Birdseye Maple Serving Board In-Progress, with Pictures

Good start..

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

Thanks Larry. I don’t think I’m going to be able to round the edge quite like I originally intended as the board just doesn’t have enough thickness to it. Guess I’ll have to save that for the next one. We’ll see how this one goes.

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

lookin good

-- jack -- ...measure once, curse twice!

Thanks Jack.

Before heading into work today, I was able to hand sand the edges to the exact shape I wanted, as well as sand the top and bottom up through 600-grit, and add a 1/4-roundover to the finger hold, as well as the outer edge. I think I’ll take the outer edge down a little bit more with the router. I really need to build myself a router table! This would go so much faster than clamping it down, doing half of one side freehand with the router, then turning the board around, clamping it down and finishing that side, before flipping it over and repeating the process on the other side. After using the router, I’m going to have to touch the surfaces up with maybe 400-grit, then 600-grit again, before moving on to steel wool. I also need to sand the edges up through the grits and then hit them with steel wool before applying the finish. With any luck, this project will be ready to apply the finish to by the end of this weekend.

I’m still undecided on the finish and plan on using the corner scrap cutoffs to apply some sample finishes to after sanding up through the grits and using steel wool on them. I’m going to use mineral oil on one sample, and General Finishes Salad Bowl Finish on the other sample. I’ll likely thin the first coat of SBF, but then attempt to build a bit of a finish with the subsequent coats since this will likely be used as a serving piece, rather than a cutting board.

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

Thought it was about time for an update on this board. These pictures are after sanding up through 600-grit on the top and bottom, as well as using the 1/4-roundover bit. I am not completely happy with the way it sits right now. I am thinking I’m going to round over the edges even more by hand, lending a more graduated taper. I’ll also need to re-sand the top and bottom lightly with the higher grits after running the router base over the surface numerous times. I may also take this up several more grits.

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

I’ve finally gotten the board to where I’m happy with all of it. I added a gradual taper on both sides along the edge. Used a Japanese saw rasp, then my Ridgid oscillating belt sander, then the ROS, followed by lots and lots of hand sanding through the following grits: 80-120-150-180-220-320-400-600-1000-1500-2000. The pictures were taken this morning, after simply wiping the board off with a Swiffer. I have not cleaned it up with mineral spirits yet to remove the little bit of residual dust left on the surface. I think I am definitely going to build a light finish, using the General Finishes Salad Bowl Finish.

Enjoy the pictures, as well as the vintage Christmas table cloth these pictures were shot on!

These last 2-pictures are a mediocre attempt to show the tapered edge:

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

I finally got this posted in the Projects section, after dragging my heels on getting it done and photographed. Here’s the link to the Projects posting.

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