November 2011 Cheese Boards

I spent the past few months (hours at a time) in the wood shop preparing for a pre-Christmas round of cheese boards.

These, just like last year, are on a first come, first serve basis. Please let me know if you are interested in one or more of these as gifts, or as a permanent resident in your own kitchen.

Real quick background on this round of cheese boards:
I started this journey back in September with a few new ideas and wanted to try out a new shape that I had milling around in my head. I wanted to mill a bunch of thin strips of varying species and widths to incorporate into the boards. I have been really happy with the racing stripe effect in past batches. While working with thin strips is a real beast, the finished product looks pretty cool. I bought a bunch of local black cherry, as you will see from the boards below. I had also been saving a few select pieces of "purple heart", "padauk", "bloodwood" and "curly maple" that I was dying to put to good use. Also, while you are browsing these boards, note that some have routed handles on the bottom side for easy pick-up. Some do not have any handles, as you can cut on both sides, or use one as a cutter and one for display. I have had an equal mix of requests for both types.

General care instructions for newbies:
After use, sponge with warm soapy water and towel dry. As with any real wood product, don't ever put them in the dishwasher. After heavy use, and repeated washings, you may want to restore the finish. You can re-finish them with mineral oil sold at your local pharmacy or grocery store. Very simple to do. Pour a generous amount of mineral oil onto a paper towel and coat the top side of the board. Let this soak in for a few minutes and dry it with a clean towel. Repeat on bottom side. You can retreat these boards as much as you want and with proper care, should last you decades.

OK, have at 'em...

SOLD!!! Cheese board 1 - Shape: rounded block, no handles. Species: Walnut, cherry and curly maple.

SOLD!!! Cheese board 2 - Shape: rounded block, no handles. Species: Purple heart and cherry.

SOLD!!! Cheese board 3 - Shape: New idea, offset side handles. Species: Cherry, curly maple and walnut.

SOLD!!! Cheese board 4 - Shape: Rounded block, end handles. Species: Cherry, rosewood and curly maple.

SOLD!!! Cheese board 5 - Shape: New idea, offset side handles. Species: Cherry, curly maple, walnut and bloodwood.

SOLD!!! Cheese board 6 - Shape: Rounded block, long edge handles. Species: Cherry and bloodwood.

SOLD!!! Cheese board 7 - Shape: New idea, offset side handles. Species: Curly maple, sapele, padauk, cherry, rosewood, bloodwood, walnut and purple heart.

SOLD!!! Cheese board 8 - Shape: New idea, offset side handles. Species: Padauk, cherry, maple, walnut and bloodwood.

SOLD!!! Cheese board 9 - Shape: Rounded block, long edge handles. Species: Cherry, walnut and padauk.

SOLD!!! Cheese board 10 - Shape: New idea, no handles. Species: Walnut and curly maple.

If you need dimensions, or any specific information on any of these boards let me know. I'd be happy to answer questions.

If you are an out-of-towner and would like a boards shipped, I'd be happy to send you an estimate on shipping costs.

Custom 1911 Gun Grips

I was asked a few weeks ago by a fellow coworker if I could make a pair of custom grips for his 1911 pistol. I have never made gun grips before, so I took on the challenge. Lots of trial and error, but I finally got the hang of it.

I made him two pairs of grips. The first set I made from Sapele and the second out of curly maple. I think they turned out awesome and they feel great in the hand. I hope he's a happy customer.

Curly Maple grips on Kimber 1911. Photo courtesy of Lee Umali.

Curly Maple grips on Kimber 1911. Photo courtesy of Lee Umali.

Sapele grips on Kimber 1911. Photo courtesy of Lee Umali.

Sapele grips on Kimber 1911. Photo courtesy of Lee Umali.

Sapele grips on Kimber 1911. Photo courtesy of Lee Umali.

Progress on the Pinstripe Cheese Boards

Spent some more shop time this weekend routing the recessed handles and sanding all boards to 320 grit in preparation for applying the finish. Once they were smooth and polished they all got blasted with the air compressor to remove all of the layers of dust.

