This bread and cheese board makes a great gift, and is simple to make!
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DIY Bread and Cheese Board

This bread and cheese board is simple to make, but looks like it cost a fortune! Perfect for entertaining!DIY Bread and Cheese Board

Hi there, Pretty Handy Girl readers! I’m Vineta from The Handyman’s Daughter, back with another tutorial for you! This bread and cheese board was a gift to my mom for Christmas, and she absolutely loved it! The marble inlay is perfect for keeping cheese cool, and the walnut cutting surface contrasts beautifully against the white marble.

I was nervous cutting into this gorgeous walnut piece. I decided to wait until my dad, The Handyman himself, visited for Christmas. The whole process was actually quite simple, and we finished just in time to put the present under the tree!

Materials:

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Instructions:

Start by cutting a piece of marble tile to your desired size. (Mine was already 2″ x 18″, so I just sanded down the cut edges to remove any bumps from the tile saw.)

Next, cut your walnut to the length of the tile. Make sure the ends are square before proceeding.

Cut the ends of your cheese board to the length of your marble piece.

Run your walnut through the table saw to make sure is square. (The dado blade was already in place, so my dad just used the blade closest to the fence to make the cut.)

Clean up the edges of the board on the table saw.

Using a 1/8″ roundover bit in your router, remove the hard corners from each side.

Round over the edges of the cheese board with a 1/8" roundover bit on the router.

Determine where you want the marble to go in your finished piece. (I wanted my marble stripe to be asymmetrical, so I placed it 2″ from the edge.)

Determine the placement of the marble on the cheese board.

Mark the width and depth of the marble tile on the end grain of your walnut.

Mark the cut for the marble insert on the edge of the board.

Set the depth of the dado blades on the table saw to the same depth as the marble. Line up the edge of the blade with your markings, then make the cut. Repeat the cut until you reach the mark for the other side.

Cut the groove for the marble with a dado blade in the table saw.

Test the fit of your marble tile inside the groove. There should be a tiny bit of room on either side to allow for wood movement. If the marble rocks when you press down on one side, you can clean up the bottom of the groove with a straight router bit.

We soon realized that the corner of the marble was sharp, while the rest of the cutting board edge was curved. Luckily, marble is very soft, so we were able to round over the corner with 80 grit sandpaper.

Sand the edges of the marble to match the curve of the routed edge.

Sand your cutting board with progressively finer grits of sandpaper. Be careful not to round over the edges of the groove.

Give the surface of the wood an initial coat of mineral oil or cutting board wax. This will prevent the silicone from seeping into the grain. (Isn’t it amazing how the wood comes alive as it soaks up oil?)

Add mineral oil or cutting board wax to the board before adding the marble inlay.

Tape off the edges of the groove with painter’s tape. Then apply a line of silicone along the perimeter. Check the label to make sure it’s food safe 100% Silicone.

Add 100% silicone to the groove to adhere the marble.

Cover the top of the marble with painter’s tape, then lay it in the groove. Run another bead of silicone in the gap between the marble and the wood, and run your finger along the seam. This will prevent crumbs from getting into the cracks, while also allowing for wood movement. Let the silicone set for at least 24 hours before use.

Seal the seam between the marble and wood with more silicone.

Remove the painter’s tape and clean up any silicone that might have squeezed out with a razor blade. Then give it another coat of mineral oil and it’s ready to use!

This bread and cheese board with marble inlay is perfect for serving party appetizers!

This bread and cheese board makes a great gift, and is simple to make!

We put the bread and cheese board to work right away serving appetizers on Christmas Day!

This bread and cheese board is multi-functional! Cut bread on the wood section, and cheese on the marble! Pair with grapes for the perfect appetizer display!

I plan to make a few more of these to give as gifts in the future. It’s such a simple project that’s sure to impress!

If you loved this project, check out my other woodworking projects over at The Handyman’s Daughter!

~ view more of Vineta’s projects ~

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