wood mag cutting board

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Location
Oliver Springs, TN
This cutting board is based on the wood magazine plan in the October issue. The woods are hard maple, cherry and brazilian cherry. It’s approximately 1.25 in thick. 11.5 wide by about 15 long. It's an end grain board. The finish is mineral oil.

This was a fun project to do because my 6 yr. old son helped. He was in charge of clamp tightening and getting glue all over himself and me. I was informed that this one was going to be a Christmas present for his teacher. I had enough wood left over to make a second. My 10-year-old daughter helped me start the glue-up to make one for her teacher for Christmas.


Thanks for looking!
 

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Very cool John - cherry, maple, Brailian cherrry, cherry, maple, Brazilian cherry, cherry maple. Usually I use two varieties in varying sizes.
 
Yea, I have to say that is good looking. My sister is a chef and sometimes a personal chef. I have been wanting to make her some nice looking boards so when she goes to clients home to cook for them.

Very nice! :thumb:
 
Nice Board

John,

That looks great, what did you use to finish?? I have used mineral oil in the past, but I was wondering about the difference between that and something like Watco's salad bowl oil.

Dan
 
Nice job, John. I doubt most teachers get that nice of gifts from their students. Here in SoCal, the wood costs alone would be almost a day's pay for a teacher.

After somewhat of a hiatus, I'm back into cutting board mode myself...I've got four more in the clamps right now, including three for a repeat customer and a big end grain maple black for a nephew who's in culinary school.

Thanks for posting -
 
John,

That looks great, what did you use to finish?? I have used mineral oil in the past, but I was wondering about the difference between that and something like Watco's salad bowl oil.

Dan
Dan, I've not heard of Watco Salad Bowl Oil, but there are several "salad bowl" finishes available (General makes one of them) that are, as far as I can tell, just another oil/urethane mix. With any finish like this, there will always be a surface membrane that will eventually wear and need refreshening. Mineral oil finishes also need to be refreshed from time to time, but there is no membrane on the surface to wear out. I should mention that the claims of "food safe" by finish manufacturers are just Marketing in action. AFAIK, any modern membrane finish is "food safe" once it's fully cured. I've read arguments on both sides of the coin, but haven't seen anything yet to convince me otherwise.

I've made quite a few cutting boards, and I prefer a plain ol' oil finish instead of a membrane finish. (I've used both.) Some folks prefer walnut oil, or a mineral oil/paraffin mix. I simply use mineral oil because it's inexpensive, effective, and available just about anywhere. It's also easy for my customers to find so they can "freshen up" the boards as needed.
 
Thanks for all the nice comments. I'm a teacher myself (8th grade science). My boy is 6 and in kindergarten. He can be a handful sometimes. I figured I needed to "butter up" his teacher so I can get him through the rest of the year.

Vaughn, Seeing your boards on the creek had a lot to do with me making these. Yours look really great.

Dan, I used mineral oil for the finish. I would put on a heavy coat and let is soak for awhile and then wipe off. I did this about 3 times.

I have attached the beginnings of my third board. The wood is maple, cherry and purple heart. My best guess is that I have about 20 bucks in materials in each board.

I glued 4 strips together then 4 more and then I glue these together to form the 8 that I need.
 

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