However, in our home, making something practical is also very important. I try to live by the motto, “if it’s going to be in the kitchen, we better use it.” (Just don’t look at my drawer full of BBQ tools … Yes, I need all those turners and tongs!) But I think I’ve reached a happy medium here. This round cutting board with a multi-species laminated accent is both fun to make and practical as can be.

Let’s Get Rolling

I started by selecting a color scheme and decided to make most of the cutting board from walnut with a bold accent of maple, cherry, mahogany and padauk. These colors work great in our kitchen and really make the cutting board pop! But just about any close-grained hardwoods would be great choices for this board. There are no rules here; my picks were entirely subjective, and my wife really liked the colors. Which supports another motto worth remembering: “Happy wife, happy life!”

Ripping Along

This project really gave my table saw a workout. I got started by crosscutting my pieces of walnut into roughly 16″ lengths and then ripped them to 1-1/8″ wide. My goal for this board was to end up just a bit proud of 1″ in thickness, so giving myself that extra 1/8″ for flattening and sanding turned out to be helpful.

To glue up the accent strip, I put a thin coating of glue on the faces that would be touching. I grabbed a couple of 2x4s to use as clamping cauls to provide even pressure.

I reached for my bottle of Titebond III for this lamination. The “green” label is the right choice here, because it’s a waterproof formulation and is FDA-approved for indirect food contact.

Once it had time to fully cure, I scraped away the extra glue squeeze-out and headed to the miter saw to cut it into some angled pieces. I swiveled my saw table to 22.5 degrees and, using a piece of tape and a marker, scribed a registration line on the saw’s fence 1-1/8″ away from the blade.

I cut 10 pieces to this length with the lamination laying on the saw table so its glue lines were facing up. Now back to that sandwich!

As you can see in the Drawings, I captured the angled pieces between the two maple strips. To glue the maple and the angled accent pieces together, I applied glue to one face of each maple strip and to the angled ends of the multicolored pieces, then sandwiched them all together. I was concerned that too much clamping force would cause this multi-piece glue-up to shift around before the glue had time to tack up. So, spring clamps to the rescue! I used enough clamps to apply adequate pressure but not to ruin their alignment.

While the glue was drying, I started to prepare for gluing up the whole board. I did a dry-fit of all the pieces and was satisfied with the results — it was going to work fine. Then I got busy applying glue to the pieces. After I had assembled about two thirds of the walnut into a blank, I glued in the accent strip and then finished up with the remaining walnut on the opposite side of the accent.

I used a pair of Rockler’s Mini Deluxe Panel Clamps to provide the clamping pressure. They’re designed to both squeeze a panel together and also keep its laminations flush — perfect for this application!

Cutting and Shaping Comes Next

It’s always a good idea to give the glue on complicated laminations plenty of time to cure, so I let mine dry overnight. Removing the board from the clamps, I was pleased to find that it required minimal flattening. And that was good because I had more work to do.

I got started back at the table saw squaring up its ends. While this board would have worked well as a square, I want something different, so I settled on a circle!

Before I got too excited and cut it round, I wanted to use a new 4-in-1 Cutting Board Handle Routing Template from Rockler. The template has four different handle shapes and takes the effort out of forming cutouts.

Simply register the template and remove the material with a router, making use of a guide bushing and 3/8″ spiral bit. I decided on the square cutout to pay homage to all the other square cutting boards in the world, and I think the square hole in a round object makes the choice a bit comical, too.

Then it was time to cut the board round. There are many ways to do this, but let me show you my preferred method. I started with my router attached to a circle-cutting jig and made a very shallow cut along the bottom of the board so I could see where the circle was going to be.

I set the jig for a 14″ diameter. I made a few more passes, routing to about 3/8″ deep. Then I took the board over to the band saw and completed the circular cut I had started. My last step was to skim off the remaining band saw waste with a flush-trim router bit.

Wrapping Up Some Final Details

A round cutting board with sharp edges just seems incomplete to me. So, I eased the outer edges of the circle with a 3/8″-radius roundover bit in the router and switched to a 1/4″ roundover for softening the edges of the handle cutout. I think the combination of profiles adds a nice detail.

Even though my board was sufficiently flat, it still needed more final sanding So, I worked up through the grits to 320 to give all of its surfaces a silky smooth feel. A couple coats of food-safe Walrus Oil Cutting Board Oil made it even smoother, and the oil really highlights this project’s many wood colors.

My favorite little feet are some 3/8″ soft bumpers that install in drilled holes in the bottom face. I mounted eight of them to prevent any tipping when I’m slicing tomatoes for my next BLT. And with that, my new cutting board was ready for use.

If you make one of these boards too, be sure to only wash it by hand and not in the dishwasher. When the board eventually looks dull and dry, clean it thoroughly and then apply a fresh coat of oil. Simple as that! I’m off to make a sandwich.

Click Here to Download the Drawings and Materials List.

