I want to replace my kitchen countertops with butcher block. I have made a few cutting boards, so I decided to scale that up to go next to my stove. I mixed maple, cherry and a little bit of mahogany. The size is just under 12-1/2" wide and 31-1/2" long. There are many little steps to doing this and I tried to capture them all on video. Here is the final product. Steps : 1) cut rough boards to 35" (yes longer than 31.5" so I can cut nail hole off from step 2 and to get square and exact fit 2) get a straight edge on one edge of the 35" boards (use a board with a good edge and table saw... I now have a 50" aluminum strip to do this with so I don't waste an inch on both ends 3) cut the nail/screw hole off 4) rip the 33" boards in about 1" strips (just a bit larger is what I picked ( I was having a little problem with the first 1" or 2" doing this, getting about an extra 1/8" cut off the left piece of wood - something to work on) 5) plane the 1" widths to get them even and smooth (which is why I cut them larger than 1" (some of the maple was having a "tear out" issue, but not all of it. None of the mahogany or cherry had that problem) 6) arrange and glue up (I rip cut two pieces on each top just a little bit so that the boards would be just under 12 1/2" 12 1/2" is the maximum width of my planer) 7) plane the 33" x 12 1/2" tops (plane little by little, 1/64" at a time) 8) cut to length 9) sand 10) 3 coats mineral oil (1 , let sit for a day, repeat) 11) butcher block conditioner (mineral oil and beeswax) 1 or 2 coats (coat, let sit for a day) Now to figure out how to make 24" by 68" countertops and decide on keep the old sink or find a new one.
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A cousin requested a cutting board in the shape of Ohio, and then another requested Arizona. The first step is to find an outline of the state. It does not have to be a .svg because the software can take .jpg or .png and turn them into vectors. You do not want something with too much detail, I am using a ¼” bit to cut out the shape, so fine details would be lost. The first issue I encountered was that the software read the outline as two vectors, even though it is a thin line. Luckily I could select one of the vectors and delete it. Next step is to draw lines for the groove inside the shape. This is not going to be “perfect” because of the irregularity of the shapes of states, but using the straight line tool and the curve tool, it comes out okay. Sometimes it is difficult to tell how far from the edge it will be, even with guide dots. Export the cut files, get it all lined up on the CNC router and go. Since the board is 0.80” thick, it will take 7 passes to cut through. Unfortunately on pass 3, the router shifted in the X direction, just by a little. But this meant it was trying to cut through 3 “layers” of cuts at once, and that is not good. Also the board would now have a lip to cut/sand off. I stopped it and sent it back to (0,0) and it was in a different X place than when started. I re-zeroed and finished that board but will have detail work to do. I turned the machine off and on, then zeroed the tip again for the second board. This one came out alright. I don’t know why it change zero half way through the first cut. Time to sand and oil.
Next up is to try Arizona. . One of the projects I have been interested in is making cutting boards. So it was time to buy some new tools for my home shop and learn how to use them. I also bought some tools for my other project, making wooden toy cars. The tools I added to my shop are a 12 1/2" planer, a band saw, a drill press, a belt-disc sander, a spindle sander, and an assortment of clamps. Of course I needed to build a couple of new workbenches to put these on. I will admit that part of my reason for spending money I really don't have is that the feedback from one interview was they wanted someone who already new how to use all the tools in their space, not have a learning curve. But that is a whole other discussion. In "short", here are the steps to making a cutting board. I bought some Cherry and Maple from Woodcraft store. It is a woodcrafters store that has a wide variety of woods for a decent price. It is also where I bought my CNC router. Get one straight edge on boards (boards are rough cut), cut boards to length (I did 16" & 18"), rip cut into strips (i have done 3/4" & 1") , plane strips to have parallel sides, arrange to be less than 12 1/2" wide (planer size), glue up, plane top & bottom to be even and smooth and "pretty" , use CNC router to cut design in board, use jigsaw to cut board to shape, sand, oil, conditioner. I am also working on how to shoot video of the process. I thought I would test out the Apple clips app and a workflow to uploading to youtube. I don't like that Apple Clips shoots video in portrait mode. Though it is easy to use to put video together and narrate if needed. There is one other thing I don't like about Apple : .mov . The .mov format is bulky and cumbersome, I have to run it through iMovie to turn it into a better format (.mp4). So the workflow for now is create in Apple clips, export to camera roll, Air Drop to MacBook, import to iMovie, Export from iMovie, upload to YouTube. Below are some videos. Comments and questions always welcome. |
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