MowryJournal.com   Life's Passions

I make boards in batches.

I “pick and process” lumber for certain boards, and get together a bunch. Sometimes I’ll do a large batch of one type (like when I just did 43 cheese boards), and sometimes I’ll do a mixed bunch. In either case, I get a group of boards sorted, and start gluing. I don’t really have room, you see, to use the tools for 2 operations at once, so I almost always do the processes exclusively for the boards I’m working on:

1. Picking & Processing – Table Saw, Drum Sander, Planer, Workbench, Dust Collector
2. Gluing – Clamps, Workbench
3. Shaping & Smoothing – Planer, Drum Sander, Table Saw, Band Saw, Drill Press, Jig Saw, Belt Sander, Router Table, Workbench, Dust Collector
4. Sanding – Random Orbital Sanders, Dust Extractor, Workbench
5. Oiling & Waxing – Terrycloth Towels, Workbench & Any Handy Flat Surface
6. Install Hardware – Cordless Drills
7. Photography & Packing – Camera, Photo Cube, Lighting

It’s usually somewhere between steps 3 and 4 that I figure out I have a problem with a board. Sometimes I find a piece that wasn’t squared up properly, leaving a too-large glue joint. Sometimes I find a board with a defect or even a void, and that just won’t do.

Sometimes I’m drilling pilot holes in a cheese board to put feet on it, and I accidentally drill all the way through the board, leaving a hole on its face. That’s actually the most common defect; and it’s all my fault. But then, they all are.

In any event, when I have a board that can’t go all the way through the process, I put it aside so I deal with it later.

A lot later.

The current repository for boards that need more attention is in a cabinet under my drill press. I’ve got parts for boards that never got assembled, boards with wood defects … and boards with accidental holes in them. I get to them eventually. Generally, after months go by.

Here are 3 boards that required some extra TLC to make it to the finish line:

Small Board 16 – 018. Black Walnut, Hard Maple, Padauk & Bloodwood. 8″ x 12″ x 1″. This board had an end drilled through … so I had to cut off both ends and re-glue new, matching boards to keep the board’s symmetry.

Small Board 16 – 019. Black Walnut, Goncalo Alves, Yellowheart, Hard Maple & Jatoba. 10″ x 12″ x 1″. This board was the victim of a warped board that didn’t glue up flat enough to smooth … so I had to cut out that board & its neighbors, add new boards, and re-glue.

Cutting Board 16 – Edge 018. Black Walnut & Hard Maple. 12″ x 16″ x 1-1/2″. This board was one of 2 that I made as a set that I was going to cut apart & do something unusual with … until I discovered that this board had a piece with a void in it. That piece had to be replaced, which means my original plan never got done. The matching board was sold long ago; now this one finally makes it to the finish line.