Salvaged maple for our butcher blocks

A great thing about NYC is you never know what's around any given corner. On a cold, rainy day, we stumbled upon a house renovation in SOHO. The workman had cut up what was once a beautiful maple countertop and put it on the curb. We were lucky enough to get to it before the rain swelled the wood.

We took all we could carry back to our shop, and made a series of beautiful maple cutting boards, cheese boards, and butcher blocks. We used the same restoration process that we've discussed in an earlier post, and sealed the boards with our Organic Beeswax Board Butter.

How our device stands are born

We thought it would be nice to share a look at how we cut the blanks for our device stands. 

Measure Twice, Cut Once

First, we mark out each stand's full depth along the lumber. Then, we mark out the portion that will be removed at half-depth to hold the device.

Make the first cut

Next, we say a few words and start making a few shallow passes through the wood with a circular saw before chiseling out the leftovers. A router with a dado blade will work well for this as well.

Ready for clean up and final cut

A few passes with the rasp will clean up stragglers. Now we can check our lines one last time and cutting each stand off the board.

Roughed Blanks

These rough cuts are ready for two rounds of sanding, oiling, and finishing.

Once the blanks are cut they are ready for the a 2-3 step sanding process to clean up the surface, edges and to soften the existing imperfections from using reclaimed wood — chips, cracks, nail and screw holes, etc. Before the final sanding we drill and carve out the hole for the charger and cable run.

Sanding by hand

Good quality sandpaper is a worthwhile investment. You will wind up wasting more paper and energy with cheap stuff that clogs, tears, and wears out fast.

Our First Batch

This was our first batch of blanks we experimented with. The wood was about to be tossed out by a recording studio . We offered them for sale to coworkers and friends. The success of that and making something that people found valuable from wood that would have been thrown away, encouraged us as we considered this as a bigger project.

Oiling Up

This stand is getting it's first bath of mineral oil before getting sealed with our Organic Beeswax Board Butter.

Once all sides are smoothed out, we bathe the wood in mineral oil and let it rest for a day. Then we seal it with our homemade recipe of Organic Beeswax Board Butter.

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