A Wedding Present

[jteneyck]

I made this end grain cutting board and stand for my niece's wedding next weekend.  It took a LOT longer than I expected to do the inlays, so it's a good thing I started early.  No matter what I did the male portion for the lettering kept breaking out.  I tried ebony, then bloodwood, I tried different speeds.  Nothing worked.  So I finally gave up and poured colored epoxy into those recesses.  The Celtic marriage knot came out great with a bloodwood inlay, however.  

The board is end grain walnut that I had to dye to mask the ugly sapwood.  The field of the insert is quarter sawn beech, which is beautiful stuff to work with on the CNC.  The stand is 5/8" Baltic birch that snaps together, so it can be broken down for storage or shipping.  








John

[Tapper]

Beautiful work John! I'm sure they'll treasure it always.

Doug

[mound]

looks great! 



..

[Randy C]

How did you make the inlay? Do you have to worry about wood movement splitting the board. Looks great by the way.

[jteneyck]

How did you make the inlay? Do you have to worry about wood movement splitting the board. Looks great by the way.

I used my CNC to do the inlay.  You carve a positive of the inlay and a negative in the piece it will go into.



Then you glue the positive into the negative.



The positive, in the first photo, chipped out so badly, however, despite a couple of attempts with different woods, that I ended up pouring epoxy into the negative carving.  The Celtic knot in the center, however, came out fine.  Go figure.  Anyway, after the glue dries you cut off the excess and sand it flat.



The final inlay was done the same way but could just as well be done by conventional methods.  

A CNC really opens up new possibilities to add to my woodworking capabilities.  

John

[iublue]

WOW, a really cool board!  Looks great.
I did have to chuckle with your comment about the ugly sapwood!  
 
What did you use to stain it because it gave it a real look?

[jteneyck]

WOW, a really cool board!  Looks great.
I did have to chuckle with your comment about the ugly sapwood!  
 
What did you use to stain it because it gave it a real look?

Thanks. I used Transtint Dark Walnut dye in water.  The finish is pure Tung oil which, hopefully, will keep the dye locked in for a long time.  

John

[brianwelch]

Way too pretty to use or risk damaging...Nicely done, as usual

[jteneyck]

Way too pretty to use or risk damaging...Nicely done, as usual

Thanks Brian.  I suspect most cutting boards of this type never get used.  I've made several less involved ones for friends who I see occasionally.  Most of them have the board leaning against the countertop backsplash or up on a shelf, looking as good as the day I gave it to them.  

Funny story on the other end of the spectrum.  I made some cutting boards one Christmas for the staff in my lab group at work.  They seemed well received.  A couple of years later one guy brought in a grocery bag with the board split in two or three pieces and looking as if it had been pounded on with a meat clever and left in a sink full of water every day.  He asked if I could repair it! "Sure, Pat, I can fix that."  A few days later I brought him a new cutting board.  He looked at it and said "Wow, I didn't think you would be able to make it look this good again."  

John

[Bill Wilson]

Very nicely done!  The newlyweds will cherish that for years.

I have 2 daughters for whom I've made cutting boards.  One of them is scored, worn and badly in need of a good sanding and fresh finish.  So I know she uses it all the time. The other one looks like the day I made it and sits on display, in the kitchen.  I figure each has their own way of showing their appreciation.