Board Beginnings

J has been busy making cutting boards, especially now that the holiday season is upon us. We took a trip to the hardwoods store yesterday to get more supplies.

If you've wondered where the boards begin, this is where. The hardwoods store is a huge warehouse full of just about every type of wood you've ever heard of (and many more you've never heard of). We sort through the stacks of maple, rustic walnut, and American cherry to find somewhat-equal amounts of each that are the right dimensions for dicing up blocks with as little waste as possible.

Rough wood.

Once we choose the pieces, they are milled in the back area of the warehouse by staff. Each is sent through the planer to flatten it, jointer to make the edges straight, and a giant sander to smooth it out. Once it's finished, it looks like this.

Milled wood.

From here, it gets taken home to J's workshop where he starts the cutting board making process. Eventually, he ends up with finished boards like this!