Making a Black Walnut and Maple End Grain Cutting Board

Black Walnut and hard rock Maple End Grain Cutting Board

I wanted to share with you a little bit of the process of making an end grain cutting board. I am making two boards using a combination of Black Walnut and hard rock Maple. These two woods will give a nice contract of color. The final size of each board will be 14″ x 20″ x 1-1/2″ thick.

The first step is to hand pick nice hardwood, preferably woods with nice grain, color, square, no splitting and no worm holes. If you purchased wood, let the wood acclimate to the conditions of your shop for a week before starting your project. Knowing the final size of the board allows you to calculate the total board feet of hardwood required to make the board. Keep in mind that there are numerous cuts and glue ups in the process. You need to account for all of the cuts as each cut on a table saw waste 1/8 of material.

Prepare your cuts for the best use of the hardwood and the design.  If you plan to use different types of woods, you may need more board feet of one wood verses the other based on your design. Since this board is primary Black Walnut, I will need more Black Walnut than Maple.

Plan your cuts based on final size of the board. Start by cutting the wood into strips. The size of the strips is determined based on the final design and size of the board. Glue all of the strips together in the sequence of your design, leaving the boards in the clamps for a minimum of 24 hours.

The above photo shows the Black Walnut and Maple strips, this is the first glue up. After removing the glued strips from the clamps, both surfaces were sanded smooth to size per my design.

Next step was to cross cut the above boards into strips that are 1-5/8 wide, which will make a 1-5/8 thick board. The 1-5/9 thickness provides 1/8″ for flattening both surfaces and all the sanding. After cutting the strips, each piece is carefully placed in the proper sequence based on the design. Every other piece is the opposite of the last piece.  After each piece is in order, it is time for the second glue up.

The above photo shows the second glue up of all of the strips that were cut to 1-5/8″. This will be the final design.

In the above photo, after 24 hours, I removed the boards from the clamps. I then cut the board to size, 14 x 20 inch and started sanding the surface on all sides. The final thickness will be 1-1/2 inch. Once this is completed, I will cut finger pulls of each end and then sand them smooth. My sanding process starts at 120 grit up to the final grit of 300.

The sanding took nearly an hour to go from 120 grit to 300 grit. They are looking good, flat on all surfaces and all sanded. Next step is to cut the finger pulls, then apply the final finish.

The above photo shows the board after cutting the finger pulls, sanding the finger pulls and applying the final finish.

Finished boards!

 

I hope you enjoyed my post!

This board is stall available, made to order only. If you are interested, please email me from my Contact Us page. Click CONTACT US button below!

 

 

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Engraved Ice Cream Scoops!

Above, Engraved walnut ice cream scoop.

Please note, the manufacturer of the stainless steel ice cream scoop hardware has changed the design. Effective March 1, 2017, all orders will include the stainless steel hardware shown inn above picture and picture below.

 

Above font is Amaze Bold-script

Above: Rockwell font

Above: Curly Black Walnut and Blackwood ice cream scoop custom engraved for Debra at the University of Connecticut, Office of Alumni Relations.

 

Over the last few months I have handcraft over 70 ice cream scoops and engraved more then 40 of them. I wanted to share with you some of the pictures!

above, Amaze Bold script font

above, Amaze Bold font

above, Amaze Bold script font

above, Amaze Bold script font

above, Amaze Bold script font

The above ice cream scoop was a gift to Maryland Coach Turgeon!

Above: My customer sent me a picture of Maryland Coach Turgeon with the ice cream scoop!

Whimsical ice cream scoops!

above, Amaze Bold script font

above, Rockwell font

above, Amaze Bold script font

above, Amaze Bold script font

above, Amaze Bold script font

Curly black walnut handle engraved.

I am now also engraving serving boards and cutting boards!

 

Above: Wedding gift

    

The above scoop was also a wedding gift and it had engraving on the topside and bottom side.