The photos below show each board in the set drying with two coats of finish. This week I plan on adding a few more coats and reaching out to those who claimed boards to schedule a pickup. They really turned out nicely and I think they are really going to make great additions to any social gathering.

A few of you have already claimed boards from this batch. If you are interested in any of these boards, please contact me ASAP so that I can reserve one of your choosing.

Board #1: Large bread board made from curly maple and black walnut. Recessed handles on short sides. This is the largest of the set and will pair nicely with board #2 and board #7.

Board #2: Cheese board made from black walnut and curly maple. Full recessed handles along short sides. Will pair nicely with board #1 as a set.

Boards #3 and #4: Twin cheese boards made from cherry, walnut, curly maple and sapele. Full recessed handles along long sides. Will work nicely as a pair or as individuals.

Board #5: Cheese board made from cherry, bloodwood and walnut. Recessed handles on short sides. Wider than the other cheese boards from this batch. SOLD.

Board #6: Extra long cheese board made from sapele and maple pinstripes. Recessed handles along short sides. This one is my favorite due to the simplicity and shape. Really cool looking board.

Board #7: Cheese board made from black walnut and curly maple pinstripes. Recessed handles along short sides. This board will pair nicely with board #1 as a set.

Board #8: Cheese board made from black walnut, cherry and bloodwood. Recessed handles along all four sides.

Board #9: Cheese board made from cherry, walnut and curly maple. Recessed handles along short sides. SOLD.

Board #10: Cheese board made from sapele, walnut and curly maple. Recessed handles along short sides. SOLD.

Board #11: Cheese board made from cherry, bloodwood, maple and walnut. Recessed handles on all 4 sides. SOLD.

Pinstripe Cheese Boards

Upon returning from the family vacation last week, I immediately began my next round of cheese boards. I got to spend some time playing around with my new bandsaw setup and was able to dial it in to rip some thin pieces of hardwood. These pieces then went on to the drum sander to make sure they were of equal width and silky smooth. Just last night I finished up the basic shaping of the boards and have them stacked up waiting for recessed handles and intense sanding. They should look really cool once I start applying the food-safe finish.

Species used on this round of boards include Black Walnut, American Cherry, Hard Maple, Curly Maple, Sapele, and Bloodwood. The boards in the photos below are a bit dusty, but if you look through some of my previous projects, you'll get a better idea of how the woods darken when the finish is applied.

As always, please shoot me an email or contact me via Facebook if you are interested in purchasing one. I will post more photos after the finish is applied so that you can see the wood tones come to life.

New set of Cutting Boards for 2011

In the final stages of putting the finish on a set of 5 cutting boards. I wanted to experiment with some new patterns and wood combos. Each one of these boards takes on a very different tone. All sanded to the smoothness of granite. It's amazing what hours of sanding will yield.

Should only be a few more days until they are ready for new homes. As always, please let me know if you are interested in purchasing one for yourself or a gift. They make great wedding, house-warming, and chef-of-my-life gifts.

Made from Padouk, Sapele, Black Cherry and Bloodwood.

Made from Padouk, Mahogany, Rock Maple, Bloodwood, Black Cherry and Sapele.

Made from Black Cherry, Bloodwood, Sapele and Walnut.

Made from Rock Maple, Walnut and Sapele.

Made from Black Cherry, Walnut and Sapele.

A photo of all five boards on the drying table. Still a few coats of finish to go.

First set of Boards for 2011

Still cranking away in the wood shop. I started 5 new cutting boards using some of the recently purchased Sapele, which is very similar to Mahogany and should work really well with the reddish tones of Cherry, Bloodwood and Padouk. I have tweaked my methods a bit on this batch, to hopefully reduce the amount of scrap wood that it taken off in the later steps.

I'm headed to the Woodworkers Show in Baltimore this weekend to browse the latest in tools and to learn from the experts. Looking forward to finishing these boards in the coming weeks.

The photo below shows some of the sticks that will eventually be glued together to create endgrain boards. I took a lot of extra time to run these through my drum sander to make sure they are all finessed down to equal thickness before taking the next step. Hoping that the payoff is worth it.

Four of the five boards before the final glue up. Woods include Bloodwood, Walnut, Maple, Padouk, and Sapele.