124 – Cutting Board Disaster
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The Discovery:
A few months ago, I woke up one morning, poured my coffee, and was incredibly disappointed to see that my cutting board exploded! OK so maybe it wasn’t all that violent but it was cupped like crazy and had a very large split. Upon further inspection, I noticed a bit of trapped water in the center of the underside of the board. Now the thing to remember about end grain cutting boards is that even after finishing, they will still soak up moisture like a sponge. So standing water is your cutting board’s Kryptonite!
What Happened?
So how does the split actually occur? Well let’s think about what happened. The water soaked into the center of the board and as a result, the center “squares” swelled and expanded. Because the moisture was in the center only, the wood in the outer perimeter did not expand. So something had to give. The resulting crack is really nothing more than pressure relief. Think of it like surrounding a piece of solid wood in a frame. Eventually, the joints in the outer frame will open up if the board in the middle expands.
The Epoxy Fix:
The first step in repairing this disaster simply involves waiting. After a few weeks, the board flattened out and the crack closed up almost completely. But the gap was still big enough that I wanted to use a gap-filling glue, so epoxy did the trick. Now I know what you are thinking. Is epoxy food-safe? While I have heard that food grade FDA-approved epoxies do exist, I have never seen them. And I can definitely say that the West System Epoxy I use is not FDA-approved. So why would I use this on my cutting board? Generally speaking, its the same logic I subscribe to when discussing the safety of film finishes. That is, once cured, the product is inert. In other words, its not chemically reactive and its not actively leaching chemicals under normal room temperature conditions. Furthermore, the crack represents such a small area that actual food contact would be absolutely minimal. Now while I am not prepared to tell you epoxy is completely food-safe, I will say that I consider cured epoxy safe enough to use on a small crack on MY cutting board. Ultimately, the final decision is yours.
Want to make an end-grain cutting board like this? Check this out!
Benjamin Roesler’s Thoughts on Woodworking
Last week I made a blog post about our Christmas in July sale. This is not the kind of thing that usually results in a lot of comments, but I did receive one in particular that caught my attention. It was a beautifully-written, almost poetic, piece about the importance of what we do as woodworkers. I thought the commentary deserved more attention than simply living inside a silly blog post about a sale. So I contacted the author, Benjamin Roesler, and asked for permission to re-post it on the site for everyone to read. I think you are going to enjoy this.
I once read in a textbook on wood that “Mankind owes no greater debt than he does to wood.” If for nothing else, then for fire. Yet, we refer to a stone age, a bronze age, even a steam age, yet not a wood age? Were it not for the spear, later the bow and arow, would we still be using a stick to probe termite colonies, as our chimpanzee friends?
Were it not for wood’s uncanny ability to become, with a little help, paper, what good then Gutenberg? Without whom, there is certainly no internet. Indeed, the very air we breathe is given to us by the trees, and the water that moves through everything that lives, will pass through a tree, up through the root and out through the leaves’ stomata.
As you plane and saw, sand and scrape, remember this my fellow whisperers. Those boards in your hands, likely lived longer than you have, or ever will. As they lay drying, the moisture content you seek to eradicate may have once flown through the Euphrates. Those piles of dust, which you will sweep up and toss, will join the scraps of your turkey sandwich in the landfill, becoming soil in which a new tree will root. It may well give place for your great grandson’s hammock, later to fall on his roof in a hurricane.
We may never, in all our doweling and dovetailing, give rise to anything nearly as beautiful as the precise engineering of the mighty xylem and phloem. Our silly paper towel holders and cutting boards, entertainment centers and porch swings may seem but paltry daydreams compared to the mighty Sequoia that lived several hundred years before the Magna Carta. Yet know this, as you keep your chisels honed, and pare away the slight layers of history, as you arrange those growth rings into a more stable pattern for your table top, square your shoulders and flush your cheeks, plunge your tenons into gluey mortises and clamp your jaws tight: it is as worthwhile as anything else that can be done. For kings need thrones, ships need rudders, and martyrs need a cross to bear.
Kerry’s Vanity
Kerry sent us pictures of a beautiful vanity he made for his god-daughter.
My wife and I recently worked together on a project for our 9 year old god daughter. Her mother informed us that she could use a vanity to start keeping her “girl” stuff in. We started with a simple idea on paper. Then moved onto initial construction. Stained the piece. Of course it needed a mirror. And finally got finished in time for Christmas. Oh, yea. We made and upholstered the stool as well. We used some of your finishing tips (used a wipe on varnish for the first time) and are very happy with results.
