Last weekend I had some Eastern White Pine scraps lying around after I finished building a display cabinet for my wife for her spring show which just got cancelled due to the COVID-19 virus. I hate to throw the scraps away or toss them into the fire pit so I decided to make a small cutting board with them.

I ripped two of the boards 3″ wide and glued up the pieces. The third piece I ripped to 1 1/2″ wide which would serve as the breadboard ends,

After the glue dried, I sized the board to 16 1/2″ long by 12″ wide. I set up my table saw blade at 1/4″ tall with the furthest part of the blade 3/4″ from the fence using my little Odd Jobs ruler.

I cut grooves on the top and bottom of each end to create a 1/4″ by 3/4″ tenon across the board. I then cleaned up the rough marks with a chisel and rabbet plane so I would have a nice smooth tenon on each side of the board.

Then I took the two 1 1/2″ wide boards and ran a 1/4″ groove 3/4″ high down the edges to give me a nice groove that would be snug with the tenons.

I marked where I wanted the pins to go through the tenon and drilled through the breadboard ends with a 1/4″ drill bit. Then I took the ends and marked with the drill bit where the pins would intersect the tenon. Being this cutting board is small and the sides of the breadboards fit nicely with the tenon, I didn’t bother draw boring the joint.

I then drilled the holes and elongated the holes at each end with a round rasp to allow for seasonal movement as the wood will expand and contrast with changes in humidity.

I applied a little glue only in the center of the tenon, clamped and drove 1/4″ walnut dowel pins through all six holes.

After the glue dried, I cut the pins flush and sanded the surface up to 220 grit sandpaper. Then I trimmed the breadboard ends flush to the sides of the cutting board and sanded the edges.

I applied a couple coats of my black shellac I made to give it an aged look. I think the board came out a little too green in color, but my wife Anita likes it. She said it makes it look old and worn. It turned out to be a quick and easy project on a Sunday afternoon.