Cutting Board with Laminated Inlay - Last Minute Christmas Request

I don't think I am using the term 'inlay' appropriately here? I have been asked by SWMBO for an inlay cutting board for SIL. I am more than happy to do it (SIL is hosting Christmas) but, would have started in October had I known . So I cut up some maple and made a blank.

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Resaw some strips; cherry, walnut and padouk again for this one.



Cut the blank along a fair curve and laminate in the cherry.

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Smooth everything out, cut the blank along a different fair curve and laminate the walnut.



The worst part on these is waiting 24 hours before flattening (again) and cutting it in half (again). I'll flatten it and cut it again tomorrow night and laminate in the padouk. If I don't get distracted over the weekend I should make the party deadline, no problem.

Lookin' good so far!

This is gonna be real cool. I need to try this soon.

Here is the blank after the second lamination.



And here it is cut in preparation to add the last lamination.



I have to stop for a couple hours and do some work with my fellow network geeks in various locations around the southern end of the state. If things go well I will get this thing back in the clamps before beddie-bye.

Love this kind of stuff!

Here's the last strips being laminated in and the blank squared off:

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Add the juice groove and curve the sides:

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Knock off the sharp edges and add the grips:

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She's ready for a dip in the mineral oil. Looks like the hostess gift will be done in time after all .

I really like that Glenn, nice board

Very nice! Thanks for the tutorial.

Nice board Glenn, thanks for the tutorial.

That's a beautiful board, Glenn! I'm sure it will be a hit!!!

Looks great, and thanks for showing how you made it!

Great job! Would you mind sharing how you do the juice groove, my corners leave a lot to be desired.

I use a hand held router and a template. On this one I used my Trend Vari-Jig (that I picked up at a Sears clearance several years ago) but, have used one-off jigs out of scrap as well. You can pocket hole together a frame out of scrap to do the job. The jig's internal border is the size of the desired juice groove plus the distance from the bit center to the outside edge of the template collar (7/32" in my case). This doesn't sound very clear. If I am not describing this well, let me know and I can post some more pics.

The trick on getting the groove smooth with tight corners is to mess up a few (several still counts as a "few" doesn't it? ). Seriously I use a slightly lower speed than you might normally use with a 1/2" bull nose bit and move at a decent rate of speed to avoid burning the maple. I find a couple of practice runs through the corners prior to the actual routing doesn't hurt either. Anything like a pause to change your grip or a cord snagging on a bench corner can derail your goals so, practice your moves before digging in.

My jig has been Bradleyized but, you could work out a similar clamping method for your shop made frame if you have a box-o-jig-parts in a cabinet somewhere. Let me see if I have some pics . . . Ah, I did a thread on this . . . here.

Awesome work, Glenn. I've done some wavy line bent lamination pieces (cutting boards and boxes) in the past, but I really like the look of your "crossing lines" approach.

I'm such a moron never thought of an actual jig, I've always attempted with stop/guide blocks...I'm beginning to believe that my school teachers, slapped those little stars on my forehead a tad too hard. Thanks Glenn for taking the time

Beautiful Glenn!! Thanks for sharing.

Beautiful Glen! Another one of those jobs that require patience! Too many years as a piece work (flat rate) mechanic!! LOL