{"id":939,"date":"2009-11-27T14:07:49","date_gmt":"2009-11-27T18:07:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.woodworkerssource.com\/blog\/?p=939"},"modified":"2009-11-30T10:06:29","modified_gmt":"2009-11-30T14:06:29","slug":"making-cutting-boards-with-exotic-tropical-woods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woodworkerssource.com\/blog\/woodworking-projects\/making-cutting-boards-with-exotic-tropical-woods\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Cutting Boards with Exotic & Tropical Woods"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A<\/a>

A beautiful array of cutting boards - notice some have handles, others have a curved edge, and others are rectangular<\/p><\/div>\n

If it’s not obvious, making cutting boards is easy; all you need is a table saw and a router – and the router isn’t totally necessary either.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

While you’re going to find a wide array of cutting board styles, they are all based<\/em> on butcher block construction: strips of wood turned on edge so that the rings of annual growth are perpendicular to the top and bottom.\u00a0 Or as close to perpendicular as possible.<\/p>\n

\"Close<\/a>

Close up showing basic butcher block construction. Made up of 3\/4" thick red oak cut to 1-3\/4" wide, turned on edge and glued together<\/p><\/div>\n

For instance, here’s a red oak butcher block using 3\/4″ thick material that’s ripped into equal 1-3\/4″ strips.\u00a0 They’re turned on edge and glued face-to-face, making a block that’s 1-3\/4″ thick and the most stable grain is now gracing the business side of the cutting board.<\/p>\n

After this, it’s\u00a0 all a matter of variation.\u00a0 Either by including different woods and colors, adding some shape to the design, including a handle, routing a trough around the edge, or tossing a curve ball by making the end grain face up.\u00a0 Take a look below.<\/p>\n

Styles of Hardwood Cutting Boards<\/h3>\n\n\t\t