I planned to make a friend some wood kitchenware as sort of a house warming gift, and I know she needs a cutting board among other things. I've done a fair bit of research, and it seems like it's not a task that can be taken lightly to do it right.
I saw nice cutting board design that I wanted to make, it was a staggered hard maple (like bricks) with a walnut border all the way around. I just have some questions about how I would go about trying to make something like that.
1) what tools would I need? I've heard that power and hand planers don't work well with end grain and can cause some splintering, and that a drum sander would be ideal, but most people don't have a drum sander in the house. I have a table saw that I was going to use to square up the ends, and routers to round the ends and make some kind of a hand hold, as well as several types of power sanders if a planar won't work to flatten the cutting surface.
2) is end grain a necessity, or could I make it out of long grain? If using long grain, would a planer be a plausible tool to true up the cutting surface? Also if using long grain, should the grain all be running the same direction, or is it okay to make the walnut border run perpendicular to the hard maple?
3) what's an ideal width? I was going to buy 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 18" blanks, so if using long grain, it would be a bit under 1 1/2 " after sanding, or if using the end grain, I was thinking 1". My friend wants it to be ~13x11, but I figured I would let the wood designate the size more than me picking a specific size beforehand.
4) How high of grit should I go up to? I always work my way up from 80, all the way up to 600 when turning things, but I'm not sure if that high is necessary for a cutting board.
5) what's the best glue and finish to use? I was going to go with titebond III to glue it all together, and finish it with mineral oil, and possibly bees wax if the mineral oil isn't enough.
edit: one more thing, where's the best place to get wood blanks for a project like this? I was going to order from bellforest products, but I haven't really looked around yet.
I saw nice cutting board design that I wanted to make, it was a staggered hard maple (like bricks) with a walnut border all the way around. I just have some questions about how I would go about trying to make something like that.
1) what tools would I need? I've heard that power and hand planers don't work well with end grain and can cause some splintering, and that a drum sander would be ideal, but most people don't have a drum sander in the house. I have a table saw that I was going to use to square up the ends, and routers to round the ends and make some kind of a hand hold, as well as several types of power sanders if a planar won't work to flatten the cutting surface.
2) is end grain a necessity, or could I make it out of long grain? If using long grain, would a planer be a plausible tool to true up the cutting surface? Also if using long grain, should the grain all be running the same direction, or is it okay to make the walnut border run perpendicular to the hard maple?
3) what's an ideal width? I was going to buy 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 18" blanks, so if using long grain, it would be a bit under 1 1/2 " after sanding, or if using the end grain, I was thinking 1". My friend wants it to be ~13x11, but I figured I would let the wood designate the size more than me picking a specific size beforehand.
4) How high of grit should I go up to? I always work my way up from 80, all the way up to 600 when turning things, but I'm not sure if that high is necessary for a cutting board.
5) what's the best glue and finish to use? I was going to go with titebond III to glue it all together, and finish it with mineral oil, and possibly bees wax if the mineral oil isn't enough.
edit: one more thing, where's the best place to get wood blanks for a project like this? I was going to order from bellforest products, but I haven't really looked around yet.
