Woodworking has always somewhat interested me, but always seemed cost-prohibitive to get into. Luciana hasn’t thought of me as being terribly handy. In my defense, we’ve only owned our home for a few years, so there hasn’t been much to do. To better myself, I decided to see if woodworking was a skill I could develop.
To start off, I decided to see if I had the patience to laminate some basic 1x2s (oak, maple, and mahogany) into something that resembles a cutting board. I figure, if I couldn’t do that, I wouldn’t bother investing time and money in it.
Here’s how it went.
In the end, it turned out great. I ended up giving it to my parents as a gift, and hopefully they get some use out of it.
Some lessons learned:
- Use water to clean up that glue squeeze-out. Since I only had basic sanding tools and no hand plane, it ended up taking forever to sand off.
- Different wood species sand at different rates. The surface ended up not being 100% flat like a board you’d find at the store, because the mahogany and maple sand much faster than the red oak.
- Lumber from the store is not always flat or the same size. I didn’t realize this at first, but it makes sense. Wood changes its shape as it takes on and loses moisture. The boards ended up being almost square, but they look good enough. Also, the boards weren’t all exactly 3/4″ thick, so it made finishing without a planer that much more tiring on the arms.
- Be a happy clamper. I only used four clamps, but I wish I had used more. Some of the boards near the edges didn’t join super well. More clamps would have made it better.
Overall, I’d say I have the patience for this, so I’ll post more things I end up creating.