 

Everyone seems to be enjoying ice cream this summer!! I know I have had my share of Ice cream too!

Enter a caption

 

Above, Cooper font

Above, Curly Black Walnut and Blackwood engraved scoops.

The above Ice Cream Scoop was made for a FedEx sales rep that is on the State Government Team!

above, Amaze Bold script font

above, Amaze Bold script font

Above, Cooper font

The above handle was special order, walnut with special colored wood. The shape is like the hard rock Maple handle. If you like the handle be sure to let me know and I can make this design in walnut for you!

Above, Engraved customer logo’s

Above, Rockwell font

Above, Rockwell font

Above font is Amaze Bold-script

Above font is Rockwell

Above, Amaze Bold-script and Rockwell

Above: curly walnut old fashion ice cream paddle with Rockwell engraving

Above: Amaze bold-script font

Above: Old fashion ice cream paddle scoop engraved using Amaze Bold-script font

Above: Hard rock Maple and Padauk ice cream scoop handle engraved using Amaze bold-script font.

Ab0ve; Old fashion ice cream paddle scoop with Amaze Bold-script font. Below is Cooper font ice cream scoop

Above: Curly Walnut with Blackwood scoop, Rockwell font

Above: Amaze bold-script font

Thank you for visiting my Blog!

Please check out our handcrafted woodwork, charcuterie boards, cutting boards, wine boards, serving trays, wine stoppers, unique ice cream scoops, honey sticks and more. 

For more information please click SHOP NOW

 

 

 

 

New Boards Made The Last Month

Above: Black Walnut Board

I thought I would post today a few of the boards that I have made this month. There were a few more that I made but did not get a picture of them!

 

Above: Ambrosia Maple, Cherry and Black Walnut

This one is 14 inch in diameter and has a lot of different grain character and colors, it’s stunning!

Above: Black Walnut and Maple

Customer wanted a long board to place beside her range, 22 inches long and 6-1/2 inches wide.

Above: Black Walnut and Maple end grain cutting board

Rachel was looking for a unique board that could take lot of use. See her picture below!

The above photo was taken by Rachel, she is a wonderful cook, check out her Instagram page, @5280Meat

 

Above: Black Walnut board with handle.

Check out Trina’s picture below of this board, round board and ice cream scoop! Trina is a wonderful cook, check out her Instagram page, @Paleo_Newbie_Recipes

 

My Wood Conditioner is homemade combining a mixture of food-grade mineral oil and pure food grade beeswax. It will help you maintain the finish on your boards, reviving, condition and help protect your boards from moisture and drying out.

Enjoy your afternoon!

After months of hard work and dedication, my NEW website is live!! I would love it if you would go take a look, here is the link:  MichaelsWoodcrafts

www.MichaelsWoodcrafts.com

Purchasing my work is Simple, click the above image or the SHOP NOW button below to be directed to my website.

 

 

 

 

Maple & Paduak

 

I started two end grain cutting boards last week, One was Maple and Cherry (left), the other was Maple and Pakauk (right). Paduak is an orange-red color wood from South America.

The Maple and Paduak boards is to the right, first glue-up. In this post I am going to show you the finishing process of the Maple and Padauk end grain board.

The above picture shows the second glue-up for the final pattern.  It’s dry  and ready to go to the Jet belt sander to get it flat on both sides. This board will finish out at 10 inches wide, 16 inches long and 2 inches thick. Once flat I sanded all sides from 120 grit up to 600 grit.

What looks like water is food grade mineral oil. After being in the food grade mineral oil bath for over an hour I removed it to let it air dry. I will let it dry over night before wiping it down with a cotton cloth.

Another view of this board that shows the finger pull, I cut one on each side to make it easier to lift. This board was finished with  food grade mineral oil, then my wood conditioner that is a food grade mineral oil and food grade beeswax mixture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful Pictures!

