I seem to make alot of cutting boards and serving trays,
So here is a collection of them…I don’t own a planer, I always use the Xcarve to plane my cutting boards once assembled. Cutting boards take no time to make and usually fetch me a decent ROI
16 Likes
Nice work.
1 Like
They look awesome
Thank you,
I enjoy making cutting boards. It is one thing i think is neat to make.
Thanks, I see every flaw in them every time I look at these pics, but I guess that’s par for the course. My wife has learned that when she hears me complaining about imperfection and how I’m going to fire something in the burn bin, she will examine it, tell me I’m not the Borg Queen so stop reaching for perfection…lol “you’re the only person who’s going to notice that…so relax and let the customer be the judge”
She seems to think she’s wise or something lol
2 Likes
totally, I love how simple they are to make but when finished they’re so dramatic looking.
I do a lot of the end grain and have done some 3d ones that were pretty cool.
I should do end grain, I love the look of them I have such a dead spot in my brain when it comes to looking at off cuts and scrap and envisioning a project. instead I go to the hardwood wholesaler and buy beautiful exotics at 17 bucks a boardfoot and make them from that.
I like them. I do some natural edge ones every now and then when i can get a slab of something to make them from.
1 Like
It looks like you are using several different types of wood. Is that Purple Heart? What are the other wood types? How do you finish? Just food safe oil?
Is that an inlay on the BBQ / pig board?
@LanceCameron
Love that third board.
I’ve started working on turning that perfectionist mindset off in the shop. I still have my processes that I go through or the extra steps not needed to make stuff absolutely straight or square or what have you but I try not to let one small flaw defeat a project lol. Otherwise that project lasts… forever.
I feel ya there. The wife is sure to make me point out the good so I can move on to the next step if she sees me stuck at that perfection wall. 
These look great!
1 Like
I have a sickness, I buy way too expensive exotic woods at 15 bucks a board foot. But then I balance it with cheap Poplar at 2.25 a board foot
The first pic has Jatoba, Poplar and Purple Heart
The second is Jatoba and Poplar
The third is Zebra and Purple Heart
The slab is Big Leaf Maple from our property
the last one is poplar again
1 Like
yep epoxy inlay the carved area is painted with acrylic black paint first
1 Like
yes, I sand it from 120 down to 330, then I put 4 or 5 coats of Butcher block mineral oil
1 Like
Tell me your secrets oh wise one. How do you turn off the perfectionist mindset? I drive myself insane some times lol
1 Like
Its not cheap, but I have a tub that I’m going to just pour the oil and and drop the boards in to soak for a little bit instead of pouring some one and wiping it off after a bit. In my mind it will cut down on wasted oil in the long run because i can put a wire rack above the tank and all excess will run off the boards back in to the tank.
1 Like
I can’t Speak for Phillip, but my wife if my meter, she will check in on me and ask, is that done? it looks done? Make it done and move on! its so freaking hard to stop nit picking. I have an image in mind of the completed project, and then I hyper focus on one little knick, scratch or unflush piece of material.
She hung a sign in my shop a while ago “better to finish it, than be perfect” everytime I get OCD about about a project, she says " hey!" then points at the sign…
1 Like
Similar to @LanceCameron, the little crap gets me and I hyper focus it. My wife definitely plays a part when I get way to deep into making something perfect to whats in my head. For most things, I started along the mantra of “if you can’t make it perfect, make it adjustable” which helps to get me to another step. For other things, if I hit that wall I give myself a time limit to fix it. If I can’t fix whatever it is in like 30 minutes then I just take a breath, accept it and move on. Lastly, I wont let myself redo a piece unless I absolutely butchered it some how. If I make a wrong cut but it can still work I just focus on the next step vs re cutting or re making that piece. Really it’s about adjusting your focus to the next step, after a short time the imperfection just seems less important and makes it much easier to move on.
Prior to acknowledging how it affected my work, I could spend days or weeks on a project just to get everything exact and it led to much more frustration or project burnout than enjoying what I was doing.
2 Likes