Random Cutting Board

Project a week no. 403 (year four, project no. 3)

Medium Cutting/Charcuterie Board in Maple, Walnut and Cherry

Often, I try to just wing it with some of these cutting boards, but I always end up fussing over the design and layout of them. (Moving pieces around, flipping, rearranging, ripping, ripping off a hair more of this piece, or that one, ripping one in half to put a thin band of something else in the middle....) This one might finally be the exception.

This project started out with me just gluing a few random scraps together, and then adding on one, or a few at a time as I found pieces of the right length and width just to see what might become of it. Discarding many that were a smidge to small. Waiting for the right ones. It was a pretty haphazard looking block of wood and glue squeeze out. Hard to see where it was going, or what treasure lied within. Slow going. Waiting. Slowly growing. It picked up some momentum last weekend as I added on the last several strips, and I’m very pleased with how random, but also balanced looking it turned out.

The third photo shows the difference a little wood butter makes (mineral oil/beeswax blend) and
the last two photos on the table saw sled were staged because I forgot to take any "before" pictures.

Appx 7 1/2 x 10 1/4 by 7/8ths thick, finished with wood butter.