How would you make this cut?

[Charlie Woody]

My best and most important customer (the wife wants me to make a chopping board similar to this http://www.market-place.co/product/5646

My question is how to make the cut out for the finger hold?

 

[custard]

I'd slide it into a router cutter, with two stops on the fence to indicate start and stop positions. Same as any stopped housing.

 

[Ian down london way]

Not got a biscuit jointer have you?

 

[Charlie Woody]

I'd slide it into a router cutter, with two stops on the fence to indicate start and stop positions. Same as any stopped housing.

Sorry, I don't understand how a router will create the curved ends of the cut out?

 

[Charlie Woody]

Not got a biscuit jointer have you?

Yes, I do :lol:

Guess you mean to make a number of cuts, one on top of the other, to create the correct size for the cut out?

 

[neilyweely]

Bearing guided rebate cutter, on a router table, as suggested by custard. Think sideways, not end cutting. So, the side of the workpiece is presented to the cutter, which in turn is cutting fro its side, and the workpiece is tapered out if necessary in order to give you a more gradual slope. Or use a larger cutter?

So, in other words you are using a router cutter rather than a blade from a biscuit jointer.

HTH

Neil

 

[OLD]

Anything in this list help.
http://www.wealdentool.com/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Single_206.html
I seem to remember using these cutters to make a finger hold.

 

[Charlie Woody]

Thanks Neil & Old ..... that sorts me out.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Couple of gouges and a mallet. Mark out two parallel lines, two half-circles at the ends, and whap out the waste. With a bit of patience and sharp gouges, the finish can be very good.

 

[Jacob]

Couple of gouges and a mallet. Mark out two parallel lines, two half-circles at the ends, and whap out the waste. With a bit of patience and sharp gouges, the finish can be very good.

That's the way to do it!
Or if you must use a router, end-on rather than sideways like a spindle moulder, you could make a little track for it from 2 bits of mdf. Think switchback ride:

 

[Modernist]

It's not as easy as it looks. It has been done with a form cutter on a spindle. If you want to retain the crescent shape then the biscuit jointer is not a bad idea but it might still be difficult to get a good finish at the base and the edges.

Finishing or the whole thing by hand you need a couple of out-cannel gouges. One for the main body of the waste and a narrow one to get a round on the inside corner of the base.

Trying to copy an machine-made shape by hand is often difficult and it would be easier to just rout a flat bottomed groove and radius the edges by hand or with a small round over cutter.

 

[misterfish]

I made a smaller chopping board with simpler end finger holds using a 19mm core box router cutter to create a rounded bottom and rounded end groove in either end. I used the router table and it was a quick job (and SWMBO was and is happy with the results). I'll post a picture if you want.

Misterfish

 

[Lee J]

Tell her screw on handles are very 'in' at the moment, everyone has them nowadays and if she buys it then all is well. However if she insists on having these finger holds tell her they can only be done with a special tool and you would have to go and purchase the special tool for the job. If she OK's the funding for this 'special tool' then just do as the guys above have said and get yourself shopping for whatever tool you would like to have. happy days. She gets the chopping board with finger holds and you gets some new gear!

 

[bugbear]

My best and most important customer (the wife wants me to make a chopping board similar to this http://www.market-place.co/product/5646

My question is how to make the cut out for the finger hold?

A caveat - those things are damned heavy, large to store, and a pain to wash up and drain.

I love working on large wooden boards, but often use my commercial poly one, simply because it's lighter and (just) fits the slots in my draining rack!

BugBear

 

[Grahamshed]

Tell her screw on handles are very 'in' at the moment, everyone has them nowadays and if she buys it then all is well. However if she insists on having these finger holds tell her they can only be done with a special tool and you would have to go and purchase the special tool for the job. If she OK's the funding for this 'special tool' then just do as the guys above have said and get yourself shopping for whatever tool you would like to have. happy days. She gets the chopping board with finger holds and you gets some new gear!

Now you are obviously a man well experienced with the ways of the world.

 

[Ian down london way]

Tell her screw on handles are very 'in' at the moment, everyone has them nowadays and if she buys it then all is well. However if she insists on having these finger holds tell her they can only be done with a special tool and you would have to go and purchase the special tool for the job. If she OK's the funding for this 'special tool' then just do as the guys above have said and get yourself shopping for whatever tool you would like to have. happy days. She gets the chopping board with finger holds and you gets some new gear!

Now you are obviously a man well experienced with the ways of the world.

Or indeed the ways of the sawdust widow/widower.
(is that a commonly used term, or did my wife adapt that from the golf owned phrase).

 

[custard]

I'd slide it into a router cutter, with two stops on the fence to indicate start and stop positions. Same as any stopped housing.

Sorry, I don't understand how a router will create the curved ends of the cut out?

You'd need a router bit like one of these,

http://www.wealdentool.com/acatalog/Onl ... e_206.html

The cutting board sits flat on your router table with the end pointing towards the fence. You clamp two blocks on your fence to correspond to the beginning and end of the cut. You have the cutting board tight against one stop, then slide it into the spinning router bit, then move it to the other stop, and then you pull it away from the spinning router bit.

Best done in two or three shallower cuts, with a very shallow finishing cut.

Problem is the cost of the router bit means it'd probably be cheaper to just buy a cutting board!

 

[AndyT]

The cut is that shape because it was machined - but it does not need to be that shape to be functional.
If you don't have a gouge (to follow CC's suggestion) you must have at least one chisel. A simple shallow mortice is all that is required. It can be of even depth, or it could slope down from each end to the middle if that helps you keep the bottom smooth. All done in a few minutes.