Any woodworkers?

Keep it as is. That natural light/dark pattern should be kept intact. My humble opinion ...

 

Chamfer or roundover ... my current method of making boards (because I have no reliable method of accurate rip- or cross-cutting repeatedly) is simple strips. Even with that the roundover on the the long-edges (sharp edges even on the chamfer would be unwise I think) makes the edge-boards look maybe-too-thin. All 4 or your sides will have that thinned-out look. I am not criticizing ... the top edge as "simple sharp cliff" just does not work and whatever you do messes with the visual effects.

Or those with more boards under their belts than I can just say I am schtoooppeed.

 

When I say a 45 on the edges, I am only talking about a 1/4 inch or so. I find that it gives the boards some character and cuts down on the sharp edges of the boards. It also gives a place to pick up the board if it doesn't have handles in it somewhere. I really don't have any hard rules for things like this.. I just go by whatever I'm feeling at the moment with each board. It's definitely fun to try new things and learn new things.

 

Kinda like what I did:

 

yup! exactly!

 

Those are all nice options for boards.

For my shelving I wanted a fairly sharp edge. "Just broke" with some LIGHT 220 then 400 grit.

 

there a time and place for all types of edges

 

Oh, gee.

 

Get your mind outta the gutter North Dakota!

 

Oh, baby!

 

Here's some edging for you... freshly oiled crisp edges. Padauk wood is such a wonderful color.

 

I like that! What angle is that on the sides?

 

Not too sharp but sharp enough

 

I used a padauk in a board but the rice-grain pores made me nervous about fluids of any kinds not cleaning out. And read somewhere most cutting boards should use maximum 1500 janka woods to save knives. So my next 2 cutting boards used maples as hardest.

I would be interested to hear your experience with the rice-pore and harder padauk.

 

It's a 45 degree bit set at 1/4 inch depth or height depending on if you're using a router table or just the router itself. I personally like to use the router table for these things.

 

This board was Padauk and Cherry on the side grain and if you zoom in you can see the holes that you're referring to.

While the side grain and face grain is harder on knives, i personally dont worry about the holes. My boards are soaked in Walrus Oil and then waxed and being the unexpert i have no issues with them. Simply wipe them off with a damp cloth and dry them and store them on their edge and theyre good.

The advantage to end grain is not only can you do intricate designs, the knives fall in between the wood grains, reducing damage to the knives and the board.



Because it's an African hardwood, some people can be sensitive to the wood/dust. I personally wear a dust mask when doing anything woodworking so I don't think I have ever had a problem with that.

 

Interesting thoughts ... thanks.

My brother likes to cook, balances a multi-part family-sized dinner for holidays with General-Patton-style deftness. If I make one for him I do not want to risk what is likely a higher-end set of kitchen knives. But a more interesting pattern would be nice, if I can get a consistent size/squareness with my more-basic set of tools.

 

Spend time on each tool ensuring that it's cutting straight up and down and front to back.
I picked up a couple of machinist squares from Harbor Freight I think.. so revealing in how out of whack our tools are, but can also be used to check the squareness of the boards.
If you lay a scrap piece down flat and cut it on a table saw, a miter saw or with a Skilsaw.. you should be able to stand the pieces on edge and fit them back together. If you can't, then the tool needs adjusted.

 

I have one board about to be finished in 2 days ... simple slats edge-glued, cross piece of purpleheart. My current party-trick is routing their initials into the board and filling with 2-part epoxy. But that trick is getting old even for me. So now "end-grain boards" because of the elevated skill set due to checkerboards revealing all flaws. May need to invest in a smaller compound-miter saw and/or a Kreg adapter to make consistent rip- and cross-cuts.

This thread is insidious in what it does to us ...

 

I picked up this set not too long ago, it fairly affordable for what it is and you can purchase single squares if you want to go that route. As far as I can tell they are dead accurate.

$65 Groz 01012 Steel Square Set, 3 Piece

https://www.amazon.com/Groz-01012-S...8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1