Heart-Shaped Cheese Board.pdf

Heart-Shaped Cheese Board

his project had its beginnings in our ever-pressing

need to tidy up our workshop. The problem was, of

course, whatto do withthe mountain of offcuts? I'msure

you know what Imean. The chair,table, box or whatever

is finished, and you are left with great heaps of wood.

Okay, maybe the longer lengths can be used for the next

job in line, and the shavings can be used as fuel or as

bedding for your chickens, andthe dust can be swept up

and put in the trash, but what to do with the medium-

size bits and pieces that look too good to throw away?

Well, after a deal of thought, we came upwith the

super-brilliant idea of cutting all our small offcuts down

to a uniform size, and then laminating theresultantblocks

to make cuttingboards andsurfaces thatneeded to show

end grain. Okay, so it is a solution that involves a l ot of

time, sweat and effort,but then again, the finishedboards

can be presented or marketed as choice handcrafted

items.

So there you go.If you areup to yourknees inoffcuts,

or you are short of cash and maybe know of a sawmill

operatorwho is looking togive awayhis trimmings free,

then perhaps this is the project for you!

MAKING THEBOARD

Collect all your waste wood and cut it down to the best

overall section size. I went for a square section13/4"X1

3/4",but you can just as well go for 1" X 1" or 1" X 1

1/2" , or whatever size best suits your material. And, of

course, if you want to use a mix of sizes, thenno matter,

as long as the grain is running along the length and the

cornersaretrue at 90°. Having achieved your sawed size,

plane the wood down to a smooth finish. When you are

happy withthe finish, saw it down to 1 1/8" slices.When

you have a stockpileof11/8"slices, pencil label the end-

grainface,arrange the slicessidebyside in rowsofabout

12"long,and spend time working out how best to clamp

them together. You can use a couple of G-clamps and a

bar clamp, or a jig andwedges;no matter, as long as the

arrangement is such that youcan apply endpressurewith-

out the stripsbendingorbowing along their length.

Do thegluing-up in two stages: first theblocks sideby

side to make the strips, and then the strips sideby side

to make the slabs. Draw the design of the board on the

slab, cut out the profile and sand the end-grain surfaces

to a good finish.Fit thewhittled feet and the cuttingwire,

give the whole works a coat of matte varnish and the

project is finished.

except theglue.Youneed to checkout the glue type and

make sure that it's suitable, clear an area and make sure

that there is room to maneuver, have cloths and news-

paper handy, and so on. And then you have to actually

clamp-upthe wood andsee howyour arrangementworks

out. Okay, so maybe my way of working does sound a

bit fussy, but the horrible alternative is to have glue

smeared all over the place, only to find that the clamp

isn't long enough, or youhaveglued the wrongsurfaces,

or you are missing some vital piece of equipment.

STEP-BY-STEP STAGES

SPECIAL TIP: DRY FIT FIRST

As the success of this project hinges on your being able

to glue and clamp dozens of the little blocks together, it

is important that you plan out the procedure. The best

way is tohave a trialdryrun, with everything in place

Saw the 1 3/4" X 1 3/4" square section of wooddown

into 1 1/8"" thick slices—likeslices off a loaf ofbread—

and then clamp up. With the arrows indicating the run

of the grain, you can see how the slices of wood need to

be realigned when it comes to gluing.

Having whittled a small pieceof hardwoodto a butterfly

shape and sanded it to a super smooth finish run two

side-by-side 1/16"-diameter holes through the center of

the bow, andknot the wirein place.

The best way of ensuringthatthelittle ball feetstay

in keepingwith the total design is towhittle them

to shape. I drilledand doweled four little square blocks,

cut thecorners off the blocks tomake rough octagonals,

and used a largish sloyd knife for the whittling.

And just in case you have an aversion to heart

shapes, thereis no reason at all why youcan't gofor

just about any shapethattakesyour fancy. For example,

you can simply round the cornersof a rectangular

board.

3 To fix the wire, drill a 1/8"-diameter hole, setthe

wire in the hole and then follow it up with a glued

dowel. Make a sawcutbetween the cheeks,wrap thewire

over and around in the cut and follow it up with a glued

sliver wedge.

DEBRIS COLLECTION AND

WOODSHOP SAFETY

Woodshop debris, in the form of offcuts, shavings and

sawdust scattered around on the floor and over the sur-

faces, is a dangerous nuisance. The shavings make the

floor slippery and the loose offcuts are potential ankle-

breakers. And of course,the wood dust notonlyclogsthe

machines, it is a fire risk, it creeps into the home, and it

also harmsthe lungs.

Just how much dust is considered to be dangerous?

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration

(OSHA) suggests that if you can see wood dust floating

around in the atmosphere when a shaft of sunlight shines

across theworkshop, then you have a problem that needs

solving.

We tackle the problem in several ways: We cut the

amount of dust down at the source by using filtered ma-

chines and by producing shavings rather than dust, and

we have a large mobile vacuum system that we move

around toservice the various machines. We also wear

a rubber dust/vapor mask for most tasks—like sawing,

drilling, and when we are using varnishand such—and

a lull-face electric visor-helmet respirator when we are

working at the lathe. As to which mask does the better

job, the rubber mask is silent but uncomfortable and

sweaty, while the electric full-face respirator is a bit heavy

and noisy.

In the context of sawdust being bad for your lungs, I

reckon that tried-and-trusted traditional American and

European woods like ash, oak, beech, maple, willow, pear

andpine aregenerally much safer than exotic species such

as mahogany, obeche and iroko. All that said, if youfind

yourself sneezing, or your nose is running, or your skin

develops a rash,thenyou best go for another wood type.

So whatto do ifyouare reallyworriedabout dust and

allergic reactions and such? Well,I think that for safety's

sake,you needto stay withthe followingrules ofthumb:

Wheneverpossible use hand tool techniques that pro

duce shavings ratherthan dust.

Usetraditional white-wood species that are non-oilyto

the touch.

Use a vacuum machine to suck up the dust as it is

produced—before it gets a chance to puff around the

workshop.

Wearafull-face mask, and always wash yourhands and

lace alterwork.

Alwayshave a thorough sweep-up at the endof theday.

If youhave ahealthproblem, then ask the adviceof

your doctor.

ELECTRIC VISOR-HELMETRESPIRATOR

Though the choice of mask doesin many ways depend upon your

personal preference — they both have their plus points —/ usually

wear the full-face respirator when I am working at the lathe, for the

plain, simple reason that the full-face visor offers additional protec-

tion from flying debris.

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