Cutting board

You did a real nice job on that cutting board.

-- If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. Henry David Thoreau

Looks real nice snow. My only suggestion on the chip out problem is be mindful of the grain direction when gluing up the pieces, and try a #4 or #5 hand plane followed by your sander or card scraper (or both). Good Luck and keep up the good work.

-- Rick, Union,KY firstlightwoodworking.blogspot.com

Nice. Welcome to a probable addiction. Good job, looks great.

A router sled is a nice way to level these without chipping or tearout. It does not have to be fancy.

Something like this picture of some guy:
http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc158/spalm_pics/Router-Planer.jpg

Steve

-- -- I'm no rocket surgeon

Outstanding first cutting board. I plan on making a good number of these soon and since I wont have the cash to buy my drum sander yet (key word is yet) I talked to a local cabinet shop. For a small fee I can run my boards through their “Big Daddy” drum sander… That will save me a LOT of time…lol

-- Dan ~ Texarkana, Tx.

Very nice and welcome to the club!

I’m sure this won’t be your last.

Did you, or are you going to put handles or feet so it’s easier to pickup off the counter, plus the benefit of the feet in letting it dry after washing (without having to stand it up on-edge)?

-- Jonathan, Denver, CO "Constructive criticism is welcome and valued as it gives me new perspectives and helps me to advance as a woodworker."

Great looking project. I love the color combination.

End grain or figured wood will plane a little better if you dampen the surface just before you run it through your planer. Also surface a few dry boards before you quit planing to get rid of the moisture inside the planer. To keep from having snipe, just glue a couple of runners on the side of your blocks that are longer than the cutting block. They’ll get sniped and your block won’t. 1/2” wide works just fine and only cuts down 1” total from the amount that can be planed. I make mine in two 10 – 12” blocks, plane them and then glue them together later.

-- Hal, Tennessee http://www.first285.com

A real quick solution that may help you with chip out, assuming this is happening on the tail end of your board as it leaves the planer. What I end up doing is to run my hand sander at a 45 degree angle on the tail end of the board. This way, as the planer knives leave the board, they aren’t grabbing that last bit of vertical grain and ripping it up.

Not sure if this was what you ran into, but it may be worth a try.

Also, what helped me on snipe (from fellow LJs) was to slightly lift the front end of the board as it is exiting the planer. It may help to picture what is under the hood in the planer. Two rollers with a spinning blade in the middle. As the board passes through and eventually loses contact with that first roller, it causes the board to lift up a little, as the weight in the front of the board is now forcing the nose down and the tail up. Lifting this slightly may help the bottom of the board to stay flush with the bottom plate of the planer. Just my two cents.

Nice first board.

-- Measure, cut, curse, repeat.

Nice.
Best thoughts,
Mads

-- Mad F, the fanatical rhykenologist and vintage architect. Democraticwoodworking.

I personally would never use a thickness planer to level endgrain…but thats is just me being safe… I do however have a TWC and a Drumsander.
Apart from that… welcome to the club… remember we shake hands with our left foot.. full details of membership will be posted out to you in due course…LOL

-- Drink twice... and don't bother to cut... @ larrysworkshop.wordpress.com For lovers of all things timber...

Snowdog, this is certainly a nice looking board. Welcome to the club. :)

-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine

That is a very pretty board. I am going to try this someday.

-- curious woodworker

That looks really nice. You guys are going to make me try my hand at a cutting board.

-- Couldn't think of anything clever. I LIKE WOOD

Great first board. I bet it was fun to watch it change color with the oil. Did you call someone to come see it?!! I did on my first few boards.
Robert

-- Robert, so much inspiration here, and so little time!

great looking board.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

Thanks all, “I love you you guys” :) My wife was amazed at how it changed from light no depth to a deep rich color with a lot of depth. She still think a drum sander is to much $$ but I am not done working on her yet.

I picked up some more chestnut and cherry and will try another board next week.

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