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Instead, it’s for the new situation of so many people working from home, with their “home office” often in the corner of a living room or other multi-use area of the house. This room divider was conceived to create an attractive way to hide the office clutter from view while also providing a unique and attractive background during video meetings.

It’s not difficult to build; you’ll only find three parts in the Material List on page 39, and the Beadlock loose-tenon joints on the frames are simplicity themselves. We covered the 1/4″ plywood center panels with wallpaper to provide elegant panel designs, but we chose two very different styles so we could change the look simply by turning the divider around. To facilitate adjusting the individual panels to various angles, we used double-action hinges that were just the ticket for this project. One warning here: we found out the hard way that it is best to replace the brass screws provided with the hinges with similar steel screws. There is enough torque created when moving the room divider around to potentially break the brass screws.

Starting at the Beginning

These frames need to be strong, and it’s my opinion that they should be made of hardwood for that reason. I chose cherry both for its color and strength, but which hardwood species you use is up to you. When building frames like this, it’s important that the stock be flat in width and length — bowing or twisting will cause all sorts of problems in these long narrow frames. Rip the stiles to width on your table saw and then cut them to length. I used a miter saw for that task. Set them aside for now.

The rails are next up. They are, of course, shorter than the stiles but are also much wider at 4-1/2″. After ripping them to width, I cut them to length on the table saw using a miter gauge and employing a stand-off block to keep them from binding. Their width lets you cut them into curved arcs. I made a template of the arched rail from a small scrap of 1/4″ plywood. The thin stock was easy to shape, and if I made a mistake, I could have simply started over on more scrap. Find the details for the curved rails in the Drawings.

With the rail blanks cut to size and the template completed, I was ready to machine them further. I decided to make the rails in pairs and keep them together through the machining process. I attached two blanks with Rockler sticky dots and then stepped over the band saw.

After marking the curves, I carefully cut the shape staying just outside of the pencil lines. Then I used a horizontal benchtop belt sander to sand them smooth and to final shape. With that done, it was time to move onto machining some mortises.

Drilling Beadlock Joints

The Beadlock system is one of the easiest and most affordable loose-tenon systems around, and the joints it creates are rock-solid. The system has drill guides for diff ering thicknesses of stock, and in this case I used the 3/4″ drill guide that makes use of 3/8″ tenon stock. The preformed, uniquely-shaped tenon stock is available in various lengths. Although I chose Beadlock, you could make the joints with dowels or even Dominoes.

To get started with this task, I fit the four pieces of each frame together laying on my workbench. I clamped the stiles to the table with the rails fitting properly between them. Then I marked the center of each joint. Doing it this way helped me to visualize the assembly, confirm the mortise locations and understand how it all fit together. Next, it was time to bore the Beadlock mortises. One important note: I found that the 3/4″ drill guide was a touch thinner than my cherry stock. For that reason, it was important to clamp the Beadlock jig from the same face for each joint. Otherwise there would have been a slight but visible offset at the joint that would be unacceptable. I formed a mortise on each end of each piece as marked, then returned the part to its spot onto the bench. Another important point is to test-fit the shaped loose-tenon stock in each mortise.

You may need to refine the mortise on occasion by cleaning out more waste inside it. I used this process for all four frames. And speaking of the individual frames, I marked each piece of each frame with a letter so I could keep them clear as I moved forward through machining to assembly. While in theory all the pieces should have been identical and thus interchangeable, that was a theory I decided not to test. You may call me a coward, but prudence is often the better part of valor.

After mortising all the parts, the next step was plowing the grooves down the inside edge of each of the stiles and rails. Stepping over to the router table, I chucked a 1/4″-wide slot cutter that slices 3/8″ deep, controlled by a guide bearing on top of the bit. The plywood that would be captured by these grooves was 1/4″ thick, but would soon have wallpaper glued to both faces. After a good bit of experimenting, I found that I needed to form the grooves 3/8″ wide instead, so the final dimension for the grooves is 3/8″ deep by 3/8″ wide and centered on the edges of the stiles and rails.

Up until this point, the top and bottom rails have been interchangeable, but with the addition of the grooves this is no longer the case. As they are situated in the frame, one rail gets its groove plowed into its “top” edge (this would be the lower rails) and the other has the groove on the “bottom” edge. By flipping the stiles and rails over and taking two passes, you can be certain that the grooves are centered on the pieces as you widen them. For the flat- and convex-shaped pieces, you can set up the router table to use its fence as a bearing surface. For the concave edge of the rails, however, use the guide bearing to position the cut. When all the grooves have been machined, it’s time to cut the plywood to fit the frames.

Fitting the Panels

Ripping the plywood panels to their proper width is an easy task on the table saw. Cutting the curved ends is best done by placing a panel under a clamped-up frame and then tracing the frame’s curve onto the top of the panel. Now put a small mark on the plywood in the center of the arc at the bottom the frame. Then slide the plywood 5/8″ up under the frame using the small mark as your guide. Trace the curve on the bottom of the panel. Do that for all four panels. I then used a band saw to cut the curves to shape. A handheld jigsaw will work as well, but it will likely leave a rougher cut. Sand away any splinters.

