Archive for February 2017
Sometimes cutting boards need to be thin. If you make a board thin, however, than it can be prone to warping. This is especially true with flat boards with no feet. They often get wet on one side during use, and the moisture will serve to warp the board if the owner is not very careful.
But there’s a way to prevent that problem.
If you mount an end board perpendicular to the rest of the board, then the strength of that grain going in another direction will keep the board flat. This method is traditionally used for pastry boards, and the common name for this technique is bread board ends.
This kind of board has been commonly used as an “in-counter” board, where it’s placed in a slot below the kitchen counter. You can pull the board all the way out to use it on the counter, or you can just pull it out partway to add to your counter space on a temporary basis. Unfortunately, this kind of cutting board has fallen out of favor. Builders often made them cheaply from very soft woods, so they chewed up quickly – but staying in the kitchen for decades through the life of the counter. When this kind of board was in an apartment or a rental property, then the new kitchen owner was faced with a “well used” cutting board in their “new” kitchen, with no knowledge of who used it or to what purpose.
So you don’t see new kitchens with in-counter boards in our area anymore; they are no longer allowed in new construction in LA County.
However, old kitchens still have them, and replacing those “well used” cutting boards is something that I do, replacing the old boards with much more decorative boards that will have a much longer working life as well. When I was just beginning to sell cutting boards, my first commissioned piece was such a board. Today, I’m still making them!
Two of these boards are commissioned pieces to replace old in-counter boards; the other two will be for sale at my next event in March.
Cutting Board 17 – 105. Jatoba & Hard Maple. Edge Grain with Bread Board Ends. In-counter replacement, commissioned piece. 16″ x 23″ x 3/4″.
Cutting Board 17 -106. Black Walnut, Cherry, Hard Maple, Honey Locust, Bubinga & Jatoba. Edge Grain with Bread Board Ends. 12″ x 16″ x 3/4″.
Cutting Board 17 – 101. Jatoba, Hard Maple, Cherry & Canarywood. Edge Grain with Bread Board Ends. In-counter replacement, commissioned piece. 16″ x 21″ x 3/4″.
Cutting Board 17 – 107. Hard Maple, Jatoba, Cherry & Canarywood. Edge Grain with Bread Board Ends. 10″ x 16″ x 7/8″.
I have to call them something … even if I know what I call them matters little. In the end, the customer will call them what they want to call them, and at that point my naming responsibility ends.
But I still have to call them something.
I started making cheese boards, and those are, by my definition, small and light weight. Cheese boards are typically no more than 3/4″ thick, and about 8″ x 11″. They may get as large as 12″ x 12″, and may be as thin as 5/8″. I take what the wood gives me, as I like to say, and they end up being the size that they are. I don’t make cheese boards fit some pre-determined size, cutting off good wood to make an artificial standard. That might make it easier on me for packaging & displaying, but I just can’t be wasteful. So, I’m not.
Some people buy cheese boards to use as actual cutting boards because they want a very small, light weight board. That’s OK: I make these boards so that they are fine cutting surfaces. They’re just not big or heavy enough to trim a tri tip. In my opinion.
Small boards are my transitional board between cheese boards and cutting boards. Cutting boards, in my definition, are 12″ x 16″ x 1″ or larger. Anything bigger than a cheese board, but still smaller than a cutting board … is a small board.
I didn’t say I was creative with my naming styles. Don’t judge me.
In the end, all of these boards look much alike when in use.
Many of these boards are chaos boards: they are not symmetrical. Anything that doesn’t fit in my rigidly right-brained perspective is what I call chaotic. Just ask Mrs M. Some people prefer designs from the left side of the brain, so these are humbly submitted.
A final note on these photos. I was fighting 2 time pressures: Mrs M was pushing me to clear everything out of the house as I was prepping the boards for photography, and the sun was moving from a clear sky, to behind a tree, and then back to the clear sky. The result is that these shots have some odd shadows as well as some odd oil smudges in their glossy top coat. I assure you the finished boards are not perpetually in shadow, nor do they have oil smudges on them. Thanks for your understanding, and, please, enjoy!
Small Board 17 – 201. Black Walnut, Cherry, Hard Maple, Honey Locust, Bubinga & Jatoba. 8″ x 12″ x 3/4″.
Small Board 17 – 203. Purpleheart & Hard Maple. 7″ x 12″ x 1-1/4″.
Small Board 17 – 202. Chaos Board. Cherry, Jatoba, Hard Maple, Purpleheart & Bubinga. 7″ x 12″ x 3/4″.
Small Board 17 – 204. Chaos Board. Jatoba, Hard Maple, Cherry, Black Walnut & Purpleheart. 8″ x 12″ x 1-1/4″.
Small Board 17 – 205. Jatoba & Hard Maple. 7″ x 12″ x 1-1/4″.
Small Board 17 – 206. Jatoba, Hard Maple, Cherry & Canarywood. 11″ x 11″ x 1″.
Small Board 17 – 207. Purpleheart & Hard Maple. 8″ x 12″ x 1-1/4″.
Bread Board 17 – 501. Hard Maple & Bloodwood. This is an undersized bread board; most are 20″ long. Since this has a handle, it’s not really a small board. According to me! 8″ x 16″ x 1″.
Cheese Board 17 – 301. Chaos Board. 9″ x 11″ x 3/4″.
Cheese Board 17 – 305. Chaos Board. 9″ x 11″ x 3/4″.
Cheese Board 17 – 301. Chaos Board. 8″ x 11″ x 3/4″.
Cheese Board 17 – 308. Chaos Board. 9″ x 11″ x 3/4″.
Cheese Board 17 – 312. 8″ x 11″ x 3/4″.
Cheese Board 17 – 313. 8″ x 11″ x 3/4″.
Cheese Board 17 – 310. Chaos Board. 9″ x 11″ x 3/4″.
Cheese Board 17 – 303. Chaos Board. 9″ x 11″ x 3/4″.
Cheese Board 17 – 307. Chaos Board. 11″ x 11″ x 3/4″.
Cheese Board 17 – 311. Chaos Board. 9″ x 11″ x 3/4″.
Cheese Board 17 – 309. Chaos Board. 9″ x 11″ x 3/4″.
Cheese Board 17 – 306. Chaos Board. 8″ x 11″ x 3/4″.
Cheese Boar 17 – 304. Chaos Board. 8″ x 11″ x 3/4″.
Cheese Board 17 – 314. 8″ x 8″ x 3/4″.
Since I now have to live up to my unofficial moniker, I decided I needed to make more cutting boards. My inventory at the end of the year had dwindled just a bit … and that’s not OK.
People need to see the choices to know what’s possible!
There are 2 basic kinds of cutting boards, end grain and edge grain. With edge grain boards, you look at the edges of the boards, and the board is a collection of stripes. End grain boards, on the other hand, have you looking at the ends of the boards. Those are often compared to checker boards or quilts when people look at them, as they have lots of small squares on their surface.
End grain boards are like the classic butcher block. They are harder, more difficult to make, and will show less wear than an edge grain board. However, I use only hard woods, both domestic and international, so my edge grain boards will not show wear like a less expensive soft wood board, which is what you find for sale at most discount stores.
All of these boards have routed finger holds on the edges. They have non-skid rubber feet held on with stainless steel screws … these boards are heavy, and they do not move on the counter when you use them. I believe that’s Mrs. M’s favorite part. She doesn’t want to fight her cutting board when she’s using it.
To finish these boards – and all of my cutting boards – I use mineral oil, with a topcoat of Mrs M’s Board Butter, which is a combination of locally harvested beeswax and mineral oil. These help protect the boards from water, and help ensure a very long life.
Cutting Board 17 – 401. Purpleheart, Jatoba & Hard Maple. Edge Grain, Juice Groove. 16″ x 20″ x 1-1/2″. Commissioned Piece.
Cutting Board 17 – 104. Chaos Board. Jatoba, Hard Maple, Purpleheart, Black Walnut & Cherry. Edge Grain. 12″ x 15″ x 1-1/4″.
Cutting Board 17 – 404. Chaos Board. Hard Maple, Cherry, Jatoba, Purpleheart, Yellowheart, Goncalo Alves & Hickory. Edge Grain. 12″ x 12″ x 1-1/4″.
Cutting Board 17 – 103. Edge Grain. Purpleheart & Hard Maple. 12″ x 16″ x 1-1/4″.
Cutting Board 17 – 407. Hard Maple. Upcycled board: the wood used to be an edge grain, unfinished kitchen counter. End Grain. 12″ x 18″ x 1-1/2″.
Cutting Board 17 – 402. Black Walnut, Hickory & Bloodwood. End Grain, Juice Groove. 16″ x 21″ x 1-1/2″.
Cutting Board 17 – 405. Black Walnut, Hard Maple, Padauk & Jatoba. End Grain. 12″ x 15″ x 1-1/4″.
Cutting Board 17 – 102. Jatoba & Hard Maple. Edge Grain. 12″ x 16″ x 1-1/4″.
Cutting Board 17 – 406. Purpleheart, Jatoba & Hard Maple. Edge Grain, Juice Groove. 16″ x 20″ x 1-1/2″.
Sunset over California’s Joshua Tree National Park. Photo by Danner Bradshaw. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interioir, 1/31/17.
California dreamin’ with this gorgeous foggy sunrise at Golden Gate National Monument. Photo by Vincent James. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 2/3/17.
I was saddened this week to read of the violent outbreak on the campus of the state’s oldest university campus, the University of California – Berkeley, AKA Cal.
I was reading an LA Times article about how both sides of the political spectrum were upset. A balanced article, I thought? I must read this.
And that’s when I read the part that frustrated me.
Now, just to be clear, I’ve never been a big fan of the Berkeley campus. The atmosphere is extremely liberal, and often just too liberal for the good of education, IMHO. A few years ago, they had a guy living in the trees next to the football stadium as a protest that Cal was going to build a new stadium and cut down those trees. A tree hugger living on campus, halting construction – for months – because he had “a right to protest.”
I agree with that right, but I think such a right expires after the legal process concludes that construction is justified and can commence. I’m a lover of trees myself. But enforcing my will over the will of others because I don’t like a sport that’s receiving needed capital investment? Not so much.
