Butcher Block

[Marcel in Longueuil]

I have given my son & his girlfriend his Christmas present tonight ( I know I'm late).

At Christmas I had promised to make him a Butcher block type cutting board.
It is made of Maple, Walnut & Cherry. The finish is Walnut oil.
It is an end grain cutting board 2.5 inches thick and approx 11" x 11"
The base posts are 3" high and the rails are 2" wide

There are 4 scrolled symbols on the sides of the base.









I would like to run it in a drum sander to take out some of the rough but I don't have one and my V-drum sander isn't assembled yet, so I told him he'd have to bring it back to have it finished a little more. He says I'm a perfectionnist and likes it as is, but I still will have to do it (my pride demands it)


I'll put pictures in 2 posts as we are limited, and the battery is AA and included for size reference.

Comments welcomed,
Marcel

[Marcel in Longueuil]

His comment on seeing the Echinacee (S?) flower was : "How do you cut something so fine?"




I like the style of the support posts (legs)



Top view with detail of juice trough and wood pattern.

Wood strips are 3/4" sq. x 2" glued (qty: 15 x15 = 225 pieces (36 Cherry, 45 Walnut, 144 Maple )
Posts (legs) are 1" sq x 3"
Rails are 3/8" x 2" x required length (approx 10 7/8")

Plans are from an older Canadian Home Workshop magazine issue.


Thanks for looking,
Marcel

[doodle1]

Wow! Wow! Wow! That's all I can say. Very nice work Marcel.

[Minnesota scroller]

Neato, Marcel.

[bearfretworks]

Wonderful Marcel!!! A beautiful AND detailed job. That will be cherished for a LONG, LONG time.

Just thinking out loud, but around here, cabinet shops will run stuff thru their drum sanders for a very reasonable fee. Just an idea.

P.S. Love the drip channel!

[Marcel in Longueuil]

Thanks guys,

Barry: If I tell that to the wife, I loose the opportumity for a new toy :-)
Plus I already have what I need to build a 30" V-drum sander, I just need the time to do it.

One thing I forgot to mention, there are 3/8" sq cleats holding the block inside the base.
Glue is Titebond III
They were glued in yesterday morning and the base finish applied in the afternoon. They "almost" did not get it yesterday.
The block is still seeping out walnut oil from the "liberal coat" applied 2 days ago (told them to use paper towels to wipe it for a few days.

BTW, my son lives in another town, not far but he isn't here everyday.

Regards,
Marcel

[Gill]

That is so impressive, Marcel.

The next time you make something like that, would you be so kind as to take work in progress photographs so that we can learn your construction techniques?

Gill

[Andy]

Very nice Marcel. You wouldn't necessarily think of a cutting board as a keepsake but I have my grandmothers' and cherish it as much as any keepsake I have. The memories of her in the kitchen at family gatherings ... this project of yours will be one of those memories someday I'm sure. Thanks for sharing it. Exquisitely well done!!

Andy

[PuzzledMoose]

Very nice work, Marcel. Much more detailed than most butchers blocks! Like Gill - if you do another I'd like to see WIP pics..

[Marcel in Longueuil]

Thanks Gill,

Actually, not much to it: cut and paste mostly :-)

I cut strips 3/4" x 7/8" x 30" , glued them 5 wide according to pattern, planed them to 3/4" and then assembled those in blocks of 5 x 5 strips

I then cut them in 9 blocks of 2 1/2" lenght that were glued in 2 steps: first 3 strips of 3 blocks wide, then the 3 strips together.

I used a 1/4" roundover bit on the edges (both sides since it's reversible) then used a cove bit to cut the drip channel ( and I LOVE my BOSH Colt palm router)

I then planed the rails down to 3/8" cut to 2" wide, measured the block and added a little play room (came to 1/8", once I eyeballed it)

I planed the posts to 1" sq, cut to 4" long then cut the top angled half. I then cut them to 3" final lenght

I then searched for a day for patterns to put on the rails ( that is almost the longest part)

Used packing tape on the center of the rails, glued pattern with 3M super77 to packing tape and cut with 2/0R Pégas blades

Assembled rails to posts using 1/8 dowels (3 per joint) (didn't have FF biscuits at home, or I probably would have used those)

Cut 3/8"sq strip to make support cleats, glued them to inside of rails.
Sanded everything down to 320P grit, except for top of posts down to 600P grit. Lavished everything in Walnut oil, then wiped... and wiped ... and wiped.

And I will try to take pictures of work in progress next time :-)


Regards,
Marcel