December Cutting Boards

[BrokenOlMarine]

Recovering from the shoulder surgery has been torture, since I have had to mostly sit in the house and watch the world go by, other than going to therapy a couple times a week.  But, there was light at the end of the tunnel.  I knew I was going to see the doc on the 11th of December and HE is a woodworker as well, so I asked if I could get back in the shop if I was careful.
He has been my guy for thirty years and we KNOW one another.  He knows I will do what he says, and he said I could get back to work in the shop, and to let PAIN be my guide. Don't shy away from it... but certainly don't over do it.  Be careful not to strain yourself.  You can't damage the work we did, no worries there.  But you can over stress the areas, cause pain that will set back your recovery, and cause scar tissue that will greatly limit the range of motion, the most important aspect of my recovery right now.

I went back into the shop and cut a few more strips of Walnut, Maple, Purple Heart, and took a couple slabs that I had used to make a rack in the gun safe before I built the new cabinet, and cut those into strips since I really liked the grain. I think I remember someone telling me it was pecan. Just bending down to hook UP the dust collector to the table saw made the shoulder scream, so I was NOT long for the shop that day. Cutting the strips was ALL I got done. Then I had to take a couple days off. 

Back at it a couple days later, I checked the strips and  they were going to need some love and care. They all went across the jointer, and many went back across the table saw to insure they were square. I then did a test layout and added clamp pressure. Hmmm. Need some tune up here and there. I measured width and needed some width on both the layouts. I took the purple heart leftovers, which were too short, and added some spacers to the bottom, then left them to dry overnight. I was being told none to subtlety that I was done for the day. 

Came back out and took the strips out of the clamps and found that I needed to trim the sides. TOO thin for the jointer or the planer. Hand plane was what was needed here.

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Beautiful hand plane and sharp as a razor, but, it still reminded me that I had a boo boo shoulder. I got the flats done on the two strips and they were good to go.  No gaps or uneven edges between the mahogany and the purple heart. Test fitted the layouts and put them in the clamps and applied pressure.



Layout one consists of Maple, walnut, and The two thin planed strips of purpleheart with a mahogany strip for accent down the middle.

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layout two is Walnut, maple and pecan with thick Purpleheart accents down the center separated by a nice maple strip.
(I was told that is pecan, but with my memory, it's hard to be sure. Any input from the gallery?  I am up for comments... )


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After clamping pressure was applied to test the fit again, they were laid out, glued up and clamped, and left overnight.  Thanks to lessons learned in the previous cutting board attempts, I have the Bessy Clamps to do the jobs right.  Heavy, but they put even pressure on the projects.

Board one in clamps.... which needed a caul to keep it from flexing.


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and two in it's clamps...


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I came out the next morning and pulled them from the clamps and removed and put away the clamps, everything in their proper place.


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After cleanup of the bench, I ran the two boards thru the planer to remove the glue and even up both sides. Next will come the shaping of the edges and ends and lots of sanding. I am pretty happy with the way they look so far, but can't wait for the payoff when the mineral oil makes them pop.


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It has been great to get back in the shop, but I do lose track of time and have been spending more time in the shop than maybe I should.  Pain.  We are well acquainted.  I have lost a bit of range of motion, but with hot showers and more PT than I had been doing I am back where I was.  A couple days off and I'll be back in the shop, and back working... careful not to over do it.   Really, I mean it... careful.  (Yeah, lost in time in my element.)  More hot showers....

[brianwelch]

I do loves me my purpleheart...
Nice...

[wood-chips]

Those are going to be some very nice cutting boards when finished.

I know the agony of illness limiting shop and play time, especially being retired. This summer was a rough one for me for both woodworking and shooting.  In April I got a pacemaker for tachycardia-bradycardia and in June had a radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer. Doing good now but both were weeks/months of recover and PT while watching the world go by.

Take care and don't overdo it for a speedy recovery.
You mentioned gun safe, are you an avid shooter?
Myself I like pistol/revolver, rifle and shotgun.

