Cutting Boards

[Russelldouble]

I am new to woodworking and have limited tools and budget. I would like to start making cutting boards but I don't have a planer/thicknesser. Does anyone have any tips of how a smooth flat surface can be achieved without using a planer/thicknesser. Thanks

 

[novocaine]

a hand plane a scraper and a sanding. the planer thicknesser just make the job quicker.

 

[thetyreman]

use a hand plane and card scraper, don't be lazy

 

[MrDavidRoberts]

I made my first cutting board by just glueing up 2 pine boards together, clamped them together by wedging them inside somewhere, and sanded,sanded,sanded.. I just needed a cutting board at that time not a piece of art. I think that cutting board lasted about 2months before I realized it's not a good idea to make a cutting board out of a scrap pine

 

[MotamJoinery]

im in the same situation, i ended up making a surfacing jig for my router and getting the following router bit to flatten out the boards

https://www.wealdentool.com/acatalog/On ... m_225.html

 

[AndyT]

Paul Sellers shows you how here

https://youtu.be/rbreLrpLW_c

without needing more than a few basic tools. If you want to get started, you could learn a lot from his many videos.

 

[Russelldouble]

Thanks for all your replies. I guess it's in he accuracy of the cutting and laying them out on a flat surface while clamping them together to minimise the amounts of sanding needed!

 

[MrDavidRoberts]

Btw things as chopping boards you are better off buying already made, I think I saw some nice end-grain style chopping boards in homebargains for £3 ,that thing would cost me more in timber to make, let alone time it would take to make it as well.

I only make chopping boards whenever I got some scrap pieces left that look really good and don't need much work to turn them in to chopping boards, as in- you already got sanded/planed/glued up off cut and you are going to throw it away anyway.

 

[Dan j]

Cutting boards are a nice simple project, and a useful one to hone your hand planing/scraping skills.
Make good gifts and you should be able to pick up the materials cheap or even free.