dye. The epoxy is waterproof and the dye is alchohol soluable. Because of the epoxy is waterproof I assumed it would not disolve in water, and the dye powder suspended in the epoxy wouldn’t disolve either.
The titebond polyurethane glue isn’t FDA approved either, but because it is also waterproof my deduction is that it would never disolve in water either.

Guess my advice to anyone that reads this entry is to do your own homework and use the materials you feel are safe.

-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever

beautiful work of art…if it wont work as a cutting board it would make a really nice table top!!! very nice…

-- Matt, Napa, CA...fun is beautiful...just trying to have some fun...

Dan thanks for the inspiration -I will be making one of these boards soon.

As for the Toxicity, I agree with you. I think that when these materials have cured and dried, any miniscule amount that comes loose that is ingested is not going to harm anyone – splinters are a more likely cause of damage to health, as are possibly certain woods to whom people have allergies (Walnut and Hazel nut for example).

Keep up the good and beautiful work

-- Tony - All things are possible, just some things are more difficult than others! - SKYPE: Heron2005 (http://www.poydatjatuolit.fi)

Valid points..I guess if its waterproof, then it cant become soluble and mix with food contacting the board. I just wanted to mention those points when I read the materials you used to make it. I have made allot of cutting boards and I did allot of research on glues finishes and toxic wood. All the boards I make (for food contact) are mostly of maple, with accents of other darker woods like walnut, cherry, bubinga, and even purpleheart. Even though the bubinga and purpleheart are on the toxic list, I use such small strips and you would have to ingest almost the whole cutting board to get sick from them! As for glue I use Titebond 2..it’s waterproof, and USDA approved for food contact. I use a commercial mineral oil specifically made for food contact wood finishing. I used to use regular mineral oil but the commercial stuff is thinned out a little so you get better penetration into the wood fibers. I love your design, and the board is beautiful. I am inspired to build one like it for myself.

-- David, South Windsor, CT "I love the smell of sawdust in the morning"

Awesome…

I gotta ask…

How did you bend the wood to make the weave? :)
(of course I’m kidding)

Very NICE!

Thank you!

-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?ppuser=1389&cat=500"

Totally righteous woodworking artwork. Cool!

-- Carpe Lignum - Seize The Wood,

I gotta get me one o’ dem drum sanders! Great job, Dan. Wow!

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Dan,

Very nice piece you have there.

How do you keep the alternating grain directions from expanding and pulling the pieces apart?

Thanks

Hello Bigperm

The glue holds the pieces with alternating grain together.

Because the parts are small I estimate the board to last at least 6 years.

Regards
Dan >grin<

-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever

very nice work Dan!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Awesome work Dan!

-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com

The basic theory behind what woods are safe to use for actual cutting boards and not just decorative pieces, are if the wood comes from a nut bearing tree than it is safe to use. Wenge is a known toxic right next to spalted maple. Tightbond II and III are actually FDA approved for indirect food contact not sure about the poly but I doubt it. I think when it comes down to actuall use cutting boards, I would tend to stay away from the exotics but like the man said, “Do your homework”

-- All donations should be made out to me and in the form of wood or tools ~Chris

did a little homework, but something else to consider is this is a dirty world.

ever think about what your vegitable garden is growing on ? what kind of chemicals are in the soil in your backyard ? ... maybe a old 1920’s car battery buried there years ago. Maybe a gallon of lead based paint dumped there too ! Motor oil ?

I know this is a dirty world. ... just a thought.

Take bite of an apple. How deep did the apple tree roots go. What did is absorb? Did it reach a pocket of mercury. Something else ? Maybe an abandoned gasoline tank. Fuel oil maybe. Old mine tailings.

-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever

Very nice! Looks like a great project for scrap wood.

-- Ron in Osseo, Minnesota

Thanks Ron. Not much material in this one. Less then a board foot.

-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever

super lumberjock TONY made a blog on this style cutting board … if you need any help or motivation to make one check it out and save it in your favorites for future reference …. link to the blog ...

-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever

amazing pattern and details!

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

this is gorgeous ! I spend too much time on my own creations…can’t imagine how long this would take me to do !!!

-- 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 .

I am glad this came around again. Nice work, beautiful board.

Great job Dan. Good luck in the contest.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

thanks so much Grumpy

-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever

Nice work reminds me of The Celtic kells in a simplistic way very nicely executed though to the last fine detail regardsAlistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever

Very nice work Dan! Truely a work of Art.

-- - Michael [..for God's glory." 2 Cor. 10:31] Over 300000 species of trees, yet we take the credit for their beauty...

Dan. outstanding. unique, what an eye catching piece of work, thanks for sharing with us.

-- Fred, Georgia

thanks Fred and welcome to lj’s

you too Michael !

Regards
DAN

-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever

I like these, definetly better than the ones I made last year for gifts! These are great!

-- Nicholas, Journeyman Cabinetmaker, Partenkirchen, Germany

Excellent how-to, thanks for pointing me in that direction! Great board, I really hope to make one this year.

Thanks Rob, have fun making it

Hey Nicholas … thanks

both of you guys … welcome to lj’s

-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever