Thread: Christmas presents - 2009

Nice boards Afroboy, I did some too
Just jarrah and pine stripes

look fantastic Harry

to you Harry.

Really nice!!!!

This is my present to my daughter and her family. The board and pieces were originally bought, but I thought it would be much better in a table. So I can't take credit for them but the table is in Tas. Blackwood, the stringing is Jelutong, and the drawer is ordinary old Meranti.
Cheers
Graeme

Nicely done.

Originally Posted by Harry72

Nice boards Afroboy, I did some too

Nicely done Harry. I really like the contrast on those boards. How did you make the handle/hole bit?

Originally Posted by graemet

This is my present to my daughter and her family.

Nice job there too Graeme. I like the way the draw dips out for easy access to the pieces.

Cheers,
Af.

I got around to making another one of those "Zig-Zag" boards and have taken photographs along the way. You can see the photos here on my Flickr page: Flickr: carljoseph's stuff tagged with zigzagboard

The process is actually quite simple. Start off like a normal chopping board with a collection of ripped strips. Push each strip up a bit so it looks like the photo below. Here I have used a rough 30-35 degree angle. You don't have to be too accurate but the more accurate you are, the less wood you will waste.



Glue this up and when dried take it to the table saw. I cleaned it up a little before bringing it to the saw, but since you're not going to "hide" this surface, you can leave the cleanup until the very end.

Set your mitre guage at the same angle you spread out your strips. Then cross-cut the board so you get a new set of strips (just like you would normally on an end grain board).



Here are all the pieces right off the saw ...




Finally, you can assemble all the pieces however you like. In the picture below, I have rotated every second strip 180 degrees to the left (exposing the underside). You can also flip each second piece top to bottom to get the same effect. I prefer rotating though as you have more chance of getting a continuing grain pattern through the piece.



Another glue up, a little trimming and routing of the edges, some finish and you're done. Will post a final picture of this one as soon as I finish it (which will be right on time for Christmas!)

Cheers,
Af.

P.S. This isn't an end grain board. If you turned the pieces 90 degrees to expose end grain you will end up with horizontal stripes.

Nicely done AB! Drop in again sometime if you're going by.

Thanks WW. Will definitely drop by next time I'm passing through. Hope you're well.

So how is everyone else's last minute Christmas presents coming along?

Cheers,
Af.

Here's the final piece. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.



Cheers,
Af.

That's a very awesome gift to have for the Christmas. I would be great fun preparing something like this and even a better feeling to see the smile on the face of the person you gift this to. Thanks for sharing this information here. These kind of works are something that you could use your innovative ideas to the maximum.

It comes up really nice Afro Boy. May I ask what glue you use? I have had some bad experience with end grain glue ups and was wondering how you solve that.

Your work has inspired me to try some boards myself. Here is this weekend's crop. Nothing fancy, but I must say that being able to complete a project in less than a day is a very rewarding experience. I see many more boards in the near future.

Both are from the Studley's reject hardwood, finished with mineral oil.

Those cutting boards are all beautiful. A pity that they get used! Perhaps you can frame them instead ... now there's an idea!!

The chess table is simply superb.

Let's see more (I posted mine earlier in its own thread).

Regards from Perth

Derek