Tangent Cutting Board

 This is my first cutting board. It was made out of necessity because that little plastic one we use in the kitchen had been cut all the way through. I made this one to fit in the cabinet where the plastic one was stored. It was a good size because I could not cut any bigger circles in my lathe. It is 3/4×9 1/4×10 3/4 and made from a maple board and a walnut board.
 
 I had this drawing on my desk for over a year and thought I could incorporate it in the cutting board I needed. It was a little hairy cutting the outside circle to nothing on one side 4 times. Even though I put plenty of Titebond III glue on it, it still chipped away more than I would like. In theory it works, but in practice, not the best idea.
 
 I started with the 3" dia. walnut circle and bored the 3 3/4" piece of maple to fit it. Then I turned that piece until I hit the common tangent point of the two and then I fit that circle into the next piece of walnut..etc.
 
 The circles are the alignment tools for mounting the blanks on the faceplate. Since I could not put a center in it to mark it, I laid out a cut circle and a finish circle for every diameter. I used the scroll saw to cut all of them out on the "cut circle" line. These alignment tools are fit up to the finish circles while I screwed the next piece to the faceplate. Each part was mounted twice- once for the inside and once for the outside circle
 
 The 5th shot is turning one assembled circle to the tangent point of the two.
 
 The last shot is the cutting of the final hole in the cutting board. Since I could not swing it to bore it, I bored a circle to fit that final assemble and then scabbed on some ears so I could screw it to the waste of the board and used a piloted router bit to transfer that diameter to the board …there that is my blog, too!
 
 I did all the turning in my Southbend metal lathe because I cannot cut that accurate and square in my wood lathe. I was taking off .002" at a time to get the needed fit.
 
 It is finished with Behandla salad bowl finish from Ikea 
Cheers, Jim
This board was made in 2012 and is cut on both sides and holds up very well being in water a lot.