Cutting Board

Posted 12 February 2016

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You may not have the perfect workshop set up, but that doesn’t have to stop you from getting woodworking. Paul makes a cutting board in his garden to show how you can get going with making things for the house with just a few tools.

33 Comments

  1. I love that Paul makes a point of doing these type videos. I built my first campaign style travel table in a very not prefect shop. No vice, no dogs, no real bench, so I had to clamp everything to table I was using to all the joinery work.

  3. There’s something extra inspiring when you see someone create something nice in less than ideal conditions. It’s a great reminder to all of us that you don’t need a shop in a castle to make quality stuff 🙂

    Watch Paul’s series on building a workbench in his garden for similar inspiration! I followed it and made my own Paul Sellers style workbench which has made a huge difference in my woodworking. Thanks again Paul for the education and inspiration!

  4. Welcome to your new home Paul, I was half expecting your wife to come out with a cuppa

    I watched this video, as I do with others, on my iPad placed amongst wood shavings, as I continued to make ‘another’ dovetailed oak box with an increasing level of confidence……( wood cut from lengths of 7×1 oak skirting ..cut /planed/scraped to 6mm thick ….bought on eBay!!)

    All thanks to your excellent tutorials………..THANK YOU

    John ..two vices…….ps:- looking forward to you new book

  5. wow you look like a real “YouTube” woodworker on this video ha-ha, where is the great sound of steam train whistles and birdsong, now you have impact drivers and ambulances, but still that same smile and love of the art of real woodworking thanks for sharing

  7. Now that just goes to show that you really dont need alot to get started, very nice to watch for people that are new to woodworking such as myself while I’m doing my first project in a makeshift workshop in the basement.

    keep the great videos coming Paul

  8. Thanks Paul! Great video!
    I am thinking of making one too, but not sure what type of wood would good for a cutting board? Would pine be too soft or oak be too hard?
    Also what is the thickness of the board you made from?
    I also wonder where could I buy such boards in the UK.

    Sorry for a lot questions and many thanks!

    1. Oak, walnut, cherry, maple (and poplar, as used in the video) are all good cutting board woods. In another video, Paul makes a more complicated cutting board out of oak. Personally, I wouldn’t use pine for this type of cutting board but it’d work just fine.

      Most lumber merchants will stock some oak, even if they mostly sell “white wood”. For a project like this, you’d probably find what you need at a DIY store, like Homebase or B&Q.

  9. YJO!!
    Its the 2nd time i m asking about raising fibres. please give me a more satisfactory answer this time 🙂

    So far i ve been sanding the boards like shown in video but Im SOOO curious what d happen if I just handplane it? Reason for this interest lies in fact that the pop-out (chatoyancy) is greater when I dont sand the wood before oil is applied. Then, between 1st and 2nd coat, I do, very very very slightly, with 400. In that case it doesnt kill my chatoyancy anymore. :DD

    Please dont say “Dont worry about the look man, it will get messy and beaten up anyway!” I oil my boards and it stays good looking for some time.

    p.s. I dont understand why you dont use quarter sawn and thicker material, in order not to cup.

    Anyway respect for you Paul and your team!
    Greetings from Ljubljana, Slovenia
    Nejc

    1. Personally love the look of a piece of wood when planed. I think sanded wood looks dreadful.

      Here are a couple things to try.
      1) Set your cap iron (on a no 4) to only have the iron exposed to a millimeter or less and then take very fine shaving.
      2) If you still get tear out, you can try a block plane or low angled plane and take real fine shavings.
      3) If that does not work, use a card scrapper. You are planing the wood wood and can get the planed look (well almost).

      Always make sure you irons are as sharp as you can get them and keep them sharp

  11. What is it about Paul and his vids that I watch them even though I have no intention of making a cutting board. He doesn’t know it but he’s lucky we’re not neighbors or I’d pester the hell out of him like a puppy expecting a treat.
    Thanks Paul.

  12. My basic question was- will the fibers with use lift a lot, if I just handplane it before oiling it???
    Its the mystery no. 1 for me.

    Or maybe I ll have to do a test myself. 😛

    Thanks to everyone.
    Cheers

    1. Wet it down and raise the grain before ever oiling it. Let it dry, plane it one last time and then apply the oil finish. It won’t stop all fibers from raising through use, but will take care of a lot of them.

