Aleksandra Zee is here,
and this is her book,
The Way of the Woodshop.
First things first with a cutting board,
you're gonna wanna go with a hardwood.
Because, Obviously.
You're gonna be just going to town on it all the time.
And you wanna make sure it can last,
you can beat it up.
And so we're gonna do walnut today.
We've got our piece,
this is just store bought.
It's I think eight by 15 or something like that.
And so you can make your cutting board
whatever length you want.
If you want a skinny one,
a long one,
however.
I like big boys. Me too.
I love when they cover the whole table.
Me too.
So,
first things first.
We'll measure to what length we want.
And here we've already got it pre-measured.
But,
I think we did around 20 inches.
So,
we've got a 20-inch cutting board.
Next is the best part.
We're gonna cut it on the saw.
You're gonna cut it on the saw.
(Aleksandra laughing)
(crowd laughing)
Mama needs to go to the kitchen
and still cook today.
So I'm gonna keep this arm.
So,
a little safety before.
We're both gonna put on some safety glasses.
I just have glasses over here.
All right.
So we've got our lumber,
that we've already drawn our line.
Gotcha.
And then we're gonna bring it over to the saw.
So,
a little saw safety,
which is really important.
Always keep your hands six inches away from the blade.
Okey doke. Gotta hold on your digits.
And then you're gonna wanna line it up,
so you can kinda see where the saw is gonna go.
Get the saw started
before you do anything because Okay.
if you were to start it on the wood,
it could kick back at you or destroy it.
We don't want that! That is a scene
in several horror movies maybe.
(all laughing)
Okay! And then we're gonna make
a nice safe cut.
You go right ahead!
All right.
(metal grinding)
(crowd clapping)
So,
sometimes,
the really deep pice of wood,
you might have to flip it over.
Just because it is really thick,
so you might have to
flip it over and continue. I gotcha.
(metal grinding)
There you go!
(crowd clapping) Aleksandra won.
(laughing)
Alright!
So we're gonna keep these safety glasses on,
just in case.
So,
next step,
this is kind of something that I like to do
to make a cutting board just a little bit more interesting.
You don't have to but,
I like to kinda carve out a little divot,
so you can put your olives,
nuts,
a sauce,
or even just your olive pits. Oh that's clever!
That's really clever!
So if you're bringing it out to a party,
your things aren't gonna--
It's not as deep as a bowl,
but it's an indentation in the wood,
so you can pour in.
Even if you just did olive oil and herbs,
or your olives.
Kinda keeps in on the board and in place.
That's cool!
(crowd clapping) Yeah!
Very cool!
You're gonna be chiseling this out.
And this is something
that kinda takes a little bit more time.
And so,
you draw your circle,
doesn't have to be perfect.
And I'll show you how to do it
Sure! if you wanna give it a try,
it's pretty fun.
So,
I've got a little practice board right here.
When you chisel something,
you only wanna take a little bit off at a time.
Because the deeper you go,
that's gonna be your new level.
I gotcha.
So you don't wanna really carve into it.
You don't wanna go straight down.
Right. You're gonna make it
too deep. Mhm.
You wanna keep meeting your deepest cut,
until you've decided.
You're grating it.
You're just shaving it a little bit,
over and over.
Wanna try?
Sure!
So...
(hammer knocking)
Yeah!
It's going all over the place.
And then kinda
lift it up! You know what's
a lot easier?
There you go!
Doing this with parmesanio reggiano.
(all laughing)
(crowd clapping)
Whatever.
With a little practice
you can do it like this.
Show them your tada down there babe.
Well,
so we gotta make sure we sand it.
Oh okay.
And so what you wanna do,
is you wanna sand it
with a coarser grain. Oh is that what this
thing is?
Gotcha.
Sander real quick,
mask always.
We'll sand it down just to get all the rough off.
Okay.
(metal grinding)
So you'll really go to town.
I've gotta take off my glasses,
now I can't see.
(all laughing)
All right,
we can ditch the safety gear.
We're good now.
(Rachel laughing)
Okay,
so you'll want to do And then after you sand it
After you sand it,
we'll start with an 80 grit,
and then go into a 220,
which will make it super soft.
The very last step is,
you're gonna wanna do a wood conditioner.
Number one thing to remember,
food safe.
Because anything you put on the board,
goes in your mouth.
It goes in your mouth.
Yeah.
So make sure when you are reading,
Right.
it says food safe.
(crowd clapping)
So this is the best part.
It looks really beautiful.
I love this part,
it's like moisturizing your skin.
So let's see this divot shine up.
Oh that's so pretty,
look at what it does for the wood.
Gorgeous right?
So clever.
(crowd clapping)
(crowd cheering)