How to Make a 16” by 12”, Two-Tone, End Grain Cutting
Board
By: Bob Tank, SCA Woodchips Member
Materials required:
- Titebond III glue
- 3 boardfeet of 4/4 hard maple
- 3 boardfeet of 4/4 walnut or
cherry
Step 1. Plane 4/4 wood so it has
a smooth finish. It likely will be
about 13/16” to 14/16” thick at this point.
Step 2. Cut planed wood into 24”
lengths.
Step 3. Edge joint one edge of
each 24” length of wood.
Step 4. Cut each 24” length of
wood into 2” wide strips. You will need four pieces of dark wood and five
pieces of light wood or four pieces of light wood and five pieces of dark,
whichever you prefer.
Step 5. Lay out your nine pieces
of 24” by 2” by 13/16” wood alternating light and dark pieces to check to be
sure that all pieces are straight and true so there are no gaps between the
nine pieces of wood. Joint the edges of
any pieces that are not straight.
Step 6. Glue up your nine
straight pieces of wood using two 5-foot clamps placed at the two ends of your
board and three or four smaller bar clamps between the 5 foot clamps. Try to
get the nine pieces of wood as flat as possible (I stand on them). Use a wet rag to clean excess glue off both
sides of your board.
Step 7. When the glue has dried,
use the scraper to scrape excess glue off both sides of your board.
Step 8. Run each board through the 43” sander until
both sides are perfectly flat. At this
point your board should be .75” thick or a little less.
{This is a good place to end
your first work session.}
Step 9. Cut your 24” long board
into 18 pieces 1-7/32” thick.
Step 10. Next, arrange your 18
pieces so the end grain is facing up and every other piece is staggered to
create the geometric pattern you desire. Using a large square and a pencil,
draw a single heavy vertical reference line on your arrangement. You will use this line to align the 18
pieces that will comprise your finished board during the gluing and clamping
process. Make sure the line you draw is
parallel with the left and right edges of your board and parallel with the
vertical axis of your geometric design.
This is important because when you trim the left and right sides of your
board you will want the trimmed edges of your finished board to be parallel
with the vertical axis of your geometric design. There is no need to trim the top and bottom edges of your board.
Step 11. Gluing is a three-step
process. First, glue up and clamp 9
contiguous pieces. Then glue up and clamp the second set of nine pieces. After the glue has set, which takes about 30
minutes, glue the two halves together and let the glue set for another 30
minutes or longer. After clamping your wood use a wet rag to clean off all
excess glue.
Step 12. Remove all clamps and scrap off any excess
dried glue using a scraper.
Step 13. Run your board through
the 43” sander until both sides are flat and smooth. Your board should be a
little over an inch thick at this point.
Step 14. Use the table router
with a quarter-round bit to ease the edges of your board.
Step 15. Sand your board using
150 grit paper until it is smooth as silk.
Step 16. Impregnate your work of
art with many, many coats of mineral oil.
Total project time: about six hours