From: Jay Talbott

Location: Gilbert, AZ

Amateur or Pro: Amateur

Finish Used: Top: Three coats of General Finishes Salad Bowl Finish, diluted 50/50 with mineral spirits, wiped on. The first coat sucked up a ton of finish as it soaked into all that end grain like a sponge.

Base: Three coats of General Finishes Arm-R-Seal (four coats for the shelf), wiped on. Final coat diluted 50/50 with Naptha. Basically followed the process in the A Simple Varnish Finish DVD, and it turned out great.

Wood Species: Top made from hard Maple and base made from Cherry

Project Description:
This is my very first real fine woodworking project. One day a few months ago my wife had put her cutting board on a bar stool so it wasn’t quite so high up like it is when it is up on the kitchen counter (she’s only 5’2″). She said her arms got to tired from lifting them up so high when the cutting board was on the countertop. Right then I instantly knew I needed to make her a butcher block table for Christmas. I looked around the Internet and found this one for inspiration.

However, due to space constraints in our kitchen, I wanted to make it a little smaller (18″x18″) and I wanted it a couple inches shorter (33-34″). And I wanted the base to be made of cherry and stained to match our kitchen cabinets (I was able to order the exact stain from the cabinet company). So then I went to town in SketchUp, and with a little help from a few folks on the WTO forum and some e-mails back and forth with Marc, I came up with my design. I included my SketchUp file with all the details.

The top is 3″ thick and was made using methods similar to those in the cutting board video (Marc’s drum sander shure would have been handy!). I used mortise and tenon joinery for the aprons and stretchers, and a solid panel for the shelf. I had to put notches in the legs to allow for wood movement. The top is attached to the base with 4 #12 screws that go through oversized holes in corner blocks on the inside of the base using fender washers, allowing for any movement of the top. Also, although not shown in the SketchUp drawing, I chamfered the outside corners of the legs.

The stain was water based, so I had to pre-raise the grain on all the parts that made up the base. I also had to pre-wet the parts again when I applied the stain, or it would soak into the wood and dry almost instantaneously, making it hard to get an even color (thanks Marc for that tip). I included a photo with the table next to a spare board left I have from the cabinet manufacturer that shows how well the base ended up matching our cabinet color.

Lastly, I installed a set of bronze colored casters that I got from Home Depot.

The last photo shows my other holiday project entry sitting on top of the table. As if I wasn’t busy enough making this table, I added the serving tray to the mix as a second woodworking gift for my wife.

This project took me a couple of months to build (I just finished it today, only a week before Christmas), and I’ve learned a ton along the way. I want to give an extra special thanks to Marc who answered every one of my numerous questions throughout the whole process (I guess it pays to be a Guild member).

Bob sent me a few pictures of his cool 12-diamond Cutting Board, and I wanted to know more about his construction method. He was kind enough to give me the scoop:

I used an Amana 72 degree V router bit to cut the Purpleheart halves. I set my bandsaw table to 18 degrees, and cut the edge of a Yellowheart board that was face and edge jointed, and planed. Then I used the jointer with the fence at 72 degrees to smooth the cut edge. I advanced the fence on the band saw to give me the correct length facet, plus the width of the blade kerf. The jointed edge of the yellowheart board always registered to the bandsaw fence, so the diamond is really the cutoff piece. I have a 1″ Starrett 2-3 skip carbide blade on the bandsaw, which gives an incredibly smooth cut, so one facet of the diamond is pretty much as it came off the blade. (I couldn’t get any life out of carbon blades, so I splurged for the Starrett. It was only $1.30 an inch from a local distributor, and it resaws so very nicely through hard maple. The only tablesaw work was after the final glue-up to trim and square the sides.

I used a Wixey angle gauge to set the bandsaw table, and the jointer fence, close to the angle I wanted, and then I used a TS-Aligner Jr. to get the angle as close as I could. www.wixey.com and www.ts-aligner.com

I’m fortunate to have some nice tools and measuring equipment, and I actually believe that making the two cutting boards improve my skill set. I was a Navy fighter pilot, and as an instructor pilot would tell a student an altitude, direction, and airspeed that I wanted them to fly. They always thought that was stupid, and they wanted to try some high performance manoeuvers. “After you show me straight and level.” Sometimes it would take 5 to 10 minutes for them to be able to get to the stated conditions. 36,000 pounds of thrust and a high-performance airframe takes some skill, and practice to control. The same with our shop tools. We need to be able to machine boards flat, cut straight lines, and make solid glue joints before we’ll be good at loops and barrel-rolls. But, I know I’m preaching to the choir.

