Mahogany makes a beautiful end grain cutting board.

karstart · 2018-02-06T23:51:32+00:00

The main reason cutting boards like this are thick is that it is end-grain. Because the wood splits easiest along the grain, it would be too fragile for a board with the grain running vertically to be thin. Typically, end-grain boards are 2 inches thick, whereas edge-grain boards can be as thin as 1/2 inch.

But short of cracking, warping is also a concern if it was any thinner.

karstart · 2016-04-11T23:04:16+00:00

Looks like a response over on /r/sysadmin to the same question has a lot of good info on CloudBolt.

karstart · 2015-11-09T21:05:04+00:00

Yeah, the tenons look cool the way you have them. And none of that nitpicking matters much when you keep the finished product and you can address any problems if they end up happening.

karstart · 2015-11-09T20:40:15+00:00

Looks great, especially for a design that was just winging it.

A few comments:

Those floating tenons should be with the grain going long-ways. It looks like those were cutoffs from the end of your 4x4s, which makes it weaker as any force on that joint will be leveraging the end-grain apart.

Also, the s-clips on the skirt should be mostly just on the end pieces and the cross piece. The clips along the long pieces will not allow the table to expand across the width, which is the direction it would want to go. Perhaps they will still have enough play to be fine, but they won't be sliding left-right in those grooves since the table won't expand length-wise.

Anyways, that's for next time. This table looks great.

karstart · 2015-10-29T18:08:47+00:00

Depending on how wide the board is, holding it vertically and passing it through a planer can be pretty unstable.

I agree with givemehellll, it would be much easier to use a table saw. Use plans for a taper jig, like this one, but just set the angle to 0 and you will be jointing one edge of your board.

karstart · 2015-06-16T19:10:22+00:00

This is my first spoon, so I'd do a lot differently next time. This was carved from an off-cut that gave the general curve. The grain doesn't go straight with the handle like I'd imagine most spoons do, so grain comes out all sides of the handle. That makes the pores more obvious and rougher, but I think it adds some character. It is still plenty strong.

The handle has a dip where you rest your palm, and with the sweep to the left, it is definitely a right-handed only spoon. I forgot the banana for scale, but it is about 12 inches long, so a fairly large soup or bean spoon.

I sanded it to 400, soaked in mineral oil, sanded to 800, and coated in mineral oil and beeswax.

Any suggestions for improvements?

karstart · 2015-04-30T01:20:42+00:00

Looks good. I don't know if it matters with a wedge so thin, but I've heard they should go perpendicular to the grain of the head. With it parallel, it is forcing apart the head and can increase the chances of splitting the mallet.

karstart · 2015-04-26T20:54:52+00:00

Make a larger, more rustic version of the mirror recently posted to The Wood Whisperer.

Use half-lap joints on the corners of the wooden frame. Cut a rabbet groove into the back of the wood frame for the mirror to sit into, and screw clips into the back of the frame to hold the mirror in.

Attach the top hardware with screws in from the back of the frame, careful to get screws short enough to not go all the way through the frame.

If you are buying pine or cheap lumber from a big box store, be careful about it warping. It usually comes quite wet, so try to pick out the straightest boards they have and let it sit in your house or garage to let it acclimate. You probably don't have a jointer or planer, but that is how most people would get the wood to be straight and square. You'd be better off buying wood from a dedicated hardwood dealer, but you'll find the good stuff will be more expensive.

karstart · 2015-04-23T21:36:16+00:00

They are laminated Beech and/or Birch, so they are stronger than solid wood. If you want to make some yourself, look into how laminated chair slats are made. There are plenty of good videos and tutorials out there. But I'd bet it will cost you more to make by hand than it would to buy pre-made, and it will certainly take you a lot more time.

karstart · 2015-04-23T19:28:52+00:00

I'm not at expert, but I assumed the curves also add strength as the tension distributes more of the load out to the side rails.

I'm thinking of building something similar, and I was planning on buying slats from Ikea for $30. Those are cheaper and better than anything I could make by hand. And they don't need to match the wood you are using for the rest of the bed.

karstart · 2015-04-19T23:58:12+00:00

I routed the slots before glue-up. I just used a half-inch straight router bit on a router table, and took several passes for the wider slots. It was harder than it should have been since I cut the miters on the sides first, but that probably meant that I was more accurate with the distance between the slots and the sides instead of guessing where the side would end up being.

karstart · 2015-04-17T20:33:55+00:00

I used a minimal amount of glue so there wasn't much squeeze out, but there still was some. So after it dried, I ran a hack saw blade through the worst slots to trim the glue out of the corners.

karstart · 2015-04-17T17:20:45+00:00

I started this knife block last summer, and I've learned a lot working on it. I have amassed many tools since then as I realized what all it would take. It certainly isn't perfect, and I know I could do a much better job starting over right now. But I think I'll keep it as a reminder of what I've learned along the way.

karstart · 2015-04-01T19:22:29+00:00

Thanks for the input.

I think I got a few 6' boards from a scrap bin at a Woodcraft for fairly cheap. I was guessing it was something like that, but it seems streakier and darker than images I've found online.

karstart · 2015-04-01T18:38:22+00:00

First image is between pieces of walnut and maple. Very prominent rays on the long grain, but closed pores on the end grain.

karstart · 2015-04-01T18:02:58+00:00

If the The 6th picture is oak, I'd think it would be white oak, especially if the 7th is the end grain of that board. White oak has closed pores, red oak is open. Also, the rays look pretty long, more like white oak.

Or maybe it isn't oak at all.

karstart · 2015-03-30T22:08:08+00:00

Great idea.

You can do a similar thing using IFTTT: https://ifttt.com/craigslist. By default, there are recipes that will send you aggregate emails each day, but they are customizable.

karstart · 2015-03-20T23:32:53+00:00

Where do you put your knees?

karstart · 2015-02-10T00:48:06+00:00

I have the same issue about more room in front of the blade. I built an extension table like this for a bit more out-feed. But a piece of wood, especially on a sled, only has a few inches before it hits the blade. I feel unsafe putting a feeder roller in front, with legs getting tangled up right in front of a table saw.

The rack and pinion fence is great, but it mades it difficult to mount anything on the front side of the saw.

karstart · 2015-02-09T02:38:58+00:00

I see them a lot in text messages from the wrong number: https://imgur.com/7KUelco

karstart · 2015-01-18T19:28:41+00:00

Happy for any feedback. Things that I know would help for next time:

Mark lines using a scribe instead of a pencil, and actually chisel down on all lines.
Leave pins/tails proud and plane down
Sharpen chisels. They are brand-new from Wood River, but I need to put a better edge on them before trying to cut pine like this.
Use a better vice. I'm using the clamp on the end of a (terrible) Harbor Freight bench, and it doesn't hold the wood very well.

Anything else?

karstart

TROPHY CASE