Personalized Cutting Board

The two workpieces with the inlay and the pocket will need to be deleted. You'll need to create your own and use the Easel Inlay Generator to create your inlay/pocket. This isn't too hard, and Easel has a great detailed guide and video on doing this. This was my first project using inlays, and thanks to this guide, I got great results on my first try. "Easel Live: Inlays":https://inventables.desk.com/customer/en/portal/articles/2703573-easel-live-inlay-cutting-boards

One tip is to ensure that your bit size is correct. Measure it with calipers. Even if it is off by a tiny amount your inlay may be too loose or too tight in your pocket. You must do this before using the inlay generator, as it will compute the toolpaths based on your bit diameter.

Also, just wanted to say that the border is not my own design, I found it on openclipart.org "Open Clipart: Ornamental Rectangular Frame":https://openclipart.org/detail/285122/ornamental-rectangular-frame

Estimated time: 5 minutes

There are multiple workpieces to carve, but it should take less than an hour of total carving time. After it is done you'll want to carefully clip the tabs off the inlay and hand sand the tabs to be flush with the rest of the letter.

The cutting board itself is 10"x18". I glued up four 2.5"x18" strips of hard maple to make this.

Estimated time: 54 minutes

Apply some wood glue into the pocket, and then start placing letters in. I placed a piece of scrap wood over the letters and hammered them in to get a tight fit. The scrap wood allows the hammer to apply even pressure across the surface of the letter, and prevent you from marring the surface of the wood. Wait for the glue to dry before proceeding to the next step.

Estimated time: 5 minutes

Since the pocket is only 0.1" deep, and the walnut inlay is 0.125" thick, the walnut will be raised above the surface. This is ok, because now we will sand the top down to even it up. The result is a smooth surface that feels like the same piece of wood, other than the color.

Estimated time: 5 minutes

To protect the wood and give it a beautiful color, I applied Howards Cutting Board oil and conditioner. This is a food safe mineral oil, and the conditioner also contains beeswax and carnauba wax. Although most will use this as a decorative board only, you could use this for chopping as well.

Estimated time: 5 minutes