02/21/2026
Which one is your favourite?? Hit Like on its photo and leave a comment below.
Also, if you have any interest in attending a future woodworking workshop, please leave a comment below.
A few months ago, I was approached by a local non-profit, (https://www.facebook.com/p/Piece-of-Heaven-Project-61561737175058/) to put on a volunteer woodworking workshop as a fundraiser for them to help them build some new fencing, and I happily agreed.
What I didn't realize when agreeing to it was how much fun I would have putting it on! It turns out there was a tonne of interest, (20 people signed up, and we had a waiting list!), and we had to break it into four separate three-hour sessions over two weekends.
It was a basic intro to fine woodworking with the goal of making a basic cutting board. We did a tour of my workshop, going over the basic tools, how to break down pieces of hardwood--from bringing them into the shop all the way through to prepping them for lamination (gluing).
Essentially, you start with the miter saw, cutting the pieces to length, then to the jointer to flatten and square up one end, then to the table saw to rip them into long strips, then to the planer to make them a uniform depth, then to the drum sander to get them nice and flat and give them enough tooth for the glue, then layout, then came the glue-up and putting everything in clamps.
Everyone had to come back another day, after the glue had set, to clean up their boards. Then they had a decision to make: should I leave it as an edge-brain board (long, horizantal strips), or should I take it one step further and make it into an end-grain board?
The process to make an end-grain board is to take an edge-grain board, clean it up, run it through the planer and then the drum sander, cut it into strip, then orient the strip with the grain running perpendicular to the surface and glue them up again.
You'll be able to tell the difference in the photos between the two styles: edge-grain is long strips, and end-grain is smaller squares or rectangles on the surface, plus the grain patterns can be wildly different.
If they chose the end-grain route, they had to do this whole process again and come back another day.
Regardless of the style they chose, they all had to come back to "finish" their boards, which meant planing and drum sanding everything flat, then finish-sanding, starting out at 60 or 80 grit (the end-grain boards take even more time!), then working up through various grits (80, 120, 180, 240, and 320), breaking all the sharp edges and corners, and essentially polishing the wood to beautiful, soft surface.
Once the board were finally "done," they all took a good soak in mineral oil and were then buffed with a beeswax mixture, and some had rubber feet installed. Then, FINALLY, they were ready for pickup/delivery.
All of that is to say that the process is more involved (and takes much longer!) than one might imagine. But they all were quite keen and did such great work!
Please take a look through their boards, let me know which one is your favourite, and please like and leave a comment.
Despite how much time it took, it was a tonne of fun and if I can find the time to do it, I would happily put on more workshops in the future.
If you've made it this far, thank you for reading! And please let me know if you'd be interested in future woodworking workshops.
