Introduction: How to Make a Cutting Board Based on D&D

By

This project was the second cutting board I made. I feel like the finished product came out fairly well.

Step 1: Finding the Wood

For this I used hard woods for the board. The types of wood were poplar and red oak. You should try to find boards that are about 12 in. by 1.5 in. by .75 in I cut my wood from a 6 in by 20 in by .75 in. board. To do this I used a table saw and shortened it to 12 inches using the chop saw.

Step 2: Glue the Board

After finding and cutting the boards of word I glued the wood together. To do this I lined up the board and stood one board at the end up while the rest were down. I soon put glue on all the boards laid down and then started to stick them to the board that was standing up and then tightening 4 clamps to make sure it stayed.

Step 3: Trimming and Planing

One the glue on the board dried I removed the clamps I put the board back into the table saw this time to make all the boards an equal length. After this I used the planer to start to remove the difference in the height of the glued planks of wood and to remove excess glue on the top and bottom of the cutting board. This will prepare the board for the x-carver which will completely flatten the board.

Step 4: Rounding the Corners

For this step you should find a round object. (the one I used is pictured above) Once you sketch the circle you should use a band saw to roughly cut near the sketched circle. After that you should use the belt sander to remove the rest of the wood to the circle that was marked.

Step 5: Routing the Edges

After rounding the corners, I used the router table. First I put in the board through the router table once for each side. Afterwards, I routed the corners by rotating the board around the router bit. Lastly I did each side again to get a smoother edge

Step 6: Sanding

For this step I used 240 grit sandpaper and a hand sander to get a smooth surface.I sanded all the sides and the rounded corners. I used the 240 grit sandpaper and my hands to smooth the surfaces made by the router table.

Step 7: Laser Engraving

To get the D&D design on the face of the board I had to laser engrave it. The first step was to find a clip art of the D&D logo. Then you need to make it compatible with the laser engraver program. Lastly, you engrave the design into the board.

Step 8: Finishing Touches

For this I applied mineral oil using a rag on the board. This gave it a layer of protection and a nice shine. Afterwards, allow the board to dry and wipe away excess oil. The board is ready to be used.