Yet another cutting board - but my first

I know these are getting old and familiar after the Wood Whisperer made this design famous(!) but this cutting board actually started before then. It was something my partner saw at an outdoor market and I wouldn’t let her pay a lot of money for the one on display because, of course, I announced “I can make one of those for ya”.

Well, I knew I could, but I also knew that I would need some help to remember how it all went together. I roughly knew how it was done, having read how these were done some time ago but I needed some details. Wood Whisperer arrived to the rescue just in time.

So, this one should look familiar. I made this one out of Rimu ( Dacrydium Cupressinum) and Macrocarpa ( Cupressus Macrocarpa) mainly because I had it on hand and there was some contrast between the two woods.

The Macrocarpa is not the best for a cutting board as it is softer than Rimu and is also an aromatic cypress and it may impart some flavors to the items being cut on the board….however…I like the way it looks, so it’s just going to sit around and look pretty and be the model for the next one – not likely this one will be pressed into service.

I must say for those starting out woodworking, I wouldn’t recommend this as a first project. It’s very important to keep everything very accurately square and flat and gluing so many pieces becomes a challenge. Any slight imperfections from flat and square are amplified by the many cuts and many pieces in the glue up. Mine was less than perfect despite my intentional attention to detail – my table saw being ever so slightly out of square – something I’ll be sure to double-check next time. A good belt sander was called into action to pull me out of this one but I think the results are still satisfactory – and end grain finishes up to such a nice smooth finish which is pleasant to the touch.

-- Steve, New Zealand, www.steveracz.com