New guy looking for some know how

[jsmith1990]

G'day everybody ,

Just finished school and in a Gap year now looking for advice with my favorite hobby from school which is woodworking.
This is my first post so here goes. I'm making a lot of chopping boards and need to fill the cracks in some of the red wood boards. at the moment i'm trying some PVA with fine wood dust over the top, has anyone got any other suggestions of tryed and tested methods that might be better for cutting boards.
Also, I'm looking at chopping up some cyprus branches, about 30-50cm in diameter, by slicing them up to make more chopping boards. The branches have snapped off the tree about a year ago and are dead. Roughly how long would they need to be air dryed for until they'd be right for some sanding and finishing? Also, would they be likely to develop cracks in them after i chop them up?
Also, (I know alot of also's but don't want to stuff it up), what sort of chainsaw would be big enough for this kind of work, i'm leaning towards Stihl, maybe a woodboss but not sure.
Thanks in advance for any advice you guys can offer, Ive been reading alot of threads on here and it all looks like pretty great advice.
Cheers

[watson]

G'day and welcome aboard.
Gap Year.......whoa! that sounds like an "earn some bucks" year.

Here's a question for you.
What is the first thing a Gap Year person says when they go to work???

I'll shift your post into a woody area tonight if you don't get many replies here.
Enjoy yourself here......and your Gap year.

[jsmith1990]

hey watson and thanks. well i guess i tell em that i need as much work as possible because i will be using it to pay for uni next year. that seems to work pretty well because then they know your off to uni and they like that.
i would appreciate the move for my post, thankyou again
cheers

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

This is my first post so here goes. I'm making a lot of chopping boards and need to fill the cracks in some of the red wood boards. at the moment i'm trying some PVA with fine wood dust over the top, has anyone got any other suggestions of tryed and tested methods that might be better for cutting boards.

Welcome to our nuthouse.

PVA and sawdust is OK for small cracks, but as chopping boards tend to see a lot of wet, it wouldn't be my choice.

I'd rather remove the cracks altogether... You can't just cut down the chopping board on a tablesaw so the kerf removes the cracks, then insert filler pieces to bring it back to size? Or are they patterned?

My second choice would be filling 'em with epoxy resin. That'd both fill the cracks and bind them, to prevent them growing larger. But on a chopping board?

Also, I'm looking at chopping up some cyprus branches, about 30-50cm in diameter, by slicing them up to make more chopping boards. The branches have snapped off the tree about a year ago and are dead. Roughly how long would they need to be air dryed for until they'd be right for some sanding and finishing? Also, would they be likely to develop cracks in them after i chop them up?

Cypress? Yeah. it's a bugger for checking. I'd split the branches down the middle through the heart, and then remove a 1" flitch from either side. ie. Remove the inch closest to the heart, as that's where the worst of the cracking will start.

Then I'd break 'em down further, on a bandsaw, into planks maybe one-and-a-half to twice the thickness that you want to end up with. Allow a year for every inch of thickness in the narrowest dimension for air drying.

This way you'll reduce the amount of checking during drying although, as I said, Cypress is a mongrel for it even at the best of times. (I suspect that you'll have a lot of heartache with the stuff.)

Also, (I know alot of also's but don't want to stuff it up), what sort of chainsaw would be big enough for this kind of work, i'm leaning towards Stihl, maybe a woodboss but not sure.

I'd use a bandsaw myself. A small 10-12"ish chainsaw to dock the branches to suitable lengths perhaps, but a bandsaw to break the logs down into usable pieces.

[munruben]

Hi and welcome to the forum, I would go along with Skew's advice and I would definitely use a bandsaw to slice the timber down to a usable size.

[jsmith1990]

Thanks Skew ChiDAMN!!

Your advice is great and will save me alot of trouble, i might look at using a different type of wood, possibly dead red wood trees.

cheers

[Christos]

G'day and welcome to the forum.

[artme]

G'day jsmith and welcome to the show, good to have you,

Can't really add to what has been said. Skew is a great source of valuable practical knowledge, so take note.