Make a Serving Board

Learn how to read a rough-sawn piece of timber, looking at grain, defects, species, and how best to use it for a serving board. Student rough-cut pieces on the bandsaw, learn the technique of planing faces and edges using a surface planer, thickness them, join them, design your boards, add detail, sand and finish, chat, drink tea and make merry.

Planing a piece of wood properly is a fundamental first step to the success of any solid wood project. Do this well, and everything else feels just that little bit easier. It is also one of the foundational competencies of an aspiring woodsperson. Planing also reveals the timber's character for the first time. Even for experienced woodworkers, there is nothing quite as satisfying as starting off with a dusty rough bumpy bit of timber and working with it so the depth of colour and contours of the grain emerge. This course has been designed to share the experience with you.