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Cutting Boards #1 & #2

About

Completed

Cutting Board #1: ca. 2001

Cutting Board #2: ca. 2003

Current Owner

Steph

Current Location

Sunnyvale, CA

Materials

Cutting Board #1: oak, bloodwood, purpleheart, polyurethane glue

Cutting Board 32: bloodwood, purpleheart, zirocote, polyurethane glue

Finish

food-safe cutting board (butcher block) oil (mineral oil)


Cutting Board #1 Details

Cutting Board #1 was initial constructed on a whim from a bunch of off-cuts (totem wood). Most notable and beautiful of the off-cuts is the Australian bloodwood. I chose to really accentuate the totem-like stylings on this one.

Well, it turns out that while polyurethane glue is some darn-tootin' stuff, the propensity for white oak to shrink and expand is immense. Over about a year of regular use, the wood started to split apart at the ends (see photo to the right).

This project was a good first cut, and I learned 2 things worthy of note. (#1) If these things are going to last, something has to be done about the splitting issues. (#2) Oak is not a good wood, purpleheart is "ok" but fades, and bloodwood is rock hard.

Cutting Board #2 Details

Cutting Board #2 was also made of several notable scrap off-cuts (I believe in recycling the good wood....if not for a cutting board then for smoker chips). In this case, leftover bloodwood and purpleheart with bits of zirocote (the dark black wood and light sapwood from The Wedding Board) thrown in. This one is a true hodgepodge of pieced-together bits and pieces. However, for Cutting Board #2, I took the construction one step further, as you can see to the right.

Yup....YOU SAW IT HERE FIRST (give me some credit at least...call it the "Red's Cutting Board Construction Method" or something cool like that). It works so well that Cutting Board #2 is still seeing near-daily use 5 years later -- without a single lamination failure!

After laminating the pieces together, I split them (resaw'd on my bandsaw) and then re-laminated on either side of a piece of acrylic.

And guess what....this board has been in everyday service for years (undergone countless washings and scrubbings and re-oilings) and has yet to show signs of splitting. The acrylic acts as an internal backbone. Even the itty-bits of zirocote have stayed put.

For step-by-step details on how to make your very own cutting board using "Red's Cutting Board Construction Method" go to the Cutting Board #3 page.