How to Make a Gingerbread Man Cutting Board

I recently bought a cutting board book written by David Picciuto. I felt confident to finally make my own cutting board and was trying to figure out how I wanted it to look. I remembered that my family has an old gingerbread man cutting board that broke and we dont use any more. I thought that would be the perfect thing to make for my first board. This project can be made with limited tools.

Tools & Materials

1. Hardwood (I used Cherry)

2. Jig saw

3. Clamps

4. Drill

5. Sander

Preparing the Wood

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This cutting board was bigger than any of the boards of wood that i had. So i had to glue up two boards of cherry to have enough wood for the cutting board. I clamped them for a few hours and used a belt sander with 50 grit to level it out.

I then used our old broken cutting board as a template to make the new one.

Cutting Out the Shape

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I originally wanted to use my bandsaw to cut this out because I thought it would be easier than using my jig saw. However, when I was making some relief cuts I twisted the blade a little and it snapped in half. A piece of the blade was wedge in the board and I had to cut out. Cutting it out with the jig saw ended up being easier and faster.

Sanding & Finishing

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I used a combination of the 50 grit sandpaper and the 120 grit sandpaper I had. I used the sanders to finalize the shape of the cutting board and to get it smooth.

This process went quickly.

I used cutting board oil to finish the board and it made it look and feel awesome!

Enjoy Your New Cutting Board!

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I love how this cutting board came out! My family loves it and it works great. I decided to make some gingerbread man cookies using this cutting board and they turned out great as well.