[BrokenOlMarine]

Those are going to be some very nice cutting boards when finished.

I know the agony of illness limiting shop and play time, especially being retired. This summer was a rough one for me for both woodworking and shooting.  In April I got a pacemaker for tachycardia-bradycardia and in June had a radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer. Doing good now but both were weeks/months of recover and PT while watching the world go by.

Take care and don't overdo it for a speedy recovery.
You mentioned gun safe, are you an avid shooter?
Myself I like pistol/revolver, rifle and shotgun.

Yes, I have been shooting, competing, and teaching for years.  (40ish?) I taught Military and LE as a job, and civilian ccw classes on the side.  When I retired, I retired from all of it.  We are lucky enough to live out in the boonies... So I have a range on the farm.  It was much more formal when I was competing in PPC heavily.  Markers set in the ground at 3, 7, 10, 15, 25, and 50 yards, and "barricades" at 25 and 50 yards.  I could set up the PPC course and run two lanes at a time.  I am mostly a handgun shooter, but I did compete in high power rifle matches in the Corps... Shooting match grade Garrands and M14s on the 600 yard National Match Course.  The M16 over the Marines courses.
Shotguns... I have a couple. 


I was a Glock LE instructor and armorer.  Meh, I miss it. 

[justdraftn]

Those are going to be nice boards.
This is my first experience w/purple heart.
It's hard.
What kind of glue did you use?
Are the edges jointed or just glued?

I'm working on a similar cutting board.
See my post "Latest project".
I jointed all the edges w/biscuits.
I like to take a cutting off the end for an end grain strip.
It looks cool and I think it adds to the stability of the board
and durability of the cutting surface.

I crashed on my bike a few years ago and
fractured the big, flat part of my scapula.
No way to splint it.  Just had to heal.
My doc told me the same thing.....keep moving it.
Let the pain direct you.
Do the rehab exercises/stretching like a religion.
I'm good as new.
Good luck!

[BrokenOlMarine]

Those are going to be nice boards.
This is my first experience w/purple heart.
It's hard.
What kind of glue did you use?
Are the edges jointed or just glued?

I'm working on a similar cutting board.
See my post "Latest project".
I jointed all the edges w/biscuits.
I like to take a cutting off the end for an end grain strip.
It looks cool and I think it adds to the stability of the board
and durability of the cutting surface.

I crashed on my bike a few years ago and
fractured the big, flat part of my scapula.
No way to splint it.  Just had to heal.
My doc told me the same thing.....keep moving it.
Let the pain direct you.
Do the rehab exercises/stretching like a religion.
I'm good as new.
Good luck!

The edges are just glued, but I used titebond III, since it's waterproof and intended for this application.
I will roll.the edges with the router, then sand up from 120 thru 400 to maybe 600.
Mineral oil and beeswax finish.

[JohnnyEgo]

Sharp looking pattern, Jim! Glad to see you back in the shop making sawdust.

[BrokenOlMarine]

Got back out in the shop again today.  Pain?  Yup.  But I figured I would hurt sitting in the recliner or in the shop and the shoulder was stiff, it needed to be worked. 

Therapy is boring, moving around in the shop is at least interesting. 


First up, I needed to trim up the ends of the "boards."  To do this, I needed the Sled for the table saw.  This thing is a little over the 5 pound weight the doc told me to try and stay under.  So... I kept it low as I moved it from it's place at the end of the corner bench and then tilted it up and slid it onto the table saw and slid it over til it dropped into it's slots.  Easy Peasy. 


I aligned each edge and made a single pass to trim up the ends.  On the one cutting board I had to cut off about an inch and a quarter due to a chunk missing from the bottom of one Slice of Maple.  
  These things happen.  Luckily, it was at the end of the board and I didn't have to FILL it in. 
   Here is a view of the SLED.  I made this several months ago, after needing it over and over (and over) again all these years.  Makes accurate cuts for those items too big for the miter bar SO easy.  Yes, this one is big and heavy, but that makes it stable.

