Who doesn’t love an ice cream sandwich? Making this cutting board reminds me of ice cream sandwiches. Why? The basic pattern for this board is made up of blocks that look like one. There are only three shapes in this board which are easy to make, but don’t let that fool you. The fast-paced glue-up more than makes up for it.
I was studying the basket weave tile pattern on my shower floor one day and thought it would make an interesting cutting board. The pattern is simple, yet it had a subtle three dimensional feel. It looked easy, so I gave it a shot. Here’s how:
I picked maple, padauk and walnut as my light, medium and dark woods. The main basket pattern being maple, the border padauk and the “gaps” or small squares walnut. The target size for the maple basket shape is 1″ x 2″, the border 1/8″ thick, and the squares 3/8″. The walnut squares don’t get cut until last, because the final dimension of the “ice cream sandwich” determines their size, which is critical to the fit of the pieces.
Cutting the Main Basket Pattern
Starting with the maple, I cut a 24″ length from a 2 1/4″ x 6″ piece of rough cut lumber. This will be the “ice cream” of the sandwich. Because it’s rough cut, I had to flatten it on the jointer. Flipping the flattened surface up against the jointer fence, create a reference edge. It’s best not to plane the board to it’s final thickness yet. Instead, rip it into strips on the table saw slightly thicker than the target width of 1″. In this case, about 1-1/16″. Remember to keep the flattened surfaces against the saw bed and the fence to maintain accuracy. Mill them to the final thickness of 1″ on the thickness planer. There’s probably no reason you can’t cut them to width on the table saw and skip the planer, but I wanted to ensure they were flat, parallel and void of any saw marks. I use a set of calipers to measure the thickness after each cut and sneak up on the final dimension. Set these pieces aside for now.
Cutting the Border Strips
Flatten one face and one edge of the border material on the jointer. In this case, it’s Padauk. This is the “cake” part of the ice cream sandwich, so you’ll need twice as many linear inches of this than the maple. Cut the board into sections just wider than the the target of 2″. I left them about 1/8″ wider. Resaw the pieces on the band saw to a thickness that will clean up to it’s final dimension of 1/8″. After each band saw cut, I flattened the board on the jointer to take out the blade marks. This is the surface I ran against the fence to resaw the next pass. It takes more time up front, but having a flat surface on each piece saves time and material when milling it to the final thickness. Once you’ve cut enough material, mill the pieces to their final thickness. If you’re using a planer, you’ll probably need to use a sled to get down to 1/8″. I use a drum sander, so there’s not a practical minimum thickness limit.
Gluing the “Sandwiches”
The next step is to glue the cake to the ice cream. Aligning all the reference edges, add glue to both long sides of the maple, add a border to each side, and and clamp all the assemblies together. Be careful you don’t use too much glue and the squeeze out causes the dry sides of the borders to stick together. Interleaving wax paper between the assemblies will help here if desired.
Finishing the Sandwiches
Once the glue is dry, it’s time to plane all the assemblies to the correct size. Standing on edge, send the assemblies through the planer and mill them down to the target 2″ height.
Using my modular crosscut sled, set your stop to the nominal thickness of the cutting board. After flattening and sanding, the board will be a bit thinner, so take that into consideration. I set my stop to 1-1/2″ and sliced up all except about half of the last long assembly into pieces. I left the rest to make the small filler pieces for the edges. Hold onto this section for later. Leave the stop in place on the sled for cutting the small pieces to length using the same setup.
What you have now are small ice cream sandwiches cut to their final dimensions and ready for gluing. The last step is to cut the small square pieces that fill in the gaps between the weaves. The trick to determining the dimension is lay one of your finished pieces on it’s side, then stand one up next to it. The difference between them is twice the dimension of the square. Measure the height difference with a caliper and divide it by two. This will be your target width for the squares.
This is a critical measurement because any error will create a small gap in the glue line. If you’re going to be a off, it’s better to be a little bit small. That way the main components fit tightly and drive the pattern. Any inconsistency in the size of each small square will fill in with glue. You won’t notice a glue line that’s a couple thousandths thick along the short length of the darker wood. Be careful though, too large of a gap may not fill with glue, and will be obvious in the completed board.
Making the Small Pieces
Take the leftover sandwiched assembly and rip it into pieces slightly larger than the final dimension of the squares. You’ll mill these at the same time as the squares to ensure they are all the same thickness.
Prepare the small squares the same way you did the other components. Cut them a little large, then sneak up on the final dimension slowly. Mill the squares and the sandwiches at the same settings. Remember to run the squares through the planer twice, rotating each 90 degrees before changing the height of the planer. This ensures they are square.
Once all these pieces are milled to their final thickness, cut them to length using the sled. Rather than cut them all at once. Cut a few to be sure the pattern is free of gaps. Once satisfied with the fit, cut the rest.
To be safe, hold the small cut piece in place against the stop on the sled using the eraser end of a pencil. If this piece is allowed to float freely on the sled, it can engage the blade, wedge between the blade and the stop, and kick back. This isn’t a real danger to you because the piece is so small, but it will chip out the piece, ruining it. You’ve worked hard on these. This simple trick keeps your finger away from the blade, and prevents you from doing things over. My sled has hold down clamps, so when I get to the last few cuts, I clamp them down so my fingers are nowhere near the blade.
NOTE: Cutting small parts on the table saw is dangerous, so if you don’t have the tools to cut these safely, you shouldn’t be making this board.
Gluing Up the Pattern
Now that the small squares and the filler pieces for the edges are complete, the board is ready for glue-up. Dry fit all the pieces to be sure you’re happy with the final proportions of the board.
The most important part of the glue up is making sure the clamping set up is in place and ready. I clamp two boards down at perfect right angles and reference that corner throughout the glue up. Test your clamping fixture before adding any glue to be sure you can apply constant force on all four edges of the board.
The consensus is Titebond III is the glue to use for cutting boards because it is waterproof and has a longer open time.
You have a finite amount of open time on the glue, and everything needs to be finished and clamped in that time. You have to work very quickly. I make three “piles” of pieces. One is the pile of small squares. I don’t concern myself with the orientation of the squares. The second pile are the sandwiched edge fillers. The third is not a pile, but an arranged order of the large blocks. I try to arrange them in alternating grain directions so the wood moves consistently throughout the board, making the board less prone to glue joint failure.
Once everything is set up, work from one corner to the other. You only need to put glue on the “cake” of the ice cream sandwich. Everything else will take care of itself. You’ll see what I mean as you put it together.
Once all the parts are in place, clamp it together, wipe the sweat off your face, and let it dry. Preferably overnight so it’s stable when you finish it.
Finishing the Board
Finishing the board is where much of the time goes. I lightly trim the edges on the table saw just enough to make it smooth. I then round the corners on the belt sander, flatten the faces of the board on the drum sander (NEVER in the planer), round the edges, hand sand to 240 grit, and add the board conditioner.
I would consider this board something that any woodworker with the proper tools could make easily. With attention to detail when measuring and some quick glue work, the outcome will be a success.
Tools used:
- Miter Saw
- Jointer
- Thickness Planer
- Table Saw
- Crosscut Sled (see my build here)
- Band Saw
- Drum Sander
- Pipe Clamps
- Random Orbital Sander
- Dial Caliper
- Tape Measure
