| Project by RusticElements | posted 553 days ago | 684 views | 4 times favorited | 16 comments |  |
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Some of you may remember the deal I got a while back on a few boxes of scrap wood. Well, here’s the beginnings of making use of them.
I decided to start by making a few end grain cutting boards and a spatula. Here’s how I made the boards. Any of you can chime in here if you are more experienced with doing this (not hard) and wish to mention a different procedure.
I started by gluing a bunch of pieces of similar length and width together:
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Once these were dry I ran them through the thickness planer just to make them even on both sides. I had a heck of a time with these sandwiches falling apart where the darkest wood is. I don’t know what it is but it is VERY dense and wouldn’t take the glue.
Then I glued several of them together. My band saw will only cut 5.5” high so I had to make 2 blocks. I don’t have clamps that would clamp the center of the block so I used some of the hardwood scraps to distribute the pressure.
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I set the band saw to 1” and ran the blocks through. The goal is to end up with ~7/8”. You can see what’s left of the blocks in the foreground.
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These where then glued together to make the boards. I only have enough clamps for 3 so you’ll see 2 dry ones on the top of the pile. I ended up with 5 all together :). I added the reddish strips to help stabilize the structure due to the dark wood not taking glue well.
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Once dry they were sanded and trimmed to get what you see at the top of the page. All 5 are the same,except for the wavy edge trimming. 11 5/8” X 8 1/2” X 7/8”. The finish is Rustic Element Orange Wax.
The spatula is 16 3/4” long with the flat being 3 1/2” X 4 1/2”. The peg at the joint does have structural value but it’s not really needed – just decoration. The finish is Rustic Element Orange Wax.
I have no idea what these woods are as I am not an expert. I think the 2nd darkest is walnut, the large light ones are white oak, and the small white ones are maple. The rest I have no idea. If any of you do, let me know.
-- Michael R. Harvey - Brewster, NY - RusticElementArt.com - SpaceAware.org - AnConn.com
16 comments so far
Joe Weaver
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108 posts in 581 days
posted 553 days ago
they look great
-- Joe, Ga
jm82435
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508 posts in 636 days
posted 553 days ago
love the spatula.
-- A thing of beauty is a joy forever...
GaryK
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9521 posts in 883 days
posted 553 days ago
Nice blog and spatula and cutting boards!
-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.
Teri
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87 posts in 657 days
posted 553 days ago
I absolutely love the spatula! Here’s a question for ya … Are there any hardwoods that should not be used in a cutting board? Are there any that aren’t considered food-safe?
-- Teri, Kokomo, IN
RusticElements
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166 posts in 620 days
posted 553 days ago
Teri, I’m not certain but, someone a few days ago posted some info on toxic woods (sorry, I don’t remember who right now) and all the info seemed to relate to dust or fume inhalation. It didn’t really say anything about contact. If I’m mistaken, I’d love to know about it.
BTW, thanx for the compliments. Looks like I’m going to have to make more spatulas like this one :).
-- Michael R. Harvey - Brewster, NY - RusticElementArt.com - SpaceAware.org - AnConn.com
cassy
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27 posts in 926 days
posted 553 days ago
From the pictures the dark wood looks like cumaru,if it is it would have to be glued with either polyeurethane glue or titebond 3. I would try titebond 3 first because it is food safe and waterproof. Very nice boards, hope this helps.
-- dave montreal
dennis mitchell
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3789 posts in 1209 days
posted 553 days ago
Great!
-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com
RusticElements
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166 posts in 620 days
posted 553 days ago
Cassy, Titebond III is what I used, for the reasons you mention. It holds to it ok, it just didn’t like the stress of thickness planer.
-- Michael R. Harvey - Brewster, NY - RusticElementArt.com - SpaceAware.org - AnConn.com
Scott Bryan
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20651 posts in 716 days
posted 553 days ago
Michael,
These are nice cutting boards. And I like the spatula as well. The blog was informative and easily followed.
Nice photography as well.
Thanks for the post.
-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.
Woodhacker
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1145 posts in 618 days
posted 552 days ago
Michael, very nice cutting boards and a great use of scraps. I’ve been saving a bunch of mine for just this purpose, but I’ve not taken the time dig in.
Great Job! (Nice looking spatula too)
-- Martin, Kansas
Napaman
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3486 posts in 971 days
posted 552 days ago
if i remeber right you got these at a Flee Market—-it would be fun to go back there and see how much money you could get for these…I’ll bet a huge profit on your original purchase of scrap wood…OF COURSE THERE IS ADDED VALUE…these turned out really nice…I will favorite this for the future…
FOURTEEN DAYS LEFT UNTIL SUMMER…
-- Matt, Napa, CA...fun is beautiful...just trying to have some fun...
jockmike2
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7314 posts in 1141 days
posted 552 days ago
Really unique cutting boards, and spatula. mike
-- Mike. mwurm13@yahoo.com
snig
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6 posts in 552 days
posted 552 days ago
Hey they look great, and it also looks like your the glue master.
Grumpy
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14920 posts in 745 days
posted 541 days ago
Great blog Michael. Good to see you are getting use out of that wood we are all envious about.
-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python
tommyboy
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13 posts in 683 days
posted 487 days ago
Hello Michael,
Nice work!
Do you find, as seasons change and humidity varies, that due to opposing grain orientations there is expansion/contraction which results in surfaces becoming uneven or glue joints being separated?
-- peace
fred4999
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77 posts in 379 days
posted 341 days ago
Michael, as we used to say in days gone by, cool!. I liked your photos as well as the end products both the boards and the spatula really stand out, good job! Regards
-- Fred, Georgia