# Ken’s 3D Tumbling Block Board.



## Tom Smart (Aug 6, 2020)

@Kenbo
I took a shot at making Ken’s 3D Tumbling Block End Grain Cutting Board. I’ve made lots of end grain boards but I learned a lot doing this project, so thanks very much Ken for the inspiration and the learnin. You do have to be precise in your measurements and cuts or it just won’t come together right. I had the cherry and maple on hand but my walnut was too thin. The only contrasting piece with the right dimensions I could come up with was padauk. And I was reminded why I hate working with it. A bit porous on the end grain but the major issue is it bleeds into the surrounding wood when sanding. It turned the maple pink/orange which then required hand sanding to eliminate.





Decided to cut in half.





With finish.

Reactions: Like 6 | EyeCandy! 10 | Way Cool 4


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## cabomhn (Aug 6, 2020)

Nice job! The two smaller cutting boards seems like a smart move, really showing off the pattern without being overbearing.

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 2


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## Wildthings (Aug 6, 2020)

Yessir that came out real nice. Different than how mine came out though

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Tony (Aug 6, 2020)

Very nice work Tom!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Tom Smart (Aug 6, 2020)

Wildthings said:


> Different than how mine came out though


What’s different? Post up, Barry.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Kenbo (Aug 6, 2020)

I think the difference between yours and Barry's board might be the layout of the pieces. On a 3D tumbling block board, the top of each block is maple while one side of the block is a dark species and one is a medium tones species. Makes no difference though. Your cutting board is gorgeous and I really like the way it came out. Nicely done.

Reactions: Like 3 | EyeCandy! 2 | Informative 2


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## Tom Smart (Aug 6, 2020)

So the final layout/glue up is different than I have here then?

OK, I can see it in your picture now.


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## ripjack13 (Aug 6, 2020)

Very cool...


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## Wildthings (Aug 6, 2020)

Kenbo said:


> I think the difference between yours and Barry's board might be the layout of the pieces. On a 3D tumbling block board, the top of each block is maple while one side of the block is a dark species and one is a medium tones species. Makes no difference though. Your cutting board is gorgeous and I really like the way it came out. Nicely done.
> View attachment 191751





Tom Smart said:


> So the final layout/glue up is different than I have here then?
> 
> OK, I can see it in your picture now.


Exactly! I had to go look at mine to see what was different and that's it. But I love both styles!!

Reactions: EyeCandy! 2 | Way Cool 2


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## Tom Smart (Aug 7, 2020)

I like it!


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## Nature Man (Aug 7, 2020)

Nothing short of inspirational! I need to jump on this bandwagon! Chuck

Reactions: Thank You! 2


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## Brandon Sloan (Aug 7, 2020)

Beautiful board, I really enjoy seeing these. I don’t know that I’d want to cut on something so nice.

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 1


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## Wildthings (Aug 7, 2020)

Tom Smart said:


> So the final layout/glue up is different than I have here then?
> 
> OK, I can see it in your picture now.


I think you did not perform the last move.. Every other row you flip end for end with a twist.

Alas it is really cool how they can go 3d on you from different directions

My daughter claimed this one and called it QBert

Reactions: Funny 4


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## Brandon Sloan (Aug 7, 2020)

Wildthings said:


> I think you did not perform the last move.. Every other row you flip end for end with a twist.
> 
> Alas it is really cool how they can go 3d on you from different directions
> 
> ...


You must be close to 100 years old if your daughter is old enough to make QBert references.

Reactions: Funny 4


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## Tom Smart (Aug 7, 2020)

Wildthings said:


> I think you did not perform the last move.. Every other row you flip end for end with a twist.


Actually, Barry I think I twisted and flipped too much. Might have come back to the start point. I'm going to revisit this as soon as I get my hands on some appropriately sized walnut or a substitute other than padauk. 

Your board appears a bit larger in the picture. Did you go with the 3/4" dimension. I'm think of trying 1".


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## Wildthings (Aug 7, 2020)

Tom Smart said:


> Actually, Barry I think I twisted and flipped too much. Might have come back to the start point. I'm going to revisit this as soon as I get my hands on some appropriately sized walnut or a substitute other than padauk.


Aha!
I think the Padauk looks great
Working on my second now!! Last crosscut today with the flip and twist and then last glue



Tom Smart said:


> Your board appears a bit larger in the picture. Did you go