# Another 3D Cutting Board



## oldwoodenshoe (Nov 28, 2011)

Here is a 3D cutting board I recently made for my wife. It is made of Hard Maple, Cherry and Walnut. The toughest part was the glue up. There are 140 pieces to this cutting board. To glue it up, I first glued 3 pieces together to form hexagons. I used rubber bands to hold these pieces together. I then glued the hexagons into rows, then glued the rows into a grid. Then I filled the extra pieces into the voids around the edges. I then sawed off the overhanging pieces to make a rectangle shaped board. I then made the Walnut side strips and glued them into place.

I then planed the glued up board on both sides using my ski mounted router. Then I sanded it smooth with a ROS. 

The end product is intended to be a show piece and not used as an actual cutting board. Therefore, the board was finished using Minwax Satin Polyurethane instead of Mineral Oil as the Poly finish will not dry out and will keep the natural wood colors vibrant much longer.


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## pal (Feb 13, 2008)

Now that I like. Well done.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Wow that's something neat there Glen. It certainly looks 3D , quite a nice effect


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Great result, Glenn.


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Looks great Glenn.


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## Arcola60 (Jul 4, 2009)

Excellent work Glen. That style is one that I have not made yet. Thanks for explaining your process.

Ellery Becnel


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## Bushwhacker (Jun 16, 2009)

Beautiful job Glen. I have had an idea for one some place between my head and my work bench.
David


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## Multiwood (Feb 24, 2013)

Excellent work Glen.


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## Billy Boy (Mar 4, 2012)

An outstanding job, Glenn. You really have a unique product. billy boy Bill Major


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## chessnut2 (Sep 15, 2011)

Nice, Glenn. Nice. You have the patience of a saint.


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## billyjim (Feb 11, 2012)

Glenn that is a great looking board. Thanks for posting.


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## rrrun (Jun 17, 2014)

Great work. I just may have to add this one to my list!


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

pal said:


> Now that I like. Well done.


Me too...


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## mikemikemi (Feb 6, 2011)

Awesome job Glenn, great workmanship.

Mike


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## old coasty (Aug 15, 2014)

Super Job!


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## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

Nicely done, Glenn, and a great illusion.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Gaffboat said:


> Nicely done, Glenn, and a great illusion.


That's my concern , depth perception illusion and sharp knives . Not a great combo when your blind in one eye already lol :fie:


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## beemor (Feb 29, 2012)

Beautiful ! How thick etc, are the pieces ?


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## Shadowrider (Apr 1, 2015)

Looks fantastic.

One of these is definitely on my list, it just has to wait until I nab a planer.


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

Glenn,

This is a great example of the Tumbling Block pattern, very well done. 

I have used this pattern on the top of jewelry and valet boxes done in veneer but have never made a thick wood panel like your cutting board. I have seen several quilts made in this pattern, some kind of plain made with solid color fabric,but some really neat made with fabric with a printed pattern to help the illusion of direction of each piece.

Again WELL DONE!


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## Barry747 (Jun 16, 2011)

Very impressive Glenn. That pattern is exactly what I'm trying to work up to once I have more experience and skill. I'm just starting with one rectangular board and one oval. Great work. If you have others like that please post them.


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## oldwoodenshoe (Nov 28, 2011)

Thanks everyone for your kind words.

Here are some more details on how to do it. The secret is to get the angle set exactly to 30 degrees and the lengths of the parallel sides exactly the same on all of the pieces. If the angle is off by any amount, the parts won't fit without gaps. If the length of the sides very by any amount from piece to piece, they won't fit without gaps. Below is an explanation of how I accomplished that.

The hardwoods were 6/4 thick boards. After the glue up, there were some uneven levels of the glued up blocks. I then planed them with my ski mounted router on both sides to make the board perfectly flat. This resulted in a thickness of just over 1 inch. The thickness of the boards isn't critical. But a cutting board of at least 1" thick really looks nice. 

To get the exactness required to make this cutting board, I did the following. I made sure that the 6/4 boards that had a smooth, squared edge by running them through a jointer plane. I verified that my table saw blade was set at a 0 degree angle by ripping some scrap wood and then flipping over one part of the ripped board and verifying that the two pieces when laid side by side on my table saw met up without a gap on either the top or bottom. After verifying the 0 degree angle, I then ripped the hardwood boards into several strips of each of the 3 hardwoods 1" wide on my table saw. This dimension is not critical. However, all of the pieces need to be the same. So once you decide on a width, cut up all of the strips with the same setup on your saw. 

I then used a 0 clearance face boards on my compound miter saw (I used double sided masking tape and taped 1/2" hard board to both the horizontal and vertical surfaces on the saw then after setting the angle to 30 degrees, cut through the taped on boards) and set the angle at 30 degrees and set up a stop at about 1-1/4 inches. The stop dimension is not critical, except that all pieces have to be exactly the same length. The stop assures that they are. The 30 degree angle is extremely critical. I cut three pieces and assembled them to the hexagon shape. I took note of the 30 degree angle and how well the three pieced fit and adjusted the angle very slightly and cut 3 more pieces. I repeated this process until the 3 pieces fit together without any gaps. I then cut up about 50 diamond shaped pieces of each wood type, all with the same precise setup. This makes all the pieces exactly the same size and all angles are exactly 30 degrees.

If you use this method you will get very precise pieces. If you don't take this kind of effort, you will be disappointed with the results.

Glenn


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## fishcad (Apr 15, 2012)

I am planning to make one of these. I'm curious about how much sanding is needed after smoothing with the router.


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## oldwoodenshoe (Nov 28, 2011)

> I am planning to make one of these. I'm curious about how much sanding is needed after smoothing with the router.


It wasn't a lot. I used a ROS and used up one #80 grit disc to rough sand both sides. I then used a #220 grit disc to finish sand it.

Glenn


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