Chris
My wife told me the other day that she needed a new cutting board to replace her cheapo bamboo one. Since her birthday was coming up, it was a perfect time to surprise her with something cool and improve my skills as a novice woodworker.
I'd like to say choosing the design was the hardest part, but honestly it was getting precise lengths cut for a perfect diamond shape. If one cut is even a millimeter off, the error scales significantly as more pieces are added on.
Most of the project time was spent waiting for the glue to set and trying not to panic, looking for a diamond facing the wrong way.
Wrapping it all up was incredibly satisfying. There are quite a few errors, but as a brilliant woodworker once told me, "Don't point out the errors. No one will notice them but you."
I've learned quite a bit since my first cutting board.
Chris