DIY Chevron Cutting Board

Ever since sharing my tutorial for how to make wood cutting boards a few years ago, I have been obsessed with making cutting boards for every occasion under the sun. Recently I have been wanting to combine my love of patterned plywood and cutting boards into one project (and, let’s be real, I owe someone a gift). So, I decided to try my hand at creating a chevron cutting board and it came out pretty awesome, if I must say so myself. Here’s how I made it happen!

How To Make A Chevron Cutting Board

This project is sponsored by Arrow Fasteners. For my full sponsorship and disclosure policy, click here.

In my last cutting board tutorial, I shared an easy way to make cutting boards without the use of a planer (yes, it’s possible!). But, with the price of lumber being at an all time high, you may find yourself digging into those reserves for this project. Which means some of your pieces of lumber may need to be milled down to create your new cutting board. 

If you’re finding yourself in a position where you need to mill your own lumber to create a cutting board, then make sure to start on Step 1 of this tutorial! Although… let’s be real, you can 100% make this cutting board happen without a planer too if you are starting with pre-milled/straight lumber (that process begins on Step 2)!

But, enough talking, let’s get started!

What You’ll Need:

Tools
Table Saw
Sander & Sandpaper
Planer*
Arrow GT3LI Cordless Glue Gun & Glue Sticks*
Wood Clamps

Materials
Walnut Boards
Maple Boards
Wood Glue
Cutting Board Oil
Scrap Wood (For Sled) *
Wood Shims *

* Indicates tools/materials needed for milling lumber.

The Steps:

1. If you are starting with lumber that needs to be milled, you will need to run your boards through a planer to flatten them before cutting them to size for the cutting board. This process is so easy and can be done using a wide piece of scrap wood, shims, a planer, and a glue gun!

To get started with the milling process, I found a piece of scrap wood that was wider and longer than the piece I was milling. I then glued my board to the scrap wood using my Arrow GT3LI Cordless Glue Gun (it’s so nice to not get tripped up with wires in my small shop). I made sure to fill any of the larger gaps between the board with shims and hot glue as well. This will make a nice, even surface for planing the wood and the hot glue will prevent the board from moving or slipping off of the sled, which will lead to a beautiful, flat side after a few passes on the planer. 

After one side was flat, I removed the board from the sled by prying it away. Because I used hot glue, there was minimal damage to the board (which makes life so much easier later)! I then flipped the board over (smooth side down) and ran it through the planer until it was flat.

2. Once I had flat boards to work with, I cut them to the desired width and thickness on the table saw (cutting boards work best and are less work when working with boards that are the same thickness).

3. Next, I glued the strips of wood together in an alternating pattern.

4. Once the strips dried, I removed them from the clamps and cut them at a 25-degree angle on the table saw (you can check out my patterned plywood projects to see this in action). I made sure to keep the rows I cut in order!

5. I then alternated each row to create a chevron pattern and glued the pieces together.

6. After waiting about a day, I removed the wood from the clamps and sanded the entire board. I also made sure to raise the grain before finishing (which, is a fancy way of saying I sprayed it with water before reaching my final grit).

7. Last step was to finish it with cutting board oil!

Now I have a beautiful board that I am so excited to gift to someone awesome!

There are so many fun things you can do with cutting board designs… and once you have the ability to mill your own lumber, the project possibilities are endless!

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