Lessons Learned from Making Cutting Boards

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Mastering the Basics Making Cutting Boards: A Journey into Woodworking's Fundamental Techniques

At BB Craft School, we firmly believe in the mantra that every journey begins with a single step. In the world of woodworking, this first step often takes the shape of a simple yet significant project - making a cutting board. The cutting board is an everyday essential that carries within its making, the essence of woodworking. Here’s why we’ve included this task in our 5-day cupboard design, build, and install course, and a sneak peek into the process.

Fundamental Skills

The creation of a cutting board is far from mundane. It introduces a novice woodworker to an array of fundamental woodworking skills, principles, and techniques. These include:

1. Wood Selection: An essential part of the project, it gives insights into the types of woods suitable for different projects, considering factors like hardness, durability, and food safety.

2. Measuring and Marking: Precision is key in woodworking. The process of marking and measuring for a cutting board is an exercise in accuracy that would translate to bigger projects.

3. Cutting and Shaping: Here, one learns to use tools like saws and planers to cut and shape wood accurately. It encourages steady hands and attention to detail.

4. Joinery: Assembling multiple pieces of wood to create a unified and durable structure involves mastering woodworking joints, glue application, and clamping.

5. Routering: Routering allows for the addition of decorative edges and unique details to a project. Learning to use a router safely and effectively expands creative possibilities and refines the finished look of your piece.

6. Sanding and Finishing: This is where the raw piece of work truly starts to look and feel like a finished product. It teaches patience, as multiple rounds of sanding and finishing are often required to achieve a smooth surface.

7. Maintenance: Learning to oil and maintain a cutting board ensures it lasts longer, and this knowledge can be applied to larger furniture pieces.

The Process and Tools Involved

Step 1: Choosing Your Wood

The same steps apply here. You begin with picking out the right wood. Hardwoods, like maple, walnut, or cherry, are great choices.

Step 2: Measuring and Cutting

Measure and mark the dimensions of your selected wood. Cut your wood into the desired lengths with a table saw, learning the essentials of saw safety and operation.

Step 3: Gluing and Clamping

Arrange and glue the pieces as you want them to appear in the finished product. Use clamps to hold the pieces together firmly while the glue dries.

Step 4: Planing and Sanding

After the glue has dried, use a planer to achieve an even surface across the board. Follow this up with coarse-to-fine sanding to obtain a smooth surface.

Step 5: Routering

This is where the inclusion of routering comes into play. With a router and a chosen bit, you can add edge details, like rounded or chamfered edges, to your cutting board. It gives the board a refined, finished look and makes it comfortable to handle. Safety is paramount when using a router due to its high speed, and you learn about various router bits and their specific applications.

Step 6: Sanding (Again)

After routing, a secondary sanding is often necessary to smooth out any rough edges or minor imperfections left by the router. It’s all about attention to detail, and this step enhances your mastery of the sanding process.

Step 7: Finishing

Apply a food-safe mineral oil or a blend of beeswax and mineral oil to finish your board. This step gives the board a sleek look while also protecting the wood from moisture.

Step 8: Maintenance

As with the previous explanation, the ongoing care and maintenance of the completed cutting board, like regular oiling and avoiding the dishwasher, are key to its longevity.

At BB Craft School, our approach to teaching woodworking is anchored in the belief that it is both a skill and an art form. The humble cutting board, often one of the first projects for beginners, is packed full of crucial lessons that stretch far beyond its simple form, extending into every project.

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. - 1 Peter 4:10 (NIV)