need some advice....

[HowardH]

LOML has asked me to build her a lazy susan made out of one of my cutting board designs.  Not a big deal normally as I could build a square board and then use the Carvex and the circle cutter to make a round board.  However, she asked if I could put a border of a different color wood on it as well.  [blink] [blink]  How do put a border around a round board?  I don't have a steam bender nor do I know if that would work anyway.  A CNC could do it but I don't have one of those, either..  Ideas?

 

[tjbnwi]

How thick of a border?

Soak the wood you want to use (make sure it is long straight grain) in Downy.

Tom

 

[HowardH]

I was thinking 10-12 mm.  That would work, eh?

 

[JCLP]

I would steam and bend. Years ago I bought a kettle for steaming wood from Lee Valley and attached it to a 4" diameter PVC pipe 6' long, plug one end, drill a very small hole to let out pressure and was able to bend 1/4" x 3/4" ash to form 1' diameter circles. There are free plans on the web to make steamers. I've tried the bathtub method but found steaming worked better. Good luck.

 

[peter halle]

I can't offer you any advice on the bending Howard, but I would offer that it might not be a good idea due to expansion and contraction.  Cutting boards do get some different water exposures than the common wooden item.

Just a thought.

Peter

 

[duburban]

Ive seen a DIY pvc steamer that worked great. Give it a shot.

 

[JCLP]

here is a great link from Lee valley on bending wood.
http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?c=&p=45869&cat=1,45866,45867

Cheers

 

[GarryMartin]

Might be easier to use a router on a trammel to cut a ring out of contrasting wood, or do the same on an oversized glued up hexagon shape for instance, then split the ring and glue to the outside of the circle.

 

[Rip Van Winkle]

LOML has asked me to build her a lazy susan made out of one of my cutting board designs.  Not a big deal normally as I could build a square board and then use the Carvex and the circle cutter to make a round board.  However, she asked if I could put a border of a different color wood on it as well.  [blink] [blink]  How do put a border around a round board?  I don't have a steam bender nor do I know if that would work anyway.  A CNC could do it but I don't have one of those, either..  Ideas?

Another way to do this would e to make the outside edge of the cutting board first. Leave a small amount of extra material on the inside edge. Temporarily glue this to a base made out of something like MDF. glue a centered block on the MDF the same thickness as the outer edge. Drill a trammel hole, and use a trammel guide to route the inside of the outer edge round, A bevelled router bit will work better for a glue joint later.

A trammel hole in the center of a cutting board with the same bevelled bit can then be used to route the outside edge of the center of the cutting board. It's probably best to route the inside slightly oversize and keep test fitting till the center fits.

It might e better to leave the outside edge of the cutting board still attached to the MDF. once wax on the center of the MDF as a release, making sure not to get any on the inside edge of the cutting board that was routed and will serve as a glue surface. Also put wax on the bottom of the cutting board, but again not on the outer edge that will serve as a glue surface. Glue both sides up, and then push down the center part of the cutting board into the outer edge.

Simply clamping downward will push the center of the cutting board down and wedge the to glue surfaces together.

I forgot to mention you will have to remove the center plug of MDF used as a trammel point.

You might need to try this a few times to work out the quirks.

 

[Bob Wolfe]

I would do it in two or more strips, heated with a steam iron for starts, that didn't work I would heat up a piece of 3/4 copper pipe with a torch and see if that worked, might have to soak it a bit first. You might be surprised how heat will change the wood. My steamer is an old propane tank to hold water, heated with a propane tiger torch piped into a steam box.
If you cut the strips thin enough, you can use a kettle, some trip off when the water is hot, some use an old kettle on a camp stove.
Festool make a kettle???

 

[Gary in Texas]

I agree with GarryMartin's method for simplicity, it would be a lot less time and effort spent than trying to steam bend strips of wood.  Or, perhaps just paint a black boarder around the rim/edge.......

 

[deepcreek]

I'm with Peter on this, expansion/contraction is going to be a problem.  Even though it is minimized across the board if you orient the boards with the edge grain exposed, there will still be movement.

 

[Gary in Texas]

I'm with Peter on this, expansion/contraction is going to be a problem.  Even though it is minimized across the board if you orient the boards with the edge grain exposed, there will still be movement.

Peter also mentioned getting wet and used as a cutting board, which could cause some issues.  Howard however stated he is building a Lazy Susan based on one of his cutting board designs. As such, and not subjected to frequent dampness, shouldn't be that much of an issue.

 

[wow]

I would use GarryMartin's method. Build an octagon large enough to contain the inside and outside edges. Use a trammel and a router to cut the outside of the ring, then cut the inside, slip it over your cutting-board inset and you're done.

You could build the octagon around a sacrificial piece of MDF if you wanted. That would let you have a solid point where you could attach the trammel pivot.

 

[deepcreek]

Wood movement is a big deal for furniture makers.  That's why breadboard ends for tabletops are attached with various methods that allow for seasonal movement.

In the Dallas area, the relative humidity typically ranges from 37% to 89% over the course of the year.  Even with an HVAC system, it will range quite a bit inside the house.

You also have to factor in the moisture content of the wood you are working with using a moisture meter.  Kiln dried wood can vary widely depending on how and where it has been stored prior to use.

Here's a good article showing the effect of humidity level change on a finished piece of furniture.

http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/articles/do-they-know-about-shrinkage/

 

[Stone Message]

Might be easier to use a router on a trammel to cut a ring out of contrasting wood, or do the same on an oversized glued up hexagon shape for instance, then split the ring and glue to the outside of the circle.

I too agree with Garry. I have done this a few times and it can look pretty good. I have just looked for any old pictures but cannot find any.

For a semi circle I used 3 pieces of wood in order to keep it strong but would use 6 for a full circle.

Peter

 

[HowardH]

I have a MFS so that would make it easy to use as a trammel.  Couldn't I cut some 3 to 4" wide strips and cut the ends with my kapex at 22.5 deg and make the octogon, glue and band clamp and then use double sided tape to attach it to some MDF, center a trammel point and then use the of1400 to cut the ring?  Would you use an upcut spiral bit to make the ring? 

 

[wow]

I have a MFS so that would make it easy to use as a trammel.  Couldn't I cut some 3 to 4" wide strips and cut the ends with my kapex at 22.5 deg and make the octogon, glue and band clamp and then use double sided tape to attach it to some MDF, center a trammel point and then use the of1400 to cut the ring? 

Exactly what I was suggesting.

Remember that end-glued joints won't have a lot of strength, so they will be the likely failure point if your cutting board center swell and something has to give...

Perhaps you could do a thin octagon with a second layer offset on top of that? I.e. dual layers with the joints offset, making a sort of a 'lap joint' to hold it together?