Many camping enthusiasts look forward to cooking at the campsite. This time, I custom a cutting board, an essential item for enjoying camping food. I will explain in detail how to make a convenient folding cutting board that can store kitchen knives with photos.
A cutting board that can store kitchen knives!
Finished product
If you want to go camping but can’t, why not custom camp gear at home? The gear you make yourself may be more fun, thinking “Let’s use it on the next camp!” Some camp gears are expensive to buy but difficult to make yourself. However, the folding cutting board that can store kitchen knives introduced this time is easy to make yourself because it does not require many materials or advanced tools. Before the next camp, take the challenge to custom camp gear!
[Material list] A cutting board that can store kitchen knives!
Required materials:
【Material】
Hinoki (100mm x 450mm x 10mm) x 4 sheets
Stainless steel hinge (24mm)
Rubber legs (Φ10)
Magnet
[Tools] Eight tools are required to custom a cutting board that can store kitchen knives!
store kitchen knives!
Required tools:
Phillips screwdriver (#1)
Routing saw
Draw saw
Electric drill
Drill bit (Φ14)
Sandpaper (#240)
Spring clamp x 2
Wood glue
The most important tool this time is the routing saw. Since the blade of the routing saw is thin and flexible, you can cut curves inside the material. Using this routing saw, cut the hinoki, the material, into the shape of kitchen knives.
[Custom process] Explaining how to custom a cutting board that can store kitchen knives with photos in detail!
First, cut the material. Cut the hinoki, the material, to the desired size of the cutting board. Decide by the size of the kitchen knives to store. It is easier to use if the size is larger than 30 cm wide and 20 cm high. This time I made it 36 cm x 20 cm. Cut out a total of 4 pieces: the part that stores the kitchen knives, the part that cuts the ingredients, and the foldable part. Decide which side to cut the ingredients. If you use a surface with as few knots as possible and a clean grain, it will look more beautiful.
Next, cut out the part to store the kitchen knives. Place the knives to be stored and trace their shape with a pencil to determine the part to be cut. If you cut about 5mm larger than the actual kitchen knives, they can be stored smoothly. Trace the shape of the kitchen knives you want to store. After tracing the shape, use a drill bit (Φ14) and drill holes with an electric drill. Insert the draw saw into the holes and cut out the curved shape of the kitchen knives. Cut using a draw saw. Cut into the shape of kitchen knives.
For the boards that fit when folded, cut only the tied part of the kitchenettes. It looks like only the handle is cut out. For boards that only cut out the handle, it is easy to match the position and size by combining two boards and tracing the shape of the holes you just made with a pencil.
Also, it is a good idea to make a slight dent in the handle so that you can easily take out the kitchen knives. After cutting, clean the burrs with sandpaper. Next, make escape holes for the rubber legs. I want the rubber legs to go into the holes when folded, so the holes should be slightly offset on both sides of the board. (Drill bit (Φ14) is OK)
When the holes are open, glue the boards. Glue the board that stores the kitchen knives and the board that cuts the ingredients together with “wood glue”. Here, be careful not to make a mistake on the surface to be glued! Secure it with clamps and wait about 12 hours. The reason for using wood glue is that it is made of waterproof ingredients that do not harm the mouth. Ordinary wood glues and epoxy adhesives are not supposed to get in the mouth. Therefore, “wood glue” is the best for gluing cutting boards that use ingredients and water.
Next, the two glued boards can be folded with stainless steel hinges. Attach the stainless steel hinges with a Phillips screwdriver. It is a little slippery, so if you temporarily fix it with double-sided tape before screwing, it is difficult to fail. The Snow Peak Manaita set I referred to is dug so that it does not float due to the thickness of the hinge when overlapping, but I gave up this time because I need an electric tool.
When I open the cutting board attached with the stainless steel bow and put it on the table, the stainless steel bow gets in the way and rattles. To eliminate this rattling, rubber legs are needed to increase the height. Here are some tips to help store your rubber legs neatly when folding the cutting board:
Attach double-sided tape to the opposite side of the rubber legs to the ground surface and insert it into the storage holes. Then, when you fold and open the cutting board, the rubber legs will stick to the other side of the holes. Once closed and opened, the rubber legs will stick together. If you screw them in that position, you can attach the rubber legs to the position where they fit perfectly in the holes.
Once the cutting board is completed, the next step is to attach a magnet to fix the kitchen knives. This time, I used a strong 100% magnet, but the height may not match depending on the kitchen knife. Please adjust while checking the thickness of the magnet with the kitchen knife.
Next, in order to prevent fluffing when the cutting board is opened, a magnet is attached to the side so that it can be lightly fixed. The magnet used is a super strong 100-average magnet. Make a hole about 1 mm deep on the side with a drill bit (Φ14) and bond it with wood glue. Make a hole in the magnet so that it can be fixed when the cutting board is opened.
Finally, finish with olive oil painting. Finally, finish the cutting board. In the work so far, the cutting board has become dirty and the glue has stuck. Therefore, carefully grind to remove dirt. And finally, apply olive oil. You can also use flaxseed oil or beeswax. This time, I chose olive oil that I can easily get.
Applying olive oil makes it difficult for water to penetrate the wood and makes it last longer. The top is before painting and the bottom is after painting. It will gradually fall off as you use it, so you can use it for a longer time if you maintain it frequently.
Let’s custom active camp gear for camping! This time, I tried to customise a folding cutting board that can store kitchen knives. Even if you think it may be difficult for you, you can make it yourself unexpectedly. Even if you make a mistake, it will lead to attachment, so you will use it carefully as much as you struggle. However, it may be too expensive, so please consider the cost-effectiveness when making it.