Any Ideas For A Cutting Board

[leathervan]

a cutting board may be one of those things that a person doesn't have to go out and buy. Maybe something laying around might fit the same purpose.

[electrathon]

You could look in the kitchen by the sink, just wash it well. IKEA has them for just over a dollar.

[bruce johnson]

It depends on a few things. If you are cutting bigger projects, then a small board can be a hassle. Making part of a cut, moving the board, cutting again, etc can result in a choppier cut than a bigger board under you. LDPE boards tend to grab knives more and makes a bit more effort as well as mark up faster and those grooves can catch a blade edge too. I like HDPE better for cutting. If you are going to use one to punch on, the HDPE can be brittle though and crack or break. LDPE is a better choice there.

[Dwight]

I'm not sure I understood exactly what you wanted, . . . here is another recent conversation about cutting surfaces:

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=56005&hl=coupon#entry359269

May God bless,

Dwight

[Tannin]

I use those green "self healing" cutting mats - available in a range of sizes & prices from ebay, Amazon, etc. I started with a small A4 sized one, which was good enough to get started. Then later I got a very large one (A2) to cover much of my workbench top - it cost £5 last year (2014) and it allowed me to protect my new bench top at the same time :D. I really like them, esp. the big one.

I also have a white polythene kitchen cutting board but prefer the green mats. For punching though, I normally use the end of a log - i.e. a solid surface that won't damage the cutting edge of the punch.

I don't have a good surface for skiving and would welcome suggestions. I believe something very hard & very smooth is required.

Edited October 8, 2015 by Tannin

[mlapaglia]

Glass, is best in my opinion for skiving.

[electrathon]

For skiving I too agree with glass.

[Tannin]

Glass, excellent. I was thinking I need a "litho block" (whatever & wherever that it is!) or a polished marble slab/thick tile. I have a sheet of tempered (i.e. strong) glass off an old HiFi cabinet that I used for my "scary sharp" sharpening system a few years back that I could try - although I gather tempered glass is generally not as flat as regular glass because of the tempering process.

BTW if you try the "scary sharp" system, don't do what I did: I used spray-on "relocatable" adhesive dry (as suggested somewhere) which worked great at first but I let it set for a long time & it was near impossible to remove the wet & dry paper when it cames time to change it (I still haven't managed to scrape it off ) Some suggestions from fans of the system - professional woodworkers - suggested: either just taping the ends (seems less than ideal to me, not flat & not secure), using water to hold it in place (only works sometimes) or using special self-adhesive wet&dry paper. Probably simplest just to remove the wet& dry paper before the relocatable adhesive dries though!

Re. punching surfaces, I came across a book that describes using a lead block, which can be melted & reformed periodically.

Edited October 10, 2015 by Tannin

[dikman]

Tannin, I read the same thing about using a lump of lead - one of these days I'll get around to making one. I bought an A4 green cutting board from a discount shop, but felt it was a bit small so bought another one and glued them side-by-side onto a flat board. They're not true "self-healing", being so cheap, but should be adequate for my needs.

I also have a hardwood log for punching on. I tried one of those poly kitchen cutting boards, but find that the log is better as it has more mass. (I ran a belt sander over the end first, to give me a flat, smooth surface).

I also have a piece of glass, should I need a flat surface for using wet and dry paper. The glass is from one of those modern-style scales that you stand on, so is pretty tough! The scales died, so I stripped off all the bits to give me a nice smooth, rounded piece of tough glass (I don't like throwing things out unless they absolutely can't be re-cycled somehow).

[Tannin]

... The glass is from one of those modern-style scales that you stand on, so is pretty tough! The scales died, so I stripped off all the bits to give me a nice smooth, rounded piece of tough glass (I don't like throwing things out unless they absolutely can't be re-cycled somehow).

Excellent! We have one of those glass weighing scales now It's just a matter of time... :D

We also have an HP printer-scanner which doesn't work, perhaps because of the refilled-cartridges I bought off ebay, which just didn't work. I'm reluctant to throw it out, as maybe there is nothing wrong with it beyond needing better cartridges (but they cost £19 & printer-scanner only cost £32 with low volume cartridge!) and anyway it could still be used for scanning, but I also recall reading that the glass used in scanners is quite good/useful as it has to be flat for the optics to work properly. So I may re-use that at some point.

Edited October 10, 2015 by Tannin