Art Show and Exhibit

This is a close-up shot of a knot in the wood that brings out the character of the wood.

A Contemporary, Trendy Home for Sale in a Gated Community.
A One-of-A Kind Custom Built home with perfect Feng-Shui and the essence of space and function.
Bring a friend, and enjoy networking with wonderful people and viewing the works of local artisans.

Saturday, March 13th Noon – 5 pm
Food and Wine Provided
Art By:
Tire Swing Designs Lucas VanSickle
Bev Shots Lester Hutt

For More Information Contact:

Lucas VanSickle : lucasvansickle@gmail.com or 850-408-8056
Debbie Kirkland, Realtor : debbiekirkland@homesalesoftallahassee.com or 850-212-0440
Portion of Proceeds from Sales benefit LeMoyne Art Foundation

Directions: 6475 Tracy Lane, Tallahassee, FL 32312; Located off Velda Dairy Rd. in
The Ridge at Velda Dairy
(note that the map calls this Velda Dairy Cir.)

Click here for directions MAP

Starting Location: Florida State Capitol Building 400 South Monroe Street, Tallahassee, FL 32301
1.Head north on S Monroe St toward Apalachee Pkwy
2.Turn right at E Tennessee St
3.Continue onto Mahan Dr
4.Turn left at Capital Cir NE
5.Slight right at FL-61 N/Thomasville Rd/US-319 N
6.Turn right at Kerry Forest Pkwy
7.Turn left at Velda Dairy Rd
8.Turn left at The Ridge at Velda Dairy
9. Left at the end of the circle, 6475 Tracy Lane, Tallahassee, FL 32312…
look for great people and come on in!

• Three quotes for the day dealing with beauty. And one of my favorite pieces to accompany them. Although titled Adagio in G minor by Albinoni, Remo Giazotto first published this in 1958….the name is quite misleading….nonetheless it is still beautiful.
• Adagio in G minor by Albinoni
• 1.Had the price of looking been blindness, I would have looked. ~…Ralph Ellison, “Battle Royal……”
• 2.I don’t like standard beauty – there is no beauty without strangeness. ~Karl Lagerfeld
• 3. Flowers… are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty out values all the utilities of the world. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1844

Take the time to care for your cutting board, and you will gain years of cutting enjoyment.

1) Periodically (once every several weeks or depending upon the amount of use), apply an even coat of walnut oil to the work surface of your cutting board. You can heat the oil thereby making it easier for the wood to soak up the oil. The oil will act as a protective barrier, and will repel water. If you so desire, you can go a step further by adding some beeswax pieces to your heated mixture (1/3 oil to 2/3 beeswax is appropriate). The beeswax acts as another protective coating, and smells pleasant. See (Walnut Oil and Beeswax)

2) Try not to allow moisture of any type to stand on the block for long periods of time. Don’t let fresh, wet meats lay on the block longer than necessary. Brine, water and blood contain moisture, which soaks into the wood, causing the block to expand, and the wood to soften. Although your cutting board is reinforced and strengthened with dowels, prolonged moisture exposure can also affect the strength of the glued joints.

3) Use a good steel scraper or spatula after use, as necessary, to keep the cutting surface clean and sanitary. Do not use a steel brush on the cutting surface of your block or board.

4) It is not recommended to cut fish or fowl on the work surface of your cutting board, unless you have thoroughly followed the instructions in step #1…as the moisture barrier must be intact prior to cutting any type of fish, seafood, or fowl on the work surface of your cutting board. ALWAYS CLEAN THE BLOCK THOROUGHLY AFTER CUTTING FISH OR FOWL ON THE WORK SURFACE.

5) Distribute your cutting over the entire work surface of the cutting board so that it will wear evenly. DON’T use a razor-edged cleaver. It will chip or splinter the wood and produce soft spots. Your cleaver should have dull sharpened edge for best results.

6) You can clean off the surface of your cutting board with warm water and soap, but abstain from harsh detergents, and never put it in the dishwasher.

7) You should turn your cutting board over periodically to allow even usage to both work surfaces.

This may seem like a lot of work, but once you get used to it, it will become second nature as is the relationship you will build with your character filled cutting board. Happy cutting!

1) Adding A Special Touch

On this cutting board, I added 1″ oak dowels in a diamond configuration for decoration. Using a Forstner Bit, I drilled the holes according to my marks, and glued the dowels in place over night. Forstner bits tend to yield a very clean hole, and are nice to use for spots where one needs a tight fit.

The cutting board has 1″ holes drilled, and is ready for dowel placement.

The dowels have been cut and glued into the appropriately marked holes.

