Shop Projects - Homemade cutting board for Xmas

Got a navy friend that does a lot of cooking, so I decided to make him a cutting board for Christmas.

Maple and birch were both recommended by a lot of sites, and that's what the hardware store had so that's where I started.

Doing a simple dark-trimmed board.

Was originally going to make a 'rope' pattern for the border, but seemed a bit out of my range since this is my first cutting board project.

Here is after the glueups.  Needed lots of sanding to get everything nice and flat.

80grit, then 120, 240, 360.  The higher grits really make a difference, after finishing it feels silky smooth.

The cheap COVID mask did not work well for the sawdust; lungs did not feel too great afterward....  Next time I'll remember to bring the N95 mask for this kinda thing.

Setting up to cut the juice grooves with the router.

Then one more setup to cut the handle.

And here it is roughly finished.   The juice grooves were pretty bad in a few places, but I kindasorta managed to even them out with sandpaper and a rounded chisel.

More sanding (both sides this time)

Was a good excuse to fire up the laser engraver to etch a neat anchor logo on the back.

Finally some mineral oil for the final finish.   Besides the grooves it came out good.

That's it for now.  Time to box it up for Xmas 😇🥳

Hope you enjoyed