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Scrap Wood Cutting Board

If you work in a wood shop then you probably have a bunch of scrap lying around from a bunch of different kinds of woods. My dad and I made a bunch of these cutting boards from all the scrap we had lying around and didn't have to cut into one new piece of lumber.

These boards are made from (left to right): cherry, paduk, walnut, curly maple, purple heart, maple, cherry, walnut, curly maple and then more cherry.

You can actually make some pretty awesome things from all that scrap you have lying around...check out Scrapile, a furniture company that I have long admired.

If you really want to go the extra mile, burn a silhouette of Elvis into the back of one and give it as a gift.

14 comments

Feb 27, 2012. 2:27 PMTheCritic says:

I would love it if you would make one of these for me. I will pay for it along with shipping. Looks Fantastic.

Oct 2, 2009. 10:59 AMAsbestos says:

This is so pretty, and it's really sad that no description is given on how it's made. It's probably really simple to you, so you figure it needs no instructions, but if that's so, give us even just a few lines! I'm guessing: You glue a bunch of wood together, hold it in a vise for a while, and then just sand it all down? An instructible, even a two-page one, would be wonderful, thanks!

Jan 31, 2011. 12:23 AM

hogthrob says:

Hi Asbestos,

to build this you need a set of sash clamps and some glue. Glue the sides of all the pieces of wood together and clamp them in the sash clamps until they are dry. Then sand them and apply a sealer preferably a low VOC if you are going to chop food on it.

If you are going to use it as a chopping board it would be better to rotate all the pieces through 90 deg so that the surface you end up with is all end grain.

Jan 28, 2011. 11:57 AMglorybe says:

You can avoid sanding and planing nightmares by building the top upside down with the face on a very flat surface that will not stick to your glue. Run tape where glue might squeeze out and ruin the appearance on both sides of the joint lines. If you use wood stains do all staining and finishing before using the glue. That way the color of the wood touched by your glue will not be changed.
If you have nice wood to begin with you can go over the surface with the Scotch brand fiberglass cleaning pads and that will smooth the surface prior to any staining or painting. It does not leave sharp little splinters of steel wool hiding in the work waiting to change color and spoil your work. Old fashioned, yellow carpenters glue works nicely compared to many modern glues. For example some of the glues that are so strong these days leave all kinds of nasty stains as they seem to almost boil out of joints and removing those glues when dry is a wretched task.

May 1, 2009. 12:29 AMkrampus says:

I saw this type of woods on tv, that 2 brothers and a friend in NYC who run a lab jointing up the scrap wood that they collect from factory and trash. the project is really cool.if i not mistaken is on the program know as big ideals for small planet.

Oct 10, 2008. 9:45 AMamercust says:

I have an abondance of beautiful scrap wood i would like to sell to someone who could use it. Wood pieces from maple, cherry, oak, mahogany, birdseye maple, honduran, rosewood, walnut, and many others. size varies from 1"x1"x12" to 1 1/4"x3"x96" and different sizes in between. If interested please contact me at 770-775-6900

Mar 23, 2008. 1:10 PM

Mr. Rig It says:

Would love to see you add this to my new group.
Hope to see you there.
Home Repair, Refurbishment, and New Projects

Feb 10, 2008. 3:16 PMteeps says:

This is beautiful and inspiring but almost completely lacking in any kind of useful instructions. Please assume that the audience knows absolutely nothing about wood working if you want this to be useful.

107

Feb 11, 2008. 12:05 PM

noahw (author) says:

This was posted in the slideshow portion of the site - which is specifically designated for projects that you'd like to share with others, but don't necessarily want to write out full instructions and step by step photos for. That being said, I totally understand your comment and agree with you. I didn't really include any information that would help someone make one of these. If you are interested in how it's made however, I'd be happy to explain some of the steps.

Feb 11, 2008. 3:57 PMteeps says:

Ah, gotcha. Didn't even know there was a portion of the site like that. It looks like you answered some of my curiosity below but I sure wouldn't mind seeing more detailed instructions.... for example, do you just clamp these together one by one until the whole thing is done?

Nov 30, 2007. 11:52 PMthewoodcarver says:

Maybe just a bit more on planing and gluing the wood ......did you just use Elmer's yellow ? What finish? Very nice work !!!! My scrap ends up in the fireplace or as checker / backgammon boards

107

Feb 11, 2008. 12:00 PM

noahw (author) says:

Sorry for such a late reply but I didn't see this comment until just now... I used a special kind of Titebond brand glue that is specifically formulated to be water resistant. Normal wood glue could come apart under hot water and repeated washings. It's finished in mineral oil. You can use all kinds of specialty food safe oils and cutting board polishes, but I find that mineral oil works pretty well, is entirely food safe and inert, and is super cheap to buy at the drug store. Can you post a picture/slideshow of the game boards that you make? I bet people would love to see them. Thanks for the encouragement!

Nov 30, 2007. 8:36 PM

T3h_Muffinator says:

That's pretty awesome... I wanna try making something a bit more elaborate from this process... I'm thinking thin sheets of wood laser cut and glued on top of each other to make something 3D - kind of like a 3D printer...