Dad, truly the king of resourcefulness, presented us one Christmas with a set of beautiful cutting boards that he had made, himself. There was a long maple board for bread, a small poplar board for cheese and a couple of other general purpose boards thrown in, just for the hell of it. We use them all of the time and the smaller ones are perfect for the kids, who help out quite a bit in the cooking.
Our new, but very old kitchen has raised tile lips on the countertop, which calls now for a taller work surface, so I bought a couple of 2″ slabs of raw, milled Poplar.
It turns out, this is a quick project for last-minute gifts. You could go to Williams-Sonoma and pick up a couple of nice chopping blocks for about $100 each, OR you could go to the local lumber yard and cut some poplar or maple (olive wood, whatever) yourself, and throw out about $40 for an armful of beautiful handmade blocks that your friends and family will use forever. Who wants to go to the stuffy mall for presents, anyway? Since my boys are always looking for an excuse to play in the shop, this is their calling.
Damon is on watch and fires up the Delta shop air filtration system. That’s a mouthful, isn’t it? We can’t work without it. Meanwhile, the kids put on safety goggles and ear protectors and a show.
Damon instructs them on posture. You always want to be completely comfortable while working. Ken Hunnibell taught me this in the metal shop, many years ago. That was about 70% of my take-home RISD education right there. Worth every penny.
They’ll just work like elves until they get hungry for more candy.
Finally the block is finished and routed.
For a milled board, each took a couple of hours to make. You could probably buy some planed planks, and that would cut the time in half. The kids can help finish the wood after routing, taking a fine grit sandpaper and then some food-grade mineral oil to bring out a lustre.
It’s a fine project for little boys…and a grown up! It’s got the Boy’s Almanac seal of approval all over it. Actually, it doesn’t, but you could get a set of metal letter stamps and burnish a signature onto the wood, too. Tuck that in the brain file. And have a Merry Christmas!
and follow the adventure:
Nice work, boys!!
Poppi
Hey Ford, Chas, these look great. I love the wood grain that shows through. It’s good to see Damon in on a Boys Almanac project. I just read a RISD letter from John Maeda. Apparently they still use real wood and real metal in their cirriculum. However, now a days RISD stands for “Reason I’m Sleep Deprived.” Have you looked up Ridell Roper? I think he’d appreciate this post.
Cheers + A
that’s great. what a wonderful idea.
Another great entry! We have one of your dad’s wood creations and use it all the time as a cheese board (not really sure if that was its intended purpose). I sure wish those pesky robbers in Houston hadn’t emptied our garage or we’d be making some of these too.
Miss you all!!!!
xo, ME
The eye wear was a solid choice as well. I like the fact that the goggles on Chas are almost bigger than his face.