instructables

DIY Charcuterie Board - a One Day Project That Sells

by penaltyboxwoodshop

Step 1: Pick Out a Hardwood, Cut to Size, and Flatten

Hey folks, Im Jesse with Penalty Box Woodshop andtoday Im going to show you how I turned scrap walnutinto a beautiful charcuterie board. A charcuterie boardis used to display and serve meats and cheese atsocial gatherings and events. Its basically a reallynice serving tray! You can easily complete this projectin one day and Im going to show you each step that Itook to make it.

This DIY Charcuterie board project is an easy oneday project that you can easily sell! You can makeone for yourself and impress your friends at a party oradd it to your list of scrap wood projects!

If you like this video please click here to subscribe tomy channelYou can check out my website for more great stuff!

Supplies:

List of tools used in this build:

Howards Cutting Board Oil

*MWA Woodworks Video - How to make your owncutting board finish

Total Boat Epoxy

Hazelnut Pigment

Microjig Dovetail Pro Kit

Forstner Bit Set

Makita Router

Delta Table Saw

Dewalt Planer

Biesemeyer Table Saw Fence

Delta Miter Saw

Canon T6i DSLR

Rode VideoMic Microphone

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3 Zoom Lens

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqJyV7QAU5Y&t=12s

DIY Charcuterie Board - a One Day Project That Sells: Page 1

A while back I was given a stack of air dried walnut that had been stored outdoors for some time. There

were a lot of good boards in the stack but a few hadlive edges, worm holes, and were just not suited forsome projects. But, one thing they were perfect forwas a charcuterie board. I cleaned the live edges upwith a chisel and cut the board to about 34 inches.

For a project like this one, any type of hardwood willdo just fine. The size of your charcuterie board iscompletely up to you and can be customized to fit

anyones needs.

This board needed to be flattened and it was too widefor my jointer so I used my planer sled, some shimsand my planer. If you don’t have a planer you can usea router and a router sled or even just a hand plane toflatten your board if it needs it. And if it doesn’t, well Iguess you get to skip these first few steps.

DIY Charcuterie Board - a One Day Project That Sells: Page 2

Step 2: Fill Any Holes or Voids in the Wood As Necessary

Step 3: Design and Cut Out Your Handle

After it was nice and flat on both sides I used someepoxy and hazelnut colored tint to fill all of the wormholes. There were a lot of them but I think it just addssome character to the board. After the epoxy wascured I removed the excess with my planer. Youcould choose to leave the holes or voids in the board

but I was worried that food and other things would getstuck in the crevasses. Also, Hazelnut tint is typicallymy go to color with walnut but they make epoxy tint injust about every color under the sun.

DIY Charcuterie Board - a One Day Project That Sells: Page 3

Next, I began to lay out the handle for the board. Thedesign and shape is completely up to you and youcan be as creative as you want with this. I used somecircle cutoffs from another project to help me with thelines and I used one of my table saw push stickhandles to trace a comfortable width for the handle ofthe board. After a few adjustments I liked the shapethat I had come up with. I clamped the board to mybench and used my cordless jigsaw to cut the handle.

It was pretty simple and I wasn’t very worried aboutbeing exactly on my lines for this.

I got out my spindle sander and smoothed out all theedges and rounded parts. If you do not have spindlesander then you can easily use a palm sander to dothis.

DIY Charcuterie Board - a One Day Project That Sells: Page 4

Step 4: Drill a Hole in the Handle

Step 5: Sand the Live Edge and Refill Any Exposed Holes

Over at the drill press I used a forester bit to drill a hole in the handle. Ive seen these thumb holes on other boardsand thought they were a nice touch. Also, I figured it would be a good way to hang it for storage once itscompleted. With my cordless router I broke all the edges with a slight chamfer with exception of the live edges.

For the live edge, I got out one of my sanders and used a low grit sandpaper to clean them up and ensure all of thebark and sharp edges were gone. That opened up a few more worm holes so I had to bust out the epoxy one lasttime to fill them. Once that epoxy cured I sanded the entire board staring at 80 grit and stopping at 180 grit.

DIY Charcuterie Board - a One Day Project That Sells: Page 5

Step 6: Wet the Board With Water and Sand to Final Grit

Step 7: Apply a Natural Finish and Enjoy!

I used a spray bottle and sprayed all sides of the board with water. This will raise the grain before the final sandingand ensure that the board stays smooth forever. Once it dried, I sanded it with 220 grit and make sure you don’tforget to sand your edges on this step.

DIY Charcuterie Board - a One Day Project That Sells: Page 6

Did the cured epoxy machine well with the planer? Did that process wear the blades out pre-maturely ?

Yes, the planer works great for smoothing or removing excess epoxy. The epoxy is close to orsofter than wood so there are no adverse effects on your blades other than normal usage.

Now for my favorite part, the finish. I use an allnatural finish like Howards and Walrus oil or you canmake your own like my buddy Matt with MWAWoodworks does. Ill link his video on how to makehis board finish in the tools section if you want tocheck it out, it’s a simple process that I will start usingfrom now on.

I applied the first coat and let it dry for a few hoursbefore wiping the excess off. I let that dry and applieda second coat just because this walnut really seemedlike it needed it. After the second coat dried I used ashop rag to buff it out to nice sheen and this board is

ready for some meat and cheese!

For more details you can watch the full build videohere:

If you want to see more woodworking and DIY videosthen please Subscribe to my channel

//www.youtube.com/embed/ZqJyV7QAU5Y

DIY Charcuterie Board - a One Day Project That Sells: Page 7