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Next step was to mark curves on the four corners of each board for cosmetics.  I used a lid from a pill bottle.  I keep them in the shop to mix adhesives in, for small amounts of glue/paint, or whatever.  So now, they are used as corner templates.  You never know.  Then, I set up the band saw, and cut close to the lines, but not too close.  I didn't want to change to the 1/8" blade, and the 1/2 inch blade on the band saw wouldn't make the turn.  No matter, I was going to finish the corners on the disc sander anyway.

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Once I had trimmed and then shaped both boards on the band saw and table top disc sander, I cleared the workbench and started with the 80 grit on the random orbital sander, doing the tops and edges of both cutting boards.  The sanding and shaping of the cutting boards is an important step, but by this time, I was getting an important message from that right shoulder.  I was rapidly approaching quitting time for today.  I finished up with the 80 grit and done.  Tomorrow I will start the day with filling some MINOR defects, wormholes and the like, with CA glue and appropriate sawdust. 


Looking good so far... starting to look like something.

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[BrokenOlMarine]

A Need....

When there is a need during a project, you sometimes lay the project to the side and meet the need.  For years, I should have built a sanding box (table?)  I have needed to, just didn't get around to it.  I had pulled the materials into the shop and put them aside, just didn't git it done. 
  The one thing that is involved in Cutting Boards (and Bandsaw Boxes) is a lot of sanding.  So... before I really get into the next phases of the Cutting Boards, I put them aside, and started...

On the Sanding Box...

The first step was to pull the Peg Board for the top, the Flow Gate that will allow the dust collector to be hooked to the box, and cut the Decking Boards to length to form the box and internal braces.

Peg Board and Flow Gate:
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The Basics Cut:
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Next step was to set up the saw with the dado blade to cut the rabbits to allow the peg board to sit flush on the top of the box.  I swapped in the dado blade set at 1/4 inch, then used the Kreg Setup Bar Kit to set the depth of cut at 1/4 inch.  The Kreg Kit was one of the tools I recently added after seeing it in a youtube vid, I have used it a lot.
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Once the set up was complete, I ran the four sides of the box across the dado blade to cut the rabbits for the top of the box.  Next up, was to cut the hole for the flow gate before assembly.  I used a spade bit to cut some relief holes then then jig saw to cut out the hole.  Boom, done.
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We were ready for assembly.  The main thing to keep in mind is that the rabbits all had to be level and aligned.  I used the clamps to hold things tight and a mini pry bar and mallet to bring each corner and top edge into alignment.  Then screwed that top corner. Tapped the bottom into place then screwed that into place, then a center screw for strength.  On to the next corner and repeat the process until the box was assembled.  Then cross braces even / level with the rabbits for additional support for the vented top.  The top will be supporting the weight of items being sanded.  A brace across at every foot.  I checked the box for square and left it for the glue to set up.
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The last step was to cut the perforated top to fit, I didn't rush achieving a solid fit.  I took my measurement, and got there by taking my time.  I cut just shy of the line and testing.  Almost there.  Half a blade width trimmed off, and test again.  A cut and a cut until we were golden.
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Next up will be countersunk screws to hold the top in place. This will allow removing the top if the interior of the box needs cleaned out.
I will also add an angled bottom... it will angle up from the hose connection end INSIDE the box, to just about 1-1/2 inches from the top.
This will reduce the volume inside the box and increase suction and airflow Down into the box. (in theory.)

Should be back working on the cutting boards PDQ.

[Bill Wilson]

Nice board.  Don't be surprised though if that lovely Purpleheart turns dark brown with the application of oil.  I made some very similar, with a variety of domestic hardwoods and a PH accent.  I was a little disappointed in how the PH turned out, after I put mineral oil on it.  Redheart does the same thing.