Make a Hardwood Cutting Board

To begin the woodworking for your hardwood cutting board, use your table saw to rip the three 1x6 maple boards to 5" in width and cut them to 16-1/2" in length, followed by the two end boards ripped to 2" in width and 14" in length.

Lay the three boards on a table side by side, alternating the end grain. Mark the three boards 1, 2 and 3 from left to right.

Next, you'll need to set up your table saw to cut the grooves. One of the best aspects of this project is that even an inexpensive, basic table-top table saw will perform admirably in this project. However, you will need a stacked dado blade set to cut the grooves.

To set up your stacked dado set, replace the table saw blade with only the two outside blades of the dado set, which is equivalent to a 1/4" thickness. Set the fence 1/4" away from the blade and the blade's depth to 1/2", and run the left edge of boards 2 & 3 through the dado blade. Ideally, you should use a featherboard to hold the stock securely to the fence, as shown in the image above.

TIP: When cutting the groove in boards 2 & 3, run the left edge on end through the blade and then turn the board around and run it through the blade again. This will ensure that the groove will be perfectly centered.

At this point, you should also cut the grooves in the two end boards, using the same procedure.