Milo Yiannopoulos. Photo by NEXTConf from Berlin, Deutschland
A few days ago, the campus erupted because a student organization of Republicans had booked an appearance by a writer for the Breitbart News, Milo Yiannopoulos. This journalist toured other campuses recently, and definitely spews an alt-right stew of anti-feminism (“a cancer”), anti-Black Lives Matter (“divisive”) and much, much more. He is, without a doubt, a provocateur. He was even banned by Twitter last year when he got into a contretemps over his review of the latest “Ghostbusters” movie, and his thoughts inspired harassment of one of the stars. He supported that harassment at first, then was banned, then withdrew his support for the actual harassment.
He’s still banned by Twitter … which he’s apparently OK with. He said it made him famous.
So this is not a guy that I’d like to share a meal with. I certainly wouldn’t cross the street to hear him give a speech. But, free speech is just that: free speech. The Berkley administration worked with their student group so that the speech could happen, and apparently brought in some extra security.
Just not enough.
Over 100 anarchists wearing black clothing and using “paramilitary tactics” overwhelmed the security element. Windows were smashed, a fire was started … and the campus administration canceled the speech by Yiannopoulos due to the violent atmosphere. That prompted President Trump to react on Twitter, and threaten Cal with the loss of federal funding:
If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view – NO FEDERAL FUNDS?
- President Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), February 2, 2017
That, of course, got the Cal faculty in an uproar, as a substantial part of the University’s budget comes from the federal government. The Times covered that uproar, including this statement that illustrates part of the problem, I believe:
Stuart Russell, a computer scientist at UC Berkeley and founding director of the Center for Human-Compatible AI, argued that Trump was unfairly targeting the campus since outsiders may have committed the violence. He said Berkeley’s federally funded research was critically important to U.S. industries and national defense.
“For Trump to threaten … our funding in a completely extrajudicial and extralegal way [because of things] that he doesn’t like, seems like the act of a dictator,” he said.
Mr. Russell is throwing language around much too loosely for my taste (“extrajudicial,” indeed). And by blaming Trump’s not liking the situation instead of blaming the violence on campus as the root problem, Mr. Russell shows he’s not willing to support free speech.
I mean, who does like a violent outbreak on a university campus? Anytime, anywhere? If taking exception to the violence as well as disliking the suppression of free speech that resulted is the act of a dictator, then we have a problem in this country.
And we do.
A “dictator” defending the right to free speech is wrong? Violence on campus is OK if it suppresses opinions that some don’t like?
Bottom line for me is that Milo Yiannopoulos has some provocative opinions, and he’s not afraid to use them. I disagree – profoundly disagree – with many of his public statements. However, he has a right to those opinions, of course, and has the right to speak about them (that is what free speech is). Some of those on the Berkeley campus believes he has no right to express his opinions in any place at any time.
That is a sobering statement from parts of a university community that takes pride in its place as a seminal force in our country’s free speech movement over the last several decades.
More
LA Times: The No Free Speech Movement At Berkeley
Breitbart News: Gay Rights Have Made Us Dumber
LA Times: UC Berkeley – Home Of The Free Speech Movement ….
A skylight is not just a view to the world above you, but a window to the world beneath. In this photo, taken June 2016 on the Puʻu ʻŌʻō crater at Kīlauea in Hawaii, a volcanic skylight reveals a river of molten rock, drifting just below the charred surface. It’s a powerful reminder of the forces at work below us. Photo by U.S. Geological Survey. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 7/20/16.
A so-called “firehose” of lava pouring into the ocean at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 1/30/17.
Groundhogs have short ears and a short tail, and can weigh up to 11 pounds. They have two layers of fur: A dense grey undercoat and a longer coat of banded guard hairs that gives the groundhog a “frosted” appearance. Despite how they look, groundhogs are good swimmers and tree climbers. Photo of a groundhog eating a flower at Shenandoah National Park by National Park Service. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 2/2/17.
The pronghorn antelope is the fastest animal in North America. Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS. Tweeted by the US Fish & Wildlife service, 1/20/17.
One of nature’s most social and playful creatures, river otters have big personalities and even bigger appetites. Often seen in groups, they can be observed hunting and frolicking year round at Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge in Missouri. In winter, you might even catch them sliding across the ice on their bellies. Photo by Kenny Bahr. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 1/25/17.
A white-tailed jackrabbit on Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge blends into the background with his white winter fur. Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 1/31/17.
Bobcat Draw Wilderness Study Area located southwest of Worland, Wyoming, is made up of a vast maze of colorful rock and clay badlands. Layers of differing hardness erode into multi-hued arches, hoodoos, spires and other fanciful landforms. There are no developed trails in the area, but hikers can discover the area’s unique landscapes along their own routes while enjoying a majestic backdrop of the 13,000 foot snowcapped peaks of the Absaroka Range. Photo by Bob Wick. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 1/31/17.
Sometimes cutting boards need to be thin. If you make a board thin, however, than it can be prone to warping. This is especially true with flat boards with no feet. They often get wet on one side during use, and the moisture will serve to warp the board if the owner is not very careful.
