I had two cutting boards under my belt to this point. The first, a simple edge grain that was maple and walnut. The second, a more complicated edge grain that was entirely cherry and had an offset. I had done some planning for each, but the planning factored in the cutting depth of the Proxxon table saw that only makes through cuts. I had gotten my DeWalt table saw in the middle of the cherry cutting board project, and this would be the first one without limits for cutting depth.
I had some desires for this cutting board project:
1. I wanted very little waste. The amount I had to cut off the edges for the offset bothered me. I would have to build that in to preserve as much wood as I could.
2. I wanted the contrast of the light and dark woods. The cherry was fine, and I’d do it again with cherry, but I like the contrast more.
3. I wanted to play around with thicknesses. The prior projects had uniform thicknesses of pieces of wood that I glued together, but the increased cutting depth would allow me to play around with a mix of thicknesses.
I was still at the mercy of whatever the guys at House of Hardwood decided to put in the scrap area.
When I went shopping for this project, I found a lot of poplar. But poplar is bad for cutting boards. I also found ash. Ash can be good for cutting boards.
I found no walnut.
But I had a little bit of walnut left over from my first cutting board project!
I had enough of an idea to start up.

I set up my table saw with my makeshift outfeed table of a board attached to a folding table and set up my fence to rip the walnut. I have since become aware that the fence flips down for closer cuts with the blade guard.

I liked the uniformity of these cuts and the variety of colors. I was off to a good start. I’d have more play with the ash.

Again, the fence flips down for closer cuts. I know that now.

With more uniform pieces, I’d cut some thinner ones.

I had it almost all lined up perfectly. It was those thin piece that threw off the height. But I was sure it’d be worth it.
The glue-up starts next week!