Invader Cutting Board

You may have seen one of these on the internet before, and yes that was my inspiration. A couple of my friends got married last month and I thought this was perfect for them because they love games and nostalgic stuff like this.

For those who don’t know (don’t be shy), the character is one of the invaders from the Space Invaders arcade game. It works perfect for a cutting board because of the large pixel graphics that they used back in the day.

Now, for how it was done…

The woods I used were maple (scraps from the shop, but I’m pretty sure it was rock maple) and purple heart. I considered two options: First: Cut each individual block (or pixel), arrange each column and glue, then gang-glue them. Second: (this is harder to describe, but made more sense to make) Found common patterns and made wider sections of them, cut them in halves or thirds, then glued them up.

All in all it went well. I had already made a few before, so other than a modified process for the graphic, the board went together quite easily. The only problem I had was a hot and dulling table saw blade which you can see the arches it made on the second shot (back side). Luckily, those tended to only appear on one side of each cut column so I was able to put them all on one side of the finished board.

Finishing was a breeze compared to the previous ones I did. I finally bought a random orbit sander and it made it much easier. Plus, the finished piece was much smoother because I went through the extra effort to raise the grain between sanding jobs. Basically, I would sand from low to high grit until smooth. Then, I’d wipe down the board with a wet cloth. Water absorbed into the end grain and would rough up the finish. So, I’d go through the grits again. By them time I had done this about four times, I could wipe it down with a wet cloth and it would stay smooth.

Lastly, I coated it with two coats of food safe mineral oil. It really deepens the color of the woods and makes it look great.

I always get a kick out of making things like this as gifts. My friends didn’t know I made it until I asked them to take a few pictures for my projects list (yeah, I forgot to take them myself). They replied back saying they were almost afraid to use it. Ha!

~Danny Boy

-- Happy Ripping!!!