I have a wonder photographer that is helping me with pictures of my work and I wanted to share a sample of her beautiful work. All of these pictures were taken by Tricia, you might already know Tricia because she is a very active blogger, please visit her site, Saving Room For Dessert.

Tricia is not only a great photographer but wow, she can cook, and is a wonderful baker. She is always creating new recipes and also loves kayaking, hiking, watching great movies, baking and traveling.

Tricia has sent me a lot of photos over the last few weeks, I love all of her pictures!! I hope  you enjoyed seeing Tricia’s pictures and I hope you will check out her blog, Saving Room For Dessert!

I could eat that bowl of ice cream right now!! 🙂

Tricia makes some wonderful, delicious pies and has included many recipes on her blog.

The Teardrop shaped cutting board I hand crafted using Black Walnut!

Honey Dipper Sticks are great if you like using honey!

The above board is handcrafted using Walnut, Cherry and Ambrosia Maple!

Do you remember when no one knew what a kiwi was?

Walnut cheese boards are great for serving your favorite cheeses, crackers and maybe cold cuts!

If you are interested in my woodwork, browse my site or email me if you have any questions!

Love all the pictures Tricia!! 🙂

For more information, view more images, pricing or to order, click SHOP NOW

 

Rustic Black Walnut Wood slices

Good evening y’all!

In early January I wrote about cutting a Black Walnut log into these Walnut cookies slices. At the time the black walnut tree had just been cut down so the moisture content was 100%. After 5 weeks, most of these are at 20% moisture but there are a few at 13-15%. It will be another few weeks before the moisture is between 8-9% so that I can begin finishing them. Check out my previous post from January 7th, Walnut Wood Cookies

I spent nearly 7 hours today removing the remaining bark, running them thru the planner on both sides and cleaning up the edges. They are looing really nice, a few cracks but that adds character. Most all of these are 12 inch in diameter and 2 inches thick.

All of them have really great color and should finish out beautifully! They will make great cutting boards, serving boards or plate chargers!

 

The National Weather Service has predicted a winter storm for our area starting Monday evening thru Tuesday with accumulations of 4 to 7 inches of freezing rain, sleet and snow! Where ever you are, I hope you are in a warm place!

Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope you enjoy your weekend! 🙂

 

I will soon be adding a new board design, see picture below!

Serving boards

 

 

 

 

Black Walnut

I am always looking for unique material to use in my shop. Black Walnut is my favorite and most of my customers love Walnut. I sell more items made using Walnut than any other wood. I was able to land this stack of Walnut, these are Black Walnut live edge slabs.

I purchased all that the lumber mill had, six pieces, wish they had more but I was a little late. Each piece is 7 foot long, 5/4 inch thick and ranges from 14 to 18 inches wide. As you can see it’s all very beautiful. The moisture content of these boards is very high, around 14%, so I would be able to make anything with these for about 6 months.

Do you like Black Walnut? What is your favorite wood?

Enjoy your evening!

Do you have an Instagram page? If you do please let me know, I would love to visit your page! Here is the link to my page: Michael’s Woodcraft Instagram

Check out my handcrafted Honey Dipper Sticks!

Handcrafted Ice Cream Scoops!

 

Custom Quilted Flame Maple Cutting Board – Part II

This board was custom made for my blogger friend over at Forest Garden blog, she wanted the wood to look as natural as possible. She selected Flamed Quilted Maple for the board and I was lucky to find a piece with a live edge. She did not want a large cutting board but one that fit into her space that she could use everyday. She likes beautiful woods, but wanted it all organic and artistic as well as functional.

The live edge board I had found was only approximate 9-1/2 inches wide. The board needed to be 12 x 15 inches. To provide the extra 2-1/2 inches or so I added a piece of Flamed Quilted Maple from another board that was a different shade that would help to off set the live edge and that would look nice.