Today’s Sale Update
I have been receiving a number of inquiries about our Guild Shaker End Table series and whether it is included in the sale. It absolutely is! This is a 3-disc series with nearly 5 hours of content from our last memorable Guild Build when we raised nearly $10,000 for the American Cancer Society. The DVD’s not only contain every detail you need to know to build the project, they also give you access to the SketchUp Plans so you can examine and modify the design. So again, use coupon code santa25 to get 25% off this awesome DVD set. But don’t wait too long since our inventory is a bit low on these. Check it out!
Christmas in July Sale
As our long-time viewers/readers know, we have several sales a year. But the biggest sale is usually around Christmas. So we decided that we should have another big sale for one day only on July 25th. It will be our Christmas in July sale!! Hooray! So anything you can buy at the Wood Whisperer Store will be 25% off for Sunday, July 25th ONLY. You must use coupon code santa25 at checkout to get your discount. Merry Christmas in July, ho ho ho, and all that good stuff.
Here are a few of our best sellers!
Guild members: this discount cannot be combined with your regular Guild discount.
Heath’s Display Case
Heath has submitted a great project! It was nicely executed and its awesome that he has honored his father like this. Let’s check it out.
My dad is a Vietnam veteran who never misses an opportunity to let other soldiers know they are appreciated. I wanted to return that and let him know that he and his service was appreciated. His medals were never cared for or displayed properly so I wanted to fix that. I wanted to do a Greene & Greene project and I was inspired by an earlier viewer project – the Greene & Greene style display case for the Bible.
I’m a very novice woodworker without many tools or resources for project wood and am always on a tight budget. I couldn’t afford to 
order good wood for this. But I had been given a stack of pallets so that’s what I used. I believe they are oak. I have a jointer but I don’t have a planer. So after removing nails and a very thorough inspection for any other foreign materials, I dimensioned them using my table saw and the jointer. I also don’t have a band saw to remove the center piece so I used a dado blade. A hand chisel cleaned up the joints. It took a few practice pieces to get the process down.
I then used my dado blade to cut a rabbet on the back of the pieces for the back panel, and a saw kerf to hold the Plexiglas front and marked the location of the pegs. The square pegs intimidated me at first, but turned out to not be a problem. Since I can’t afford ebony, I made them out of a scrap piece of oak and used ebony stain. I cut a rabbet with the dado blade set to about 1/2″ wide and the height set so that the material remaining was 5/16″ thick. I then ripped off a 5/16″ square strip. With my miter saw set to 15 degrees and using a stop block for consistency, I cut all four sides of the end forming a pyramid. Then I used a fine toothed hand saw and miter box to cut the end off about 1/8″.
To make the 5/16″ square holes in the boards, I used a 9/32″ bit to drill a hole, then squared it with a 1/4” hand chisel. I tapped the pegs into place with a piece of soft wood and light taps with a hammer. Using the disc sander with the table set to 15 degrees, I created the pyramid shape on the end of the fingers. This was followed by some final sanding and a couple coats of “natural” Watco Danish oil. It gave just the type of finish I wanted – it brings out the grain and gives good protection with a slight sheen and it still feels like wood, not plastic. While the case was clamped and glued, I put the inside display together using foam board and spray adhesive. After everything was dry, I attached it and the plywood back.
I see all the little flaws and blemishes, but, I must say I’m still pretty darn proud of it. My goal was to make something nice for my dad 
to show that his military service was appreciated and to challenge my very novice woodworking skills. I think I accomplished both goals. I made a couple mistakes along the way but having watched Marc fix his mistakes, I was able to fix mine which boosted my confidence. So I owe Marc a great deal of thanks for his inspiration and guidance and for introducing me to the Greene & Greene style. I would also like to thank the person who submitted the Greene & Greene style display case for the Bible.
A Peek at a New Woodworking Show
Tommy Mac’s new show is slated to start airing in October 2010. WGBH just put up a little trailer for the show. Looks like a winner!
Doug’s Garage Shop
Let’s take a look at Doug’s garage workshop. As you can see, not every shop is a perfect dedicated woodworking space.
My wife and I bought our house in Nov 2008, it is such a huge step up from our old, very small house. I love my new garage but still have to share it with the family. We park cars in it over winter and bikes, skate boards and lawn equipment share space in the summer. I have some lower end power tools that get the job done and everything moves around pretty easily when I need to work on my car or something. I do have a nice out building with wood floors that I am hoping to move the wood shop into but I have to clean it out and find other places to store all of our junk, you know, the totes full stuff that you have not laid eyes on in over 3 years but still feel you might need it someday. I hope you enjoy the pics, I just recently built a new work bench with a shelf, I have wall installed shelving around the perimeter and I also just got done mounting a PC at my work bench that connects to my internet via wireless.
