Using hot-melt glue, attach a flat, straight board to the saw’s fence so its bottom edge sits tight against the saw’s table.
Check the angle with a magnetic digital angle finder (see Tip) or a protractor and bevel gauge. Tilt the table-saw blade to a 60-degree angle. Then use a track saw (or a circular saw guided by a straightedge) to rip one edge of each board straight and square. If you lack access to a surface planer, some hardwood lumber suppliers will plane the boards for you, for an extra charge.
Run the boards through a thickness planer to flatten and smooth each face, and make them the same thickness: between 1 1⁄4 and 1 3⁄8 inches. Steps for building a 3D cube cutting board # Step 1: Plane the boards to a uniform thickness # Tom had such a good time making this one, he went ahead and made two of them: one for his son and one for his daughter. As with any board in which the grain runs vertically, “a knife does less damage to the wood than on a flat-grain board,” Tom says.Ĭutting boards make great gifts. When assembled into a board, they fool the eye into seeing three dimensions. Tom and Kevin cut and glued together wood strips into identical rhombus shapes, then sliced them into six-sided pucks. Three woods of contrasting colors give the board its intriguing appearance: maple, oak, and cherry sourced from a hardwood lumber dealer.
