# Cutting board with inlay



## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

So... I've been in creative mode lately to augment our Etsy shop and have come up with more unique cutting boards, trivets, etc. I haven't done a video in a month so it was time for another and I decided to do one on this cutting board. 

It's edge grain Maple with Walnut inlay and the rosette is left over pieces from end grain cutting boards. I knew those little pieces would come in handy one day! The board is 12" x 16.5" x 1" thick. For those who play guitar this is styled after a 00 size Martin guitar. For those who don't play guitar, it's still styled after a 00 size Martin guitar. :wink:

Here's the finished board - 
















And here's the making of video - 





Enjoy!
David


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## hawkeye10 (Jul 28, 2015)

David your cutting board should sell it's different from others I have seen. So where did you come up with the design for the inlay?


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

Thanks, Don! The ideas just come to me, usually in the middle of the night when I should be sleeping. I have many more in the sketch stage or in my mental locker but finding time to get them all made is difficult. Some are just too involved to ever be profitable; they look good and are fun to make but unless I can improve the build time they'll remain prototypes or sketches.

One thing I rarely do is research what others have done. I like the ideas to flow without influence from something I may have seen but sometimes I pick something up and it may lay dormant in my mind for months before I use it as a springboard for a new idea. This particular design is 100% mine, though.

David


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## DonkeyHody (Jan 22, 2015)

That's a very unique and creative cutting board. I'll bet you could find a shop in Nashville that would sell those for you. I made a bunch of nice cutting boards for Christmas a year ago. When I go to the houses of the recipients, I find the cutting boards proudly displayed in their kitchens. But not one of them has a knife mark on it. I think this one will have the same fate.


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## Potowner1 (Feb 17, 2011)

Great video David. Were you a software man before you got your CNC? I am trying to wrap my head around some of this software information on the net and up to now, it is presented in a very general way, by that I mean that the information is not for a person like me, I know nothing about software. Do you have any suggestions on available information, can designs be imported from an INKSCAPE type program??? 

Please keep the videos coming.

I finished my first accoustic guitar about 5 months ago, I got the plans from Martin...Dreadnaught, I'm sure it won't be my last.


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## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

Great video, David, and a couple of things stood out for me. First, I liked the split screen where I could watch both the pocket and the inlay being cut at the same time. And, second, was the nifty little tip I picked up where you used a simple shop-built jig to mark the position of the feet so they were equally aligned at all the corners. Thanks again for an inspiring video.


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

Potowner1 said:


> Great video David. Were you a software man before you got your CNC? I am trying to wrap my head around some of this software information on the net and up to now, it is presented in a very general way, by that I mean that the information is not for a person like me, I know nothing about software. Do you have any suggestions on available information, can designs be imported from an INKSCAPE type program???
> 
> Please keep the videos coming.
> 
> I finished my first accoustic guitar about 5 months ago, I got the plans from Martin...Dreadnaught, I'm sure it won't be my last.


Thanks, Rick! I have been a Geek forever, it seems, and spent the last 25 years in Technology Sales. I'm using Fusion 360 for my CAD/CAM program and I regularly import svg files (Scalable Vector Graphic). I drew the guitar in CorelDraw, exported as svg, then imported and scaled as needed in F360. If Inkscape exports svg then F360 will handle it just fine. It also imports dxf and other formats but I mostly use svg.

Have you posted photos of your guitar? I'd love to see it. My first one is on hold at about 90% complete but I really want to get back on it and get it finished.



Gaffboat said:


> Great video, David, and a couple of things stood out for me. First, I liked the split screen where I could watch both the pocket and the inlay being cut at the same time. And, second, was the nifty little tip I picked up where you used a simple shop-built jig to mark the position of the feet so they were equally aligned at all the corners. Thanks again for an inspiring video.


Thanks, Oliver! I had never seen the split screen showing both the cavity and insert at the same time so figured I'd try something new. And since I was doing it I figured I'd slow the insert piece to 1/4 speed to show the chips flying in slow motion. 

The little corner spacing template is something I did way back as a sophomore in high school when I was taking mechanical drawing. All of our drawings had a 1/2" border and everyone was taking a long time measuring to get the lines just right. After doing that one time I drilled a hole in my triangle for exact spacing. My teacher laughed the next day and said that was pretty neat but I didn't get any extra points for creativity. :wink:

I still have the triangle and when I was using it in the shop a few years ago it hit me that I could adopt that for spacing holes at corners, so I did a simple one with 1/2", 3/4", 1", and 1 1/4" spacing. I keep thinking I'll make a precise one on the CNC one day but this one is good 'nuff for what I use it for.








David


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Excellent board, excellent presentation!


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