      1. I don’t think planing it after raising the grain will work unless you can set your plane fine enough that you’re taking only the raised fibers. Otherwise you are presenting a fresh surface that the fibers haven’t been raised on. In my experience, even an aggressive sanding is too much.

        I’ve done this quite a bit with turned bowls etc, and also in preparation for using water based dyes on flat work. I will generally raise the grain with water, let it dry and then very lightly sand with 320 grit. What you want to do is remove the raised fibers, but touch the surface as little as possible.

    2. Some woods will distort when wetted. Not much you can do about it. Mostly it is about drying evenly from both sides at the same time. You are right, chatoyancy is not generally a concern for cutting boards with most people because of the purpose of the aid. I am not so sure that you can have all that you want in this really unless you create the perfect board and finish and don’t use it as fully as its intended purpose might normally be.

    3. I would suggest just trying it because… your mileage (or kilometerage?) may vary.
      Depends I the wood in my experience. Stuff like pine, the grain raises easily and readily.
      Oak, sort of similar.
      Talk about exotic woods though, rosewood, wenge, etc… the grain raises sometimes. Other times it’s not noticable.
      That is my experience anyhow.

      It can’t hurt to simply sand and then wet. Or plane and wet.
      Then give it a once over with sandpaper or your plane and add the oil.
      I too like the look of an oiled board. Some folks would argue it helps to inhibit the growth of bacteria as well but I’ve never seen any scientific evidence to support this.
      It does make sense though, filling the pores with oil prevents water/bacteria from getting in.

      Alas I am rambling.
      Thank you Paul for showing us your master methods in a more relatable scenario!

  14. Paul,
    years ago when I lived on the coast I built and sailed a 22′ gaff cutter. She (Constant Virtue) was two full years in the building, and when she was launched several people asked me why I hadn’t installed an inboard engine. My only answer was that she was a sail boat, not a motor sail boat. I had to learn countless skills in building her and countless more in learning how to move her safely in all weather, and when to stay in harbour. My wife-to-be and I were intrigued by so many boats motoring past us in order to get to a place where they could shut down the engine and begin sailing. In the end they may have traveled further than we had, but we had sailed much more than they. This video reminded me of those days and why we do what we do. Thanks.

  15. Great video, Paul. Hope I can make a cutting board with my.now 2 year-old Grandson in a year or so – beats the Birdhouse I was thinking about?

    I do have to mention, though – the white paint still on the board? Hopefully latex? But, with any recycled board, it could of course be lead. For me, I’d not use recycled, pallet-wood, mystery wood etc
    for anything seeing food service. ‘Just my two-cents’ …

  16. My current main bench is a Workmate. Five gallon paint bucket on one end, foot on the other. I’m building an English workbench on it. The Workmate has always produced nicely flat boards with parallel faces and perpendicular edges when called upon. Nice to see Paul working one out.

  18. The last few weeks since finding these videos has been an eye opener for me. I have taken chisels I thought were sharp and honed them as per Paul. What a difference! Plane blades also.
    What I find would be a big help is more information on what type of wood to use for which project. I made a frame saw as per Paul using some Ash. Don’t think I would use this wood again for that project. Would I choose Poplar for a cutting board, probably not but I might use Beech. Currently working on a table base in Beech to support a 2 foot square chess board made of Olive wood which I bought some years ago. I might post again once I have completed it.
    Many thanks Paul.

  22. Hello! Excuse me. I am Spanish and I do not speak English.
    First I want to thank you for your incredible teachings. You are very generous in sharing your knowledge with us.
    I would like to tell you that I am sorry that these videos do not have the possibility to understand them. Not speaking English and not having the possibility of translation, only with the images I understand their messages in a very limited way.
    I’ve literally been “hooked” on his knowledge for weeks. I am absorbed with what you transmit and the enthusiasm that you have aroused in me is such that I am trying to get a minimum equipment with which to start learning some carpentry. That’s why I’m telling you, not being able to translate the videos limits me a lot.
    Well, it only remains for me to thank you again for what a good teacher you are. Thanks.

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