Next up, I wiped on a coat of shellac mixed 50/50 with denatured alcohol onto both faces of the panels. When it dries, polish any raised grain with a synthetic scratchy pad. With that done, it’s time to break out the wallpaper.

Carrying Out the Last Details

While we chose wallpaper to decorate these panels, there’s no reason you couldn’t paint the panels or apply veneer or even use a nice hardwood plywood and apply a clear finish instead.

I am not an expert wallpaper person, so I just followed the directions on the packages and had success. One roll of the paper I bought covered four panels, so two rolls were required. If you have a similar situation to mine with differing treatments to opposite faces of the panels, make certain to pair them up so you don’t end up with three panels with one treatment and one of the other type. (Awkward.) With the panels completed I took the time to mask off each glue joint on the frame stock and then applied two coats of Watco Natural Oil. It is easier to apply the finish now, and it prevents it from staining the wallpaper.

You are now almost ready to get started gluing and clamping the frames and panels together. But before you do, there’s one more step. The 3/8″ Beadlock tenons have five “lobes” per tenon. Due to the width of the stiles and rails and the depth of the grooves, a tenon could impede the plywood panel in the grooves. So cut one lobe off of the Beadlock tenons and be sure to place the tenons as shown in the inset photo, middle right.

It is important to keep the frames square during glue-up, so I assembled them on a bench and put a board in the end vise. With one stile aligned with the edge of the bench and both feet touching the board, I could be sure the panel was square as I glued it up. I found the frames went together much more easily with a helper. I did the first one myself, but getting the panel in its grooves and the tenons in their mortises without the assembly coming apart elsewhere was doable, but frustrating. With the aid of a second set of hands, it was much easier. Apply glue to the tenons and put them in one of the stiles, slide a plywood panel into place and then glue and place the rails. With glue on the last two tenons, add the second stile — align the feet on the board and the stile on the edge of the bench, and clamp the frame together. Once the glue dries, you need to take each frame to the band saw and cut off the “horn” that is sticking up past the curved upper rail. Sand the cut smooth and apply finish. The two-way hinges come next. I made a small jig from 3/8″ MDF that had a fence attached to it at a right angle with an opening to guide my router, outfitted with a rub collar.

Set up two frames and clamp them together, back-to-back, with a 1/8″-thick piece of plywood between them. I clamped the jig to the frame and routed a mortise into two frames at once. Before I unclamped the setup, I installed the hinges. This worked very well. When the last hinge was secured with screws, the project was done. It was ready to hide a home office setup and add beauty to the room while doing it.

Click Here to Download the Drawings and Materials List.

Hard-to-Find Hardware:

Rockler Beadlock Pro Jig Kit and Case (1) #54318
Double Action Hinges (5) #29033

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Modern Room Divider: The effects of the pandemic have prompted many of us to work from home and turn common living spaces into makeshift offices. A classic room divider can help partition that workspace from the rest of a room, and you can dress it up beautifully with the wallpaper patterns and colors of your choice!

Precision Tool Cabinet: Our senior editor will show you how to make a small but practical cabinet for your measuring, marking and delicate cutting tools. Why not adorn it with some fancy figured lumber you’ve been saving? Who says shop storage can’t be attractive, too?

Accented Cutting Board: Add “Wow!” factor to cutting boards with an angled lamination of multi-colored hardwoods. It’s a flashy detail that will make this workaday kitchen creation even more distinctive.

Modern Shop Hand Tools: If you’re just beginning to work wood or looking for simple but useful projects to build with a young person, this new limited four-part series will help cover the fundamentals. Our first project is a practical Step Stool you can make with a modest collection of hand tools.

Shop Talk: It’s hard to imagine not using electric routers these days, but Ernie Conover makes the case for why a router plane is still a sensible and useful addition to your hand tool collection.

Simplifying Bit Setups: Learn how to set up and use drawer lock router bits. It’s the second in a new six-part series intended to help build your confidence with some of our craft’s trickier router bit options.

Advanced Power Tool Techniques: Get the most from your router table by adding jointing, template-routing and mortise-and-tenon joinery to your repertoire! A.J. Hamler will teach you all three techniques in this article.

Tool Preview: Oneida is an industry leader in dust collection machines. The company has raised the bar of efficiency once again with its new Supercell Turbo dust collectors.

Hardworking Hardware: Piano hinges offer narrow profiles and loads of swing strength for attaching heavy lids or doors to your projects. Learn how to install them with a router and jig.

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WORX Nitro 20V Power Share 7-1/4″ Sliding Compound Miter Saw

Rockler Silicone Glue Brushes for Joinery

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Click Here to Download the Plan.

Check out the video of the process.

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