Slide Out Cutting Board

[gee-dub]

Our old kitchen cabinets got redeployed to my daughter's house. The cherry finished maple cabinets replaced her painted MDF cabinetry. Part of the build was what looked like a drawer front but hinged down to allow a sliding cutting board to be pulled out.

She asked for an upgrade and I have trouble refusing certain people almost anything. The middle board is the original replacement from many years ago before they got the cabinets. The left board is the maple blank and the right board is a sink insert she is also looking for an upgrade to.

This will be a board with a wavy contrasting lamination sort of like this but simpler.

I rip some sapele scrap to use for the contrasting wood. I have used sapele in these boards before and they have lasted over a decade so far.

I use a bit of BB Ply scrap and a cutoff from an old handicapped rear view mirror hanger to make a sled. The Supermax 19-38 will go down to 1/32" but material gets a little sketchy at those thicknesses. I get a better result if I have a backing surface.



A few passes and I get some nice clean 1/16" strips.

That bend pretty easily.

I have a few templates for the curves and will play with that for a bit.

I have to go to one of the outbuildings and dig out the jig that lets me clamp these things. This will make more sense shortly.

[gee-dub]

OK, found the clamping rig. I have been threatening to make a version-2 of this for years. I guess I just don't make enough of these to push me over the edge. Now all I have to do is re-learn how to use it.

I wasn't happy with the curve on this template last time I used it and fixed the result as a one-off . . . what a pain.

I grab the handy-dandy flexible sanding block that you can make out of almost any random chunk of MDF in the barrel.







Ta-Daaa! Now I'm happy.

I stole this outfeed top idea from a Woodsmith assembly table article ten or eleven years ago. I really do love this thing.

The cut for the inlay has to equal the width of the inlay in order for things to line up. Pretty easy in this case.

Now, when would you possibly need a 1/4" flush trim bit???

Oh . . . there it is.

Cut down the canyon on the bandsaw.

Use an upper/lower flush trim bit to reference the canyon walls and complete the slot.

Ta-Daaa!

No brainer once you've done it a couple of times. I will now re-aquatint myself with the clamping rig and put in the inlay.

[Von]

I'm confused on how your jig works. Looking at your first photo, I assumed it clamped the piece to be shaped between the faces of two forms, but then, starting in your second photo, you seem to be shaping a curve into the edge of the mdf. I think my question is: how does the piece of mdf in the second photo go into the jig in first photo?

As always, thanks for sharing.

[gee-dub]

@Von - It absolutely is not inherently obvious.  Especially when it is bundled up for storage.  The MDF is just a template for the curve.  I cut a shallow groove with the router using the template as a guide.  I then cut the blank at the bandsaw and flush route the balance. That is the extent of the use of the MDF template.  These pics are a dry fit.  The glue up is a lot messier. 

They at least show a better view of how this albatross flies.  The blank is made oversized to account for unplanned shift.  The proud inlay is leveled to the main surface.  The long ends of the inlay are cut off during final sizing.  I use packing tape on a lot of the surfaces to catch the glue squeeze out which can be substantial.  Once set I just peel the tape off and toss it.  I reapply more tape for the next use.

[gee-dub]

Once I have been through the dry run I know which clamps I want to use, where they need to be, and the order that they will be used.

It is quite the conglomeration once assembled.

You need to glue all the surfaces, place the inlay, pull the board blank halves together, level them horizontally, and vertically, as well as end-to-end.

 

[richard arveaux]

On 2/9/2026 at 12:43 PM, gee-dub said:

Once I have been through the dry run I know which clamps I want to use, where they need to be, and the order that they will be used.

It is quite the conglomeration once assembled.

You need to glue all the surfaces, place the inlay, pull the board blank halves together, level them horizontally, and vertically, as well as end-to-end.

 

With only ten fingers and two hands, toss in a woodworkers fight with life, and you can do that with "his" eyes closed.

[Mark J]

It looks like the grain of the insert runs perpendicular to the grain of the board?  Is wood movement a concern?

[gee-dub]

@Mark J - It has not been in the past although I understand the concern.  I am going off past experience here although it does seem contrary.  All cutting boards of this size are eventually disposable although I have ones out there that have been in service for a decade.  Some people fail to put the more elaborate ones into service and use them as decorative items so I'm sure that extends the life.  I use the heck out of mine and kill them off in a few years .  Of course I have the home field advantage of being able to strip them, run them through the drum sander, and re-oil them without leaving my own property 

[gee-dub]

Alas, I had a clamp position failure during glue up.  I gave the recovery effort about an hour of my time this morning.  I have a rule about trying to fix things I goof up on and try to draw the line pretty close time-wise.  I will re-make the board and move forward.  The scraps will be useful for other things so other than lost time and the damage to my pride there is little impact.  Sometimes we just have to say "oh well" and move along 

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

On 2/13/2026 at 10:18 AM, gee-dub said:

Alas, I had a clamp position failure during glue up.  I gave the recovery effort about an hour of my time this morning.  I have a rule about trying to fix things I goof up on and try to draw the line pretty close time-wise.  I will re-make the board and move forward.  The scraps will be useful for other things so other than lost time and the damage to my pride there is little impact.  Sometimes we just have to say "oh well" and move along 

Thanks for letting us know that you are mortal, because watching your immaculate work... Sometimes I've wondered about that!

 

 

[gee-dub]

On 2/13/2026 at 10:03 AM, Ron Swanson Jr. said:

Thanks for letting us know that you are mortal, because watching your immaculate work... Sometimes I've wondered about that!

Hahaha, people give me too much credit.  Recovering from our boo-boos is a critical part of woodworking.  The pictures of my "immaculate" shop are just properly positioned camera points to keep all the claptrap out of frame. 

When I tank hard on something I try to share that.  We all do it at one point or another.  We are all learning.  I am no master craftsman.  I just keep moving forward.  What was it that Einstein said? "It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer."  True-that!

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

On 2/13/2026 at 12:47 PM, gee-dub said:

Hahaha, people give me too much credit.  Recovering from our boo-boos is a critical part of woodworking.  The pictures of my "immaculate" shop are just properly positioned camera points to keep all the claptrap out of frame. 

When I tank hard on something I try to share that.  We all do it at one point or another.  We are all learning.  I am no master craftsman.  I just keep moving forward.  What was it that Einstein said? "It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer."  True-that!

I've never heard that AE quote before, but i like it!!

[BillyJack]

Enjoy the project. There pretty easy.. Put it in 20 years ago and still haven’t used it..

 

[fcschoenthal]

On 2/13/2026 at 10:18 AM, gee-dub said:

Alas, I had a clamp position failure during glue up.  I gave the recovery effort about an hour of my time this morning.  I have a rule about trying to fix things I goof up on and try to draw the line pretty close time-wise.  I will re-make the board and move forward.  The scraps will be useful for other things so other than lost time and the damage to my pride there is little impact.  Sometimes we just have to say "oh well" and move along 

I had the same problem with the cutting board to one of the sets I made. The end of one of the strips had a gap that there was no getting around. I just made the final board smaller by ¼". Unless they were all stacked up, you wouldn't know the difference. Pride and time still intact.