This week’s project, or more accurately projects, come from four young skilled craftsmen: (from left to right) Jordon, Joe, Sheldon, and Stephen. The picture was submitted by their shop teacher, Jarred. Now I get quite a few emails from shop teachers who use our videos in their classes, and each and every story warms my heart. But this is the first time someone actually sent a picture. I thought it was so cool and that these guys did such a great job, that I would post it as our Project of the Week. I know I may have presented the end grain cutting board as a “great beginners project”, but those of you who have made one will agree with me that it is by no means easy. It’s a testament to Jarred’s teaching ability and the personal skill of each one of the guys that their boards look as good as they do!

Here’s what Jarred had to say:

I teach a shop class in rural Wisconsin, and took the initiative to introduce the boys to The Wood Whisperer (someone younger and cooler than me). I walked them through the cutting board project, but showing them your videos. Every time I fired up the laptop they would in unison say, “Let’s get ready to make a cutting board!” Anyway, here’s a picture of a few of them and their cutting boards: combinations of walnut, maple, and purpleheart. The boys had fun with the project and gave the cutting boards as gifts for Mother’s Day.

This week’s project comes from Tim. Here’s his story:

Well, I have finally grown a skin thick enough to submit 3 project pictures of an end grain butcher block cabinet that I made for my parents recently. It just got shipped out to Singapore; cost me $800 for the freight!! I got the inspiration by watching you build your cutting boards, and have made up to about 20 so far. It’s a great way to use up scrap wood!!! Saw David Marks’ version on his woodworks show that day and thought that it would be an interesting challenge to build one. The top is larger than David’s design; it’s about 3 feet wide by 2 feet deep – a nice size for a single person to work at, and just enough counter space. You are probably wondering why I would put a semi-gloss finish on the top? Well, my parents want it as a piece for a corner in the house, so I thought I would spend a little time practicing my varnishing skills for a semi-gloss look.

I used 7 types of wood on it – purpleheart, black walnut, yellowheart, ash, mahoganey, jatoba, maple and cherry. Flattening the top was a major pain!! I have a 22-44 performax drum sander, but still had to use router rails to slowly but surely flatten one side before drum sanding the other. Touched it up with a Lie-Nielsen 7 1/2 bevel up jointer plane. The face frame is made of purpleheart (a major pain to plane, I might add), and the drawer fronts are made of ambrosia maple. Made a little effort to match the grain on the drawers + doors as well. The cabinet is finished with shellac (3 coats) via my Apollo HVLP spray unit, and rubbed out to a satin sheen with Howard’s feed n wax.

And yes, I did use casters – double locking ones – they put a strong brake on the wheel plus a lock on the swivel. They actually cost about $20 a piece from Linco Casters at Clairemont Mesa Blvd (next to the San Diego Rockler); They really do look a little utilitarian, but those were the best I could find in terms of durability and stability. Those red shop-grade ones at woodcraft were too tacky for my taste. All in all, it was tiring; but I have to give you the credit for the original inspiration via the cutting board! THANKS

I recently made one of your cutting boards as described in Episode 7 – A Cut Above. No problems with the manufacturing or finishing process. I gave this as a present to somebody and about a week later they returned it to me. The board had bowed & buckled in the center, about 5/16″ (big central high spot on one side, and depression on the other. The board was made from Jatoba and Beech, using a water proof PVA glue. OK I thought, maybe the dissimilarity in the woods was too great (beech SG64 & Jatoba about SG80), so I have just made another board this time using Beech and Walnut and using a polyurethane glue. Whilst belt sanding I noticed that this board is also starting to buckle the same way the first board did (1/8″). It is now being clamped and flattened again. I was wondering if you had ever come across this type of problem before? All the timber is kiln dried and between 6-8% , the only common factor between the two boards is the use of Beech, but I have been using this batch of lumber for other projects without any problems.

And here was my reply:
Hey Tony. It should ease your mind to know that this happens all the time. There are many reasons for it. Moisture, jointing inaccuracy, and of course, the X factor just to name a few. In many cases, these boards cup for no logical reason. The good thing is they can be straightened out to some degree. If you have a cup, you can overclamp it slightly the other way to straighten it out. Also keep in mind these boards will move a lot over the coarse of time depending on their usage and the way they are cleaned and dried (be sure the user is drying the board on its side). In fact, last week my board had a 1/8″ cup to it after cutting a hot piece of meat. I just checked it today and its nearly flat again. Now with any luck, when your board develops a cup, it will face down (looks like a frown). This way the board remains nice and stable on the counter top. If it goes the other way it will spin. So you may want to put the boards in the reverse clamp for a week or so. Don’t be afraid to spray the board down with a little water before you throw it into the clamps. That will help to “reset the memory” of the board. Then hope for the best. As long as the board is sitting with the cup down, 1/8″ is really nothing to worry about. Wood generally does not want to stay perfectly flat all the time. And from what I understand, most pro chefs put their boards on towels to stop them from moving around. So it’s pretty much the nature of the beast. If your recipient wants something perfectly flat, I recommend plastic. :) Good luck!