2) Sanding and Shaping

I use a 5″ Disc Sander for the initial shaping and finishing of the board. I start with rough sanding discs and work my way to finer sanding discs. Once the general shape has been achieved, I will sand out the larger sanding marks with a 5″ Random Orbital Sander. The basic idea behind sanding is to make finer and finer scratches on the surface with an abrasive material. Once I have reached a point where the surface is smooth from the electric sanders, I sand the cutting board by hand.

The cutting board has been sanded with the disc sander, and is now ready for the random orbital sander.

Using a vice clamp to hold the cutting board in place makes sanding the cutting board easier.

This is a close up of the random orbital sander in action.

When sanding by hand, I like to start with medium grit, and move to a finer grit sandpaper, until the cutting board is extremely smooth. (the spots on the cutting board are from rain, for I work outside)

3) Finishing

Once the cutting board has been completely sanded, it is ready for a protective finish. I like to finish my cutting boards using Walnut Oil and Beeswax . Walnut oil is wonderful to use due to it’s low rancidity, and the ability to penetrate deep into the wood. I use two coats of walnut oil, and one final coat of a mixture of walnut oil and beeswax. Between the two coats of walnut oil, I sand the cutting board with very fine sandpaper, as the oil tends to raise the wood grain. The beeswax seals any remaining hairline cracks or gaps, and acts like an overall attractive smelling, protective coating.

Heating the walnut oil allows it soak into the wood more effectively.

The beeswax must be melted in with the walnut oil for the final finishing coat.

The cutting board is finished and ready for use.

This is a close-up shot of a knot that brings out the character of the wood.

The cutting board is now finished and ready to be used for the preparation of many delightful meals. But there are steps one can take to care for a cutting board and lengthen it’s life. Please read my post on cutting board care that should be up in a few days. Happy cutting!

The first step in the process is to gather the wood from the woodpile. There is a molding factory in town that I visit to gather their discarded wood. I transport  it back to the house and store it in the attic sorted by wood type. My usual woods are maple, cherry, oak, and African mahogany.

This is how I transport my wood.

Storing wood in the attic keeps it fairly dry and out of the way.

2) Choosing the Wood

I usually choose what wood a cutting board will be constructed of on a whim. Normally the designs come to me when I lay in bed at night or when I look at my wood pile. I like to make designs that take advantage of the beauty in the wood. I think knots and other general “imperfections” in the wood are a beautiful source of character, they and should be flaunted. Of course, when someone asks me to make one according to a specific design, I will work with that person to get the perfect design for them.

General sizing of wood pieces.

3) Preparing the Wood

Once I have it in my mind what I want the board to look like, I cut the wood into rough cut sections. The thickness of the cutting board is generally decided by the size of the wood that I have. Due to the wood all being discarded scraps, none of the pieces are the same size. I plane the sides of the cut wood to be glued together so that they are smooth and proper adhesion is achieved.

The wood has been planed and rough cut and is ready for gluing.

The planed pieces are ready to be glued and clamped.

4) Gluing

Gluing the wood is a messy, but essential, part of the process. I use a glue that is FDA approved for indirect food contact (see Titebond 2 Glue). I like to use a pretty large amount of glue so that it oozes out when clamped. I use large, 8″ “C” clamps to do most of my bread boards, or bar clamps for larger cutting boards. I let the board sit over night to fully dry.

The cutting board is glued and clamped.

5) Cutting the Desired Shape

Once the glue has dried, I will make sure the board sits flat and is shaped in whatever way the design calls for. To do this I use a hand planer and a jig saw.  I cut off any excess wood, and any design the project calls for.

This is the board marked up for fine cutting.

This is the general shape of the cutting board.

6) Marking/Reinforcement

I use 3/8″  oak dowels to further reinforce my cutting boards. I mark the holes generally 2″ from the ends, and then drill my holes accordingly. I did learn that “fluting” one’s dowels ensures that excess air and glue can escape, preventing hydraulic pressure build-up, when the dowels are hammered in place (see Dowel Application). I tend to line the grain pattern of my dowels both with, and against the grain pattern of the wood. Once again, character can be added here by going against the grain. I generally let the dowels dry in place over night.

These holes are marked and ready to be drilled.

The cutting board is clamped, and dowel holes are being drilled.

The dowels are cut to size, and ready to be glued and hammered in place.

The dowels have been hammered and glued in place.

There is much more involved in the full process of completing a cutting board. Every step is crucial in creating a usable, beautiful cutting board, but these first 6 are like the foundation to a building; without them the building will not stand. Please check in with Tire Swing Designs, and view Part II in the upcoming days.

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This was such a great seminar. Mr. Winn was a good speaker.