BUILDING GRID 3D CUTTING BOARD
- three16ths
- Jan 30, 2023
- 3 min read
This is my favorite 3D display, because no matter what direction that you look at it from, it looks like you're peering down into the inside of the grid assembly.
I always get a kick out of showing the woods used, in their rough state, before the project starts.
I chose Walnut, Cherry, Figured Maple and Mulberry for this.
I'll show you the steps that I used. If you choose to make this, look at a couple of other sites for other details. Each site has different methods to accomplish the same resulting cutting board. I improvised some of the jigs used, and how I made the small center triangle, to use little waste. It always bothers me when I see videos of woodworkers that waste more wood than they keep, when cutting something up. This is definitely the case with some of the videos here.
After figuring the dimensions that I wanted for my cutting board, I cut, planed and sanded the boards down to the thickness that I needed.
The first step is to cut the three sides for the triangle log. You must set the angle on the table saw blade exactly at 30°. The success of the entire project depends on getting the angle set very precisely.
I made my clamping jig by cutting two 4x4s at 30°, as deep as the blade would go, on the table saw. One side is screwed and glued to the 3/4" plywood base. All of the inner clamping areas must be lined with packaging tape, so the glue won't stick to the jig. Start off by clamping the three sides in the jig, without any glue. You use this to find the dimensions for the small inner triangle. I didn't get a picture of this step, The pictures here show the complete triangle that includes the inner triangle.
Now you can cut one side of the larger section of the inner triangle, on the table saw. I use the table saw because it makes a more precise cut that you would get on a bandsaw. Then I glue on a rough length of the smallest section of the triangle.
Next, I trimmed the small mulberry wood, close the the face of the 30° angled cut. I used the bandsaw at this point because it is a lot safer than trying to cut this small size on a table saw. Then on the sander I sanded the mulberry to be flush. Then I used the bandsaw again to finish forming the inner triangle.
This triangle should be cut a hair bigger than the finished size that you want. Use a sander to sneak up on the size so that the piece fits snuggly inside the outer triangle.
Now you are ready to glue up the completed triangle pieces.
Lightly clean off the dried glue on the sander. Don't sand down the wood any.
After the glue is fully set up, cut the triangle log into slices, a little thicker than what the final cutting board thickness is to be.
Label each style of triangle made, and lay out your pattern.
You will need to make up a second clamping jig now, for forming the rows of triangles. This will also need to be lined with packaging tape.
After the glue has fully dried, lightly sand off any excess glue. Now glue up the rows, then cut the excess off, to make your square cutting board.
I used a router sled to level off the top and bottom.
I ran it through a drum sander for the final sanding.
I used butcher block oil for a finish on this. If I make another one I will use a Danish Oil Finish with the "natural" shade. This would have given it a food safe finish, without darkening the colors of the wood.
This one still looks good anyway.
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