New Formaldehyde Emissions Law
President Obama recently signed the Formaldehyde Standards for Composite Wood Act into law. What does this mean? Basically, the man-made products used to build furniture (plywood, MDF, particle board, etc..) contain certain amounts of formaldehyde. Generally speaking, the cheaper the manufacturing cost, the higher the level of formaldehyde. So if your house is full of inexpensive furniture or building materials from overseas, you could very well be exposed to a significant amount of off-gassing formaldehyde.
This new law establishes health standards to both domestic products and foreign imported materials. By January 1, 2013, all products sold in the US will have to meet a formaldehyde emission standard of 0.09 parts per million. On the surface, its sounds like a great idea. The fewer nasty chemicals the better, right? But these new stringent requirements will likely affect furniture prices across the board as compliance requires some re-tooling and experimentation. And of course, any forced change is a great excuse to charge more for a product. But I digress….
Fortunately, from what I’ve read, US companies have been implementing changes to decrease formaldehyde for a while now. As usual, California is ahead of schedule and if these companies want to sell products in California, they are already working on solutions. Tool-Rank.com has an article on how the California law is affecting companies like SKIL and Festool who use MDF in their products. But I won’t even pretend to know the ultimate affect this law will have on our domestic building materials companies. Will the increased production costs push them over the edge or will this simply level the playing field since the cheaper imports are subject to the same standards? I definitely don’t know the answers but I would love to hear your perspectives on this new law. Sound off! And please, no political rants.
Want to read a little more on this topic? Check out these related articles:
USA Today
American Chronicle
Elkhead Tools Screwdrivers
If you guys are tool lovers like me, you have probably made the observation that there are several distinct levels of tool quality. Off the top of my head, here’s how I would categorize things: homeowner, serious DIY’er, contractor/pro, and premium. In the world of hand tools though, there’s another level that you might not be aware of. And that’s what I call “super premium’. Brands like Bridge City Tool Works where you can pick up the CT-17 Block Plane for $859, or Sauer & Steiner where you can drop over $2000 on a coffin smoother. Top of the line doesn’t begin to describe these little gems. But boy they sure are expensive! So let’s leave the topic of diminishing returns for another day. All I’m trying to do here is set the mood for a quick introduction to what I consider to be, a super-premium tool.
Recently, I received two Elkhead Tools screwdrivers for review. When I opened the box, I swear I thought I saw an angel emerge, along with the sounds of gleeful children singing and the smell of daffodils in the spring. Oh it was a sight to behold! But my tool-lover’s bliss was soon replaced with anxiety and stress as I remembered that I would actually have to write a review on these tools. Here’s the problem: no matter what I say, no matter how awesome this tool is, nothing will change the fact that its “just a screwdriver”. And at $70 each, they don’t come cheap. So you don’t even need to say it…… because I get it. After all, my idea of splurging on screwdrivers was buying a set of three for $38 from Lee Valley (a purchase I don’t regret but I still feel a little guilty about).
So how do I go about reviewing such things? Maybe a side by side with my Lee Valley screwdrivers? Perhaps a pseudo-scientific head to head screw drivin’ throw down with my no-name drivers that came with that thing I bought from Sam’s Club??? Nope. Any elaborate tests or comparisons would feel forced and quite silly. After all, its a screwdriver. The best I can do is make some observations and judge these tools on their own merits. I’ll let you decide if a screwdriver is the kind of tool you want to consider an investment.
The Elkhead screwdrivers are, as you might expect, pure awesomeness. The handles are made from Cocobolo with a wax finish that is flawlessly smooth. The dense cocobolo gives the tool a perfect balance. And when I say perfect, I am not exaggerating! I had fun for a several minutes just balancing the tool with one finger at the thinnest point of the handle. The tools look so good, I was almost afraid to use them.
But use them I did. Since I will most likely reserve these bad boys for hardware installations where a precise fit between the head of the screw and the tip of the driver is crucial, my “tests” were limited to driving a few brass screws into some maple. Probably no surprise that the tip was seated perfectly and it gave me confidence that the screw would not strip out. Will this stop me from using steel screws to “prime” the hole for my hardware installations? Probably not, because I am too paranoid about stripping brass screws. But I do know which screwdriver I will be reaching for when that last critical turn takes place.
I know my readers, and I know what most of you are thinking already. But as people who spend a great deal of time crafting items of beauty, well beyond what their simple functions would require, we have to at least respect the craftsmanship behind super premium tools like the Elkhead screwdrivers. I have to give the folks at Elkhead Tools a huge congratulations for making the most finely-crafted screwdriver ever to be grasped by these grubby mitts! And I can’t wait to see what other tools they might develop as the company expands its line.
I see on their website that they will have a booth at the Woodworking in America conference so be sure to stop by if you are attending the show.
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