Drunken Cutting Boards

Looks great how did you do glue up? I tried some (much bigger) with 6 strips and could not get them clamped….

Very nice I like the different wood you used

@rwilson: Well, as noted I only glued up 2 or 3 strips at a time. I used a foam brush to put glue on both sides of both the banding and the board segments, and then assembled it very loosely right on top of the bottom two pipe clamps (with wax paper protecting the clamps). Then I cranked the two bottom pipe clamps evenly, using a rubber mallet to knock the segments back and forth as necessary to keep the edges (roughly) aligned.

A couple of the banding strips cracked on the more radical curves, but the cracks were all limited to the part of the banding above the cutting board. In between the segments the banding was too restricted to crack. (Or maybe it cracked and just doesn’t show.)

I actually tried steaming the banding strips and pre-bending them, but it turned out not to make much of a difference.

Do the glue joints with the end gluing tend to hold up pretty well?

-- Kevin, Blue Springs, MO

Finally, a cutting board design that I like. This is pretty cool. I am curious to know your process for the cutting of the curved strips so that everything fits together correctly. Are you roughing it on the band saw and then routing it with a template?

Doc

-- Hey, woodworking ain't brain surgery. Just do something and keep trying till you get it. Doc

See here for the tutorial:

http://lumberjocks.com/poroskywood/blog/10833

They came out really good! I need to makefew more before christmas.

Those look great. Nice job.

It seems to me that mathematically the banding should be the same width as your saw curf. That would mean a bit thinner, and would also be easier to bend.

Good choice of woods, enjoy.
Steve

-- -- I'm no rocket surgeon

@SPalm: I actually had the same thought about the width of the banding. I was wondering whether the additional thickness would cause problems over the width of the board. But it turned out not to be a worry, at least for this number of bands.

I think a thicker banding works better visually as well. These were about 1/8” and I wouldn’t try to go any thicker than this unless you purposely kept the curves fairly mild. I actually like the light banding that Porosky used in his boards a little better, but cherry was what I had to hand for these boards, and I’m hoping that it will look a little more distinct as it ages.

If I do another set and have the time, I might try to ebonize the banding, because I think that might look very distinctive.

Those are some wild cutting boards but you did a great job on them.

-- 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

Those are awesome looking boards Scott. Well done.

I had some real issues with my first set of Drunken Boards and they ended up in the trash. Partly due to glue-up and partly due to too sharp of a curse in the second cut. Wasn’t a pretty sight….

-- -- Don in Ottawa, http://www.donebydon.ca

Nicely done… welcome to the club..

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

Very nice boards Scott. You make it look easy enough for me to try one of this type some day. If you are having clamping problems you might try to use wedges instead of pipe clamps or alternatively use round dowels the height of the workpiece edge between your clamp jaws and the workpieces. This should help to prevent bowing by centering the clamping pressure. Also you might try just using a little less clamping pressure.

-- Mike, American in Norway