Cutting Board Designer
Paint your end grain pattern cell by cell — then get the full build plan, worked backwards. Strip designer →
16" × 12" × 1 1/2" — 16×12 cells
Build plan — 16" × 12" × 1 1/2" end grain
6 unique glue-up panels for 12 slices. Worked backwards from your design — follow the steps top to bottom.
Step 1 — Buy lumber
| Species | Board feet* | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|
| Hard Maple | 2.9 | $24 |
| Black Walnut | 1.6 | $23 |
| Total | 4.5 | $46 |
*Includes 30% extra for jointing, planing, and mistakes. Buy stock thick enough to mill to your strip thicknesses below (8/4 covers anything up to ~1¾").
Step 2 — Mill and rip strips
Rip every strip below, then plane each batch to its listed thickness. Widths are finished sizes — the kerf is already accounted for in the lengths.
| Qty | Species | Width | Thickness | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1× | Black Walnut | 12" | 1" | 5 1/4" |
| 1× | Black Walnut | 10" | 1" | 5 1/4" |
| 1× | Black Walnut | 6" | 1" | 5 1/4" |
| 1× | Black Walnut | 4" | 1" | 5 1/4" |
| 1× | Black Walnut | 2" | 1" | 5 1/4" |
| 1× | Hard Maple | 16" | 1" | 5 1/4" |
| 2× | Hard Maple | 7" | 1" | 5 1/4" |
| 2× | Hard Maple | 6" | 1" | 5 1/4" |
| 2× | Hard Maple | 5" | 1" | 5 1/4" |
| 2× | Hard Maple | 3" | 1" | 5 1/4" |
| 2× | Hard Maple | 2" | 1" | 5 1/4" |
Step 3 — Glue up the panels
Glue strips edge to edge in the exact top-to-bottom order shown. Red dashed lines preview where you'll crosscut in step 4.
Panel 1 — 1 strips, 16" wide × 5 1/4" long × 1" thick — makes 2 slices
- 1. Hard Maple 16"
Panel 2 — 3 strips, 16" wide × 5 1/4" long × 1" thick — makes 2 slices
- 1. Hard Maple 7"
- 2. Black Walnut 2"
- 3. Hard Maple 7"
Panel 3 — 3 strips, 16" wide × 5 1/4" long × 1" thick — makes 2 slices
- 1. Hard Maple 6"
- 2. Black Walnut 4"
- 3. Hard Maple 6"
Panel 4 — 3 strips, 16" wide × 5 1/4" long × 1" thick — makes 2 slices
- 1. Hard Maple 5"
- 2. Black Walnut 6"
- 3. Hard Maple 5"
Panel 5 — 3 strips, 16" wide × 5 1/4" long × 1" thick — makes 2 slices
- 1. Hard Maple 3"
- 2. Black Walnut 10"
- 3. Hard Maple 3"
Panel 6 — 3 strips, 16" wide × 5 1/4" long × 1" thick — makes 2 slices
- 1. Hard Maple 2"
- 2. Black Walnut 12"
- 3. Hard Maple 2"
Step 4 — Crosscut into slices
After each panel is flat, crosscut it into 1 1/2"-wide slices (your finished board thickness) at the red lines. Each cut eats 1/8" of kerf — already budgeted. Cut counts: Panel 1 → 2, Panel 2 → 2, Panel 3 → 2, Panel 4 → 2, Panel 5 → 2, Panel 6 → 2.
Step 5 — Stand slices up and glue in order
Rotate every slice end-grain-up and assemble top to bottom as labeled. P# is the source panel; ⇋ means flip that slice end-for-end before gluing.