FIXED..

On the suggestion of a co-worker, I wound up just cutting 1/4" off each side of the cutting board. That was enough to get rid of the big divot the runaway router left. And then, I bought a used router from a guy in Belton. It was a long trip for a router, but it was a pretty good deal ($20) for an early 1980's Craftsman router that looks like it was used once, maybe. It came with two bits, but honestly, I haven't even looked at them very close. On first glance they didnt seem like anything I'd be using anytime soon. Anyway, that router fits the table I have, so I am now with a functional router table. The routing went just fine with the table, but I still had to touch things up with sandpaper to make it smooth.

Here's what it looks like:









Using a dremel tool with a small carving bit to "sign" my name on a piece always makes me nervous, but I guess they've always came out OK so far. Kind of rough and sort of looking like the work of a 3rd grader, but legible. I signed in the cherry, since I figured that would be the easiest. The walnut may have been better, actually. It was hot when I was carving the initials in, and after I was done, I noticed the surface was rough--after I had sanded it all smooth with 220 grit sandpaper. I finally realized that my sweating palm, resting on the cutting board as I was signing it, raised the grain of the wood. So I had to re-sand the whole thing again, and then get mineral oil on it before I got sweat on it again. There are so many ways to ruin a project!

I think I'm safe posting this here before I give this to them, because I haven't really "advertised" this blog yet.



I wasn't that excited about these big tan rubber feet, but I tried 2 hardware stores and Home Depot, and this was the best I could do. Anyway, they serve the purpose of keeping it from skidding around, and allowing air circulation underneath. Overall, I'm really happy with the way the joints came out. I was worried, because I don't have a jointer, so it's near-impossible to make everything square.





This will probably be my last project before we head west, and I don't anticipate having room or time to set up a shop for at least the next 3-6 months. I hope I can still get in some small projects here and there. Maybe a good time to do something small that uses nothing but hand tools...

-m