Press the pieces together to make one six-sided piece, wiping off any glue that squeezes out with a damp rag. Take three blanks and spread a thin coat of wood glue on each surface to be joined. Guide the beveled edge of each workpiece along the auxiliary fence to complete the rhombus blanks. Measure all sides of the section to make sure they will be the same width after the cut, and adjust the saw’s fence so the blade will cut on the waste side of the cutline. On one end of each workpiece, mark a cutline to complete the rhombus section. Place the workpiece edge that was straightened in Step 1 against this auxiliary fence and rip a 60-degree bevel into its opposite edge. Using hot-melt glue, attach a flat, straight board to the saw’s fence so its bottom edge sits tight against the saw’s table. Check the angle with a magnetic digital angle finder (see Tip) or a protractor and bevel gauge. Tilt the table-saw blade to a 60-degree angle. Then use a track saw (or a circular saw guided by a straightedge) to rip one edge of each board straight and square. If you lack access to a surface planer, some hardwood lumber suppliers will plane the boards for you, for an extra charge. Run the boards through a thickness planer to flatten and smooth each face, and make them the same thickness: between 1 1⁄4 and 1 3⁄8 inches.

Steps for building a 3D cube cutting board # Step 1: Plane the boards to a uniform thickness # Tom had such a good time making this one, he went ahead and made two of them: one for his son and one for his daughter. As with any board in which the grain runs vertically, “a knife does less damage to the wood than on a flat-grain board,” Tom says.Ĭutting boards make great gifts. When assembled into a board, they fool the eye into seeing three dimensions. Tom and Kevin cut and glued together wood strips into identical rhombus shapes, then sliced them into six-sided pucks. Three woods of contrasting colors give the board its intriguing appearance: maple, oak, and cherry sourced from a hardwood lumber dealer.

3d cube cutting board plans