As I develop my skills as a carpenter I like to share “little discoveries” that have made a difference in my projects. Much of what I have learned is from watching videos and then putting that knowledge into action, so I thought I’d first give a nod to some helpful sources.
When it comes to making end grain cutting boards I have primarily used 3 sources. The “Wood Whisperer” (http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/videos/) is very informative and entertaining; Mtmwood (http://mtmwood.com/) has exceptional Youtube videos and The Boardsmith (www.theboardsmith.com/). Although the boardsmith doesn’t include videos he has some great information on “why” we do endgrain boards.
These artisans have been gracious enough to share their expertise with the world, so I try to continue that pattern by sharing what I’ve learned.
This tip is a simple one but also very important when routing the edges of your cutting board. As you can see by my video, rounding the top and bottom edges of your board is a detailed and delicate process. My video shows a successful edge that goes around the corners of the board, but often I’ve run into "tear out" on the corners no matter how slow and meticulous I’ve been.
My little discovery is that using a piece of painter's tape around the corner of the board, leaving enough space for the router bit to cut, helps reduce the possibility of chipping or tearing your corners.
There are no guarantees of 100% success because we work with natural woods, but I have found this tip to be helpful in creating a precise edge with perfect corners.
Happy Wood Working!
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