Idea

I love cooking and none of my cutting boards were heavy enough or large enough to get things done. We desperately needed something different.

Requirements

Table saw, planer, wood glue, lots of clamps, various hard woods, router (optional).

Build

I picked up some maple, mahogany, and cherry wood from the local orange shirt hardware store and cut them into evenly sized thin strips. These need to be glued and clamped overnight. When dry, turn the board 90° and cut into thin strips again. Take the strips and rotate every other one. Alternating end grain will prevent warping. Glue and let sit overnight. Shove this through your planer when after the glue sets – taking off a little bit at a time. Sand the edges or use a round over bit in your router to remove the sharp edges. To finish, sand the ever loving crap out of it. Start with 120 and work your way down.

After the board is nice and smooth, wipe off all residual sawdust with a wet cloth and finish with a mineral oil soak. The board will soak up a metric ton of mineral oil, so let it. Re-apply mineral oil yearly to keep in good condition.

Suggestions

Don’t put it in the dishwasher. Clean and dry immediately after use. Also, pick up wood from a lumber yard instead of a big box store. The selection and prices are much better. Also learn to speak in “board feet” before you go.