Pinwheel Charcuterie Board

I made a charcuterie board with twelve curved sections looking like a pinwheel or lollipop candy. I think it's too pretty to cut on, so maybe it will be a wall art piece.

It was challenging to make as it’s very critical to cut the sections right. The curves have to match perfectly, otherwise it won’t glue together properly. So I built a jig/sled to cut the sections. The inspiration for this project came from here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M3D5wst_pM

Here is how I did it.

Hardwood, I used walnut, cherry, and hickory

1/2” plywood for the jig

A couple of toggle clamps

Bandsaw

Band clamp and bar clamps

Wood glue

A drawing of the jig with dimensions is attached. All pieces are cut from 1/2” Baltic birch plywood glued together. A 3/8" diameter oak dowel pin serves as the pivot.

The jig will cut sections for a 12” diameter circular board.

Prepare twelve hardwood pieces 3.5” by 6.5” by 3/4” thick. The jig is designed to cut arcs with a 4” radius into these wood blanks. It is critical that the distance from the pivot axle (the oak dowel) to the bandsaw blade is 4”. For the dimensions shown in the drawing the band saw fence is set to 6” to the left. It is also critical that the front of the blade is in line with the pivot point. See the annotated pictures for clarification. Cut a kerf into the jig before proceeding with the wooden blanks. Once correctly positioned securely clamp the jig to the band saw table to fix it in place.

The first blank needs to be cut at an elevated position. Put 3/4” thick spacers into the jig to elevate the first blank before cutting. Then position the blank, clamp down with the toggle clamps, and make the cut.

The YouTube video at the beginning details the procedure of how to cut the curved segments; better than I can describe it here.

Position the first partially cut segment (that has the inner arc, Step 3) against the curved fence in the jig. Put a new wood blank on top and clamp down. Then make the cut. You will cut the outer arc on the lower blank while at the same time cutting the inner arc on the top mounted blank. Repeat this until all curved segments are complete. You will need twelve segments.

This is a little bit of a challenge as the curved pieces will slip around and clamping is difficult. I screwed some 2 by 4 pieces to a flat board to help with clamping the segments. I also glued/clamped only three segments at a time, it's easier that way. For the final glueing I used a band clamp and some cauls to keep the assembly flat.

With a compass draw a circle on the board to outline the perimeter, then cut on the bandsaw. Sand the edge and round over with a router. Finish with a food safe oil.

You will have some cut-off pieces which you can use in another project. I glued up some of the cut-offs to make a cutting board.