After cutting the two boards to match, gluing the dominos to attach the boards I glued them using Titebond III which is a water proof glue. The board stayed in the clamp press for 24 hours before I was able to run the board thru the drum sander to insure it was perfectly flat. Then I sanded this board smooth like I do all my boards to 1200 grit. After wiping down the board to remove all the fine dust using a tact cloth,  I then placed the board into a food grade mineral oil bath for about 30 minutes. Sitting in the bath of mineral oil allows the wood to soaks in the oil creating a barrier and a nice finish. I then let it drain for an hour before applying a warm mineral oil and food grade beeswax mixture. The warm mineral oil and beeswax is the final finish that adds protection. As you can see in the picture the sheen is from the warm final finish. I also shipped a tin of my Wood Conditioner!

Debbie (my wife) was in the shop last week and saw this board before it was sanded and fell in love with it. Debbie has a basket full of cutting boards but you guessed it, I am making her one just like it this week!!

I shipped the board on Monday, FedEx home Delivery, it arrived today around 11:45and shortly after being delivered I received the following email;

Dear Michael,
It board is absolutely magnificent!  My husband says that he’s not sure now what he was expecting, but that what you have created blows away whatever expectation he had.  He has informed me that it is a piece of art, and I shouldn’t use it….

At the moment it is resting in the light where we can visit it and admire it 😉  Not in the kitchen…..

I will use it and enjoy it-  he wants me to use it as a serving piece, not an every day work surface.  And truthfully, the grains and patterning in the wood you chose is just magnificent.   It is peopled with all sorts of beings- we’ve found a bear, several eyes, and other creatures so far.

I love how the wood contrasts on one side of the board, and melts almost seamlessly from the large piece of wood to the smaller one on the reverse.  You matched the grains perfectly so they look almost like they grew together.

There just aren’t enough words, Michael.  It is so absolutely smooth, and the extra sanding makes the grain appear mulch-dimensional.  It shimmers and moves with the light.

We love the live edge.  It is perfectly finished, beautifully shaded, wonderfully sculpted, and transports this piece from the everyday to the extraordinary.

Thank you so much for all of the love and care you poured into creating this wonderful cutting/serving board.  We will enjoy it so much.

…..So I think she likes it! It makes be very happy when someone orders from me and really likes my work! I hope she will tell all of her friends!  Thank you for ordering from me! 🙂

Please visit Forest Garden, she takes beautiful photographs! 

Handcrafted Ice Cream Scoops 

Also check out my engraved ice cream scoop handles!

12 inch round Cherry board that just came out of the food grade mineral oil bath! Next it will get a warm food grade mineral oil and beeswax applied for the final finish and protective coating!

Custom Quilted Flame Maple Cutting Board – Part I

A few weeks ago a blogger friend at Forest Garden blog and I were emailing about the holidays, grandchildren, the weather, etc. and she mentioned that she wanted another cutting board. She was looking for a unique cutting board, wanted a live edge, wanted a wood with character and wanted the board to be unique!

She soon picked out Quilted Flame Maple wood. I then started looking for a really nice piece that she might like. I found the two boards in the first picture, both are approximately 26 inches long and 10 inches wide. Since the board on the left had the nicer live edge, this would be the board I would use.

I sent her pictures and she loved it. We planned to keep the live edge on one side. The dimensions of her new board needed to be 12 x 14, which was an exact size for the area she planned to store it to make is easy to use everyday. Over the next week I started working on her board.

Check out Forest Garden blog!

Stay tuned for Part II coming soon!

Enjoy your evening! 🙂

 

Below are a couple Walnut Teardrop Cutting boards with handle and a Walnut Round Cutting board with handle. All of these boards just came out of the oil bath after an hour and are drying, waiting for the last finishing process! The oil makes the boards really shinny until it is dry.

 

Shopping!

Cheese Boards

Here’s a little preview of some of my work! Browse my site for more designs and options. All of my boards are handcrafted one at a time. Read more, About My Work.

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Handcrafted Ice Cream Scoop

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Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Cutting Boards Greenville SC