EASY to Make Cutting Board

Melrose Design Co.
by Melrose Design Co.
7 Materials
$40
3 Days
Easy
Learn to make a fun and easy geometric pattern cutting board with left over maple, cherry and walnut. (FOOD SAFE)
In this tutorial I'll show you how to make a easy cutting board from scraps you have laying around!
I first drew a template that would size up each piece of wood making sure it would all fit together well and getting the pattern I am looking for!
I labeled each box in the template M (maple) C (cherry) and W (walnut). I also added the dimensions length and width of each piece of wood so I had a 'list' of what I need to cut all at once.
Setting the wood in place to make sure it fit correctly
Taking the wood to the table saw, I made sure to stick with thicknesses of 1" 1.5" 2" and 2.5" for different looks. This made it easy presetting the thickness on the table saw
Taking the block over to the template I sat it in the correct spot to make sure it fit just right. Being off a little isn't a huge deal breaker because you will be squaring off the sides in a future step
This board required multiple glue ups starting with the center. Once this center is done you can then work all the pieces around the center.
Using a food safe glue I made sure to cover every part of the wood piece
After getting all the pieces glued up and lined up it was time to add clamps... as many clamps as you can!! You are looking for some glue squeeze out, you can clean this up with a rag or paper towl
I let the piece dry for 24 hours before running it through my planer, taking an 1/8" off at a time. If you don't have a planer you can still smooth and level it out with a cheap orbital sander or belt sander. The planer just makes the process faster.
I wanted to add a chamfer all around the board to give it a modern feel which also protect the edges from getting dinged up in the kitchen when it's finished.
Finally I was able to sand the piece down starting at a pretty rough grit of 120 working my way up to 220. I should have gone up higher than 220 but I didn't have anything over 220 so I stopped it here. It's still silky smooth!
I added some butcher oil to the wood and let it soak in for a couple minutes. You'll want to add a coat let it dry a day then add a second one to keep the wood protected.
Suggested materials:
  • Food safe glue
  • Sand paper
  • Clamps
See all materials
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 2 comments
  • William William on Jun 07, 2018

    Great looking cutting board. I made tons of cutting boards back in the day. That was the biggest request I had from friends, family, and clients.

    • Melrose Design Co. Melrose Design Co. on Jun 07, 2018

      This is my very first! Really fun to build and I'm sure sky is the limit to design and all! I'll be making a bunch in the future I hope

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