Shaping a charcuterie/serving board

So I'm working on a charcuterie board for a fire relief raffle and I've got my panel all glued up. Current intention is to have a handle on one end but I'm curious as to the best way to shape this. It's about 30mm thick so jigsaw is out and my 19" bandsaw is out of action until I can get new tyres and a blade installed. I have a plunge router and a router table so I'm considering making a template out of MDF and then following that with a router and bearing bit. Anyone else got any ideas? It has to be done by the 31st so I'm under a bit of a time crunch.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...2630860b02.jpg

Something like the handle on this but a little less shapely.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...4504b5e705.jpg

Mark out the shape then cut in from the end grain with a handsaw to as close to the line as you dare, then cross cut to remove most of the waste. Rough shape with a rasp or spokeshave and finish with fine sandpaper or a fine rasp.

I'd go for the template route and use the jigsaw to get close to the line. You'd also have a template to use for the next one.

Very commendable donating this to the raffle.

As an observation, at 30mm thick, and its apparent size, it is large and it will be quite heavy to carry with contents when in use. Not many people will have the strength in their wrists to carry it with a single handle. Perhaps a rethink of the handle/s design may make it much more ergonomic and pleasant to us. Even a small plunge routed finger grip on the opposite end to the handle will be appreciated by the user/s.

I am afraid I can't offer any suggestion...
However, just looking at the pix, I would have thought that one handle wouldn't be enough to carry the board comfortably once garnished?
We happen to have a kitchen chopping board - roughly 500mm x 350mm x 30mm - and it is a brute just to carry a distance of only a few feet to the sink...
Just thinking !!!

Yvan

How are you with hand tools?

If I was doing that and my band- and jig-saw were ruled out for rough shaping, I'd use a saw to make a series of cross-grain cuts about an inch apart, stopping roughly a cm from the handle, then break these off to remove the bulk of the waste.

From there I'd be using chisels, spokeshave, maybe a small plane and a sanding block to shape to size. (I'd include wood rasps and files in that lot, 'cept I don't have any. Mine seem to have been appropriated by someone else when I wasn't looking. :(( )

After rough shaping as described by Alkahestic and Skew, a patternmaker's rasp would make short work of shaping the board. Not cheap, but you can control the force on them to achieve quite a fine finish, ready for sanding.
As others have said, a finger grip at the other end from the handle would be a good idea.

Thanks for all the help everyone, starting to think the thoughts around weight might be dead on. I'll be in the shop a bit later today so I'll reconsider the design and see what I can come up with.

Mistakes were made, I wound up finishing it without a handle [emoji1]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e280f351ba.jpg

I'm reasonably sure I'll be able to make one the way I wanted when I'm not in such a rush. The bandsaw would have really helped on this.