Archive for the ‘Cutting Board’ Category
Making An End Grain Board
The most popular questions at my shows seem to be “How do you make these end grain boards?” or “What is an end grain board?”. I also spend a lot of time explaining why there is a significant price difference between the face grain and end grain boards. In this post I am including a video by Marc Spagnuolo, affectionately known in woodworking circles as the Wood Whisperer. Mark has a wonderful web site dedicated to woodworking, and people like me get a lot of enjoyment out of his articles and videos. There are many different design layouts for end grain boards, but Mark came up with one a while back that has become very popular with my customers.
This video is in two parts with the first one covering the construction and the second covering how to season the board. This video is part 1 and shows the most important aspect of what it takes to make a board. The only thing Mark doesn’t show is selecting the wood, planning it down to size, and cutting the strips to width before the glue up process. This is simple stuff, but just adds more time and labor to the process. Enjoy!
Football and Cutting Boards
Today is a short day. Everything stops at my house for University of Tennessee football, especially when they are playing Georgia. The game started at noon, so I only had a few hours this morning to work in the shop. I used the time to start oiling finished boards. I have so many that I had to set up my 6 foot booth tables to have enough space to spread them out. I was only able to get about half of them on the tables, but I’ll rotate the next set in after the ball game.
I also got the walnut end grain boards back out of the clamps this morning and flattened them with the drum sander.
These are the two sets of walnut strips that are glued up and waiting to be sanded to remove the excess glue. Once I cross cut them into 1 1/2 inch strips, I will glue them again to get three large end grain boards out of these.
This is what came out of the previous picture. I got three 12 x 16 x 1 1/2″ boards out of the first glued up pair. These are ready for a second trip through the sander at 180 grit. I’ll then round over the edges, cut handles, and finish sand them to 220 grit before applying the oil.
Overall, I am pleased with the progress in increasing my inventory for the next couple of shows. 45 – 19 Tennessee!!!! Ok, time to get back to work…..
Back in the shop
I’m finally back in the shop and focused on cutting boards for a while. I have about a month and a half before my next big show, so I have a little time to work on new designs and products that have been floating around in my head. All of my light woods are hard maple, but the grain, or lack thereof, doesn’t have a lot of character. Figured maple can be very dramatic, but it can be a little pricy and not always available. Because of this, I am experimenting with ash. Ash is almost as hard as maple and has a very pronounced grain pattern.
I have a large inventory of end grain boards, but I’m getting low on the less expensive face grain ones. Face grain boards are simpler to make, thus requiring less labor. The lower price points contribute to more sales and a faster turnover of inventory. I’ve always had a few at each show, but I was never satisfied that I had a big enough selection and styles. This will be changing this week. I also have some new dipping board designs drying in the clamps right now using ash.
Today’s Activities
I finally got the custom board done today. These extra large boards are a challenge for me because I am set up for smaller ones. For example, my drum sander is 16” wide, but is an open end style so I can do up to 32” wide by making two passes. This method requires me to take very light passes each time so one side doesn’t get ahead of the other. It also takes a real steady hand to make sure it starts through the sander level. At 28 pounds, a good grip is warranted. It turned out smooth and perfectly flat, so I was very pleased with my efforts today.
My next challenge is to figure out how I am going to package it to ship to California. I carry shipping boxes for my standard boards, but not one for this size. Like everything else, I am sure I will come up with something.
It’s That Time Again!
It’s that time of the year again! I have less than a month left before my first show of 2009, so I am busily working in the shop to get my inventory built up. My online sales really increase last year between Thanksgiving and Christmas so my inventory dropped to an all time low. My custom closet business saw an increase in business over the past couple of months which took time away from the craft business side, so I am scrambling a little to catch up.
Oiling New Boards
I have been working on new cutting board designs and wood combinations this week and got about 10 boards finished. However, I sold a couple of them online this week, so I feel like I backed up a little. I also had a custom size order from Etsy this week. It’s been a good week for online sales.
I have traditionally made my boards with one or more contrasting woods. However, lately I have been making solid, one wood boards. I have had a few customers requesting all dark boards, such as walnut, and after making them, I have come to appreciate the beauty of an all walnut board, especially one that has a lot of lighter colored sap wood mixed in. The natural dark and light end grain swirls make these cutting boards real eye catchers.
My dipping boards sold very well last year, so I have also been making more on these. My source for the handmade bowls shipped me another twenty bowls last month so I should have enough for a while unless customers make a run on them like they did during the Christmas rush. I have a new product for 2009 that I call a wine snack tray. I made up 20 of them to test at the upcoming show and I should have them listed on Etsy within the next few weeks.
Wine Snack Tray
