End Grain Up Cork Bulletin Board
September 30th, 2009 in blogs
Sean Melvin, Contributor
2 users recommend
The final product.
Following the publication of the "End Grain Up" article in issue 205, I set out to produce an eye-catching centerpiece for a project I'd been considering for quite some time. This cork board, born out of necessity, was really spiced up by a technique that brought life to an otherwise straightforward project.
The Cork Squares
I picked up a couple a couple of packages of cork squares at my local big-box, intent on making a bulletin board to tack up notes and other items. Each pack contained four squares, and as I lay them out to decide on the overall dimension of the board, I found that I could make a 3' x 3' square with a void in the center, using that void to display some sort of decorative wood square.
Centerpiece
Material
When I read through the "End Grain Up" article, I really liked the look of using the beauty of end grain, so I figured I would give this a shot as my decorative wood square. I had just finished up a project using plainsawn and quartersawn white oak, and had plenty of small scraps left over. I also had one medium sized piece of paduak that I had slowly been chipping away at with other small projects. I would use these two species for the board's centerpiece and frame.
Construction
- For the most part, I simply followed the directions and tips outlined in the "End Grain Up" article, albeit on a smaller scale. Here are a few notes concerning the end grain block construction:
• I spent a decent amount of time constructing a paper model that gave me a good idea of what size pieces I should cut and how I should orient them for a pleasing appearance.
• Because of the smaller end-grain slab that I was making, I found that my little block plane was very handy in preparing the sticks for glue up.
• After cross-cutting into end-grain sticks, I flipped and rotated every other stick to come up with a pattern that I liked.
• Taping the majority of the wood was a big time-saver when gluing up the end-grain sticks. It was hard enough planing the white oak and paduak end-grain block by hand without having bits of glue to worry about.
The Main Board
I used up the rest of my paduak for the frame, which surrounds a piece of particle board that makes up the main body of the bulletin board.
The frame's joints are simple miters, and I attached them with glue and a few finish nails to the particle board. The cork squares are only 3/16" thick, so to make the end grain block thicker and less fragile, I used a router to cut a recess in the particle board. This accommodated the extra thickness of the end grain block and still made everything flush on the surface.
Finishe
For the finish, I decided I'd use some boiled linseed oil I'd recently been given. Never having used it before, I was a bit heavy-handed with my application. It took six coats to get the look I was after but unfortunately, I was left with wood that was still tacky to the touch and not completely dry. In the end, I was forced to sand off the finish and apply an aerosolized oil-based varnish in three coats. This provided for a nice finish. In hindsight, the linseed oil could have worked, had I applied it in thin coats.
Second Time Around
If I were to build the bulletin board again, I would look into more options for the cork. We had bulletin boards in the dorms at UW-Platteville, and it was a full sheet of cork that was probably 7/16" to 1/2" thick. I noticed two things about the cork squares I purchased which were not ideal:
1. The thickness doesn't allow a standard tack to fully seat itself into the cork. Thicker cork would be more compatible with standard tacks.
2. I watched the squares curl up and down at the edges with swings in relative humidity, which accentuated the cracks between the squares. A full sheet of cork cut to fit the space in the bulletin board might function better and be more visually appealing.
Final Notes
The project was very economical; I used a lot of scrap wood and hardware that I had lying around. The only things I bought new were the cork squares, a 4' x 4' sheet of particle board, and a can of oil-based varnish. It was a fairly cheap way to try something new and broaden my skills as a woodworker.
posted in: blogs
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