1) Gathering The Wood

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.