Project or Board?

[Derek Cohen]

Edward, it is all about being or becoming a woodworker. Let's decide how many machines/tools are required to make that board .. aahh, project.

MFT
Festool Tracksaw
Festool Rails
Jointer
Thicknesser-Planer
Thickness Sander
ROS
Router Table
Router for router table
Rebating/Rabbeting bit
Rounding over bit
Block plane (just in case).

Seriously, I know a number of woodworkers who just enjoy having a workshop and the peace and quiet of a man cave. They need something to do in there. Nothing complicated.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Walter Mooney]

I am waiting for some one to take a large buffalo chip and encase it in epoxy then sell it, upside down, as a serving tray. I saw some tortillas the other day in the store. made from free range corn.
BilL D

Free range corn — fantastic!

[Patty Hann]

Free range corn — fantastic!

No kidding... I would love to see cornstalks wandering unimpeded through fields and meadows.
Except it would kind of remind me of "The Day of the Trifids" and I might freak out.

[Thomas McCurnin]

Nice project using cutoffs from a slab and a good way to use waste. Yeah, pimped out, I'd use rubber feet. You could make cut outs for holding dips or CNC the top to say Cheese. Great for a gift. I wouldn't have it in my house, but that's me.

[Patty Hann]

Might easily sell at a Craft Fair or Ren Faire (so rustic! )

[Mike Cutler]

Those handles would be laughed out of a real kitchen. Way to many sharp crevices to trap and hold bacteria with no way to clean them out. The rusty surface is also a bacteria breeding ground and will wipe the excess bacteria off onto the servers hands to share with customers. Perhaps they can sell some trays to Ptomaine Thompson's cafeteria.
Bill D

Bill

I don't think anyone would use those handles on a real cutting board. As you say, they're wrong for the application. But they are nice by themselves. They'd really look good on a period specific wood joiners chest.. Just not that board.

The FDA has sections, in at least two volumes of CFR's, Code of Federal Regulations, that deal with cutting boards. It's an interesting read on a raining, crappy, day.
I made a very large pastry board many years ago for friend, and toyed around with making "real cutting boards" for kitchens. Then I researched the CFR's, and needless to say, that idea went out the window. There's a lot more to it than folks might realize.

[Jim Becker]

Those handles would be laughed out of a real kitchen. Way to many sharp crevices to trap and hold bacteria with no way to clean them out. The rusty surface is also a bacteria breeding ground and will wipe the excess bacteria off onto the servers hands to share with customers. Perhaps they can sell some trays to Ptomaine Thompson's cafeteria.
Bill D

That's a non-issue since that type of board isn't intended for cutting in a "real kitchen" (I presume you mean commercial). I see that as a serving board and there are some folks out there that would love to have one just like or similar to it. Serving board and charcuterie boards (also not meant for cutting) are "big" these days and large numbers of makers are, um...making...them. As to the style, this is a very subjective thing. I personally don't like that particular board, but that's me. I don't like all the charcuterie and decorative boards I help a friend make, either...but his customers pay him big bucks for them.

[Edward Weber]

Lets start off by saying Serving Trays and cutting Boards are two totally different things with distinct and separate purposes.

I feel somehow "projects" like this dumb down the perception of what a woodworker is.
Yes it's a pet peeve but it irritates me.
"I saw this woodworker at the fair, he made the nicest serving trays"
Somehow, now he's on the same level, or at least lumped in, with those who make fine furniture.
I don't buy it.
This "maker" community may have some benefits but there is a downside as well. This may just be a design choice for a project but far to often it's the pinnacle of their skill.

We may all be called the same name, woodworkers but we are in no way the same.
JMHO

[Geoff Crimmins]

That is a cutoff from the shop of a guy with a marketing degree. If he was at the top of his field, it would be a charcuterie tray.

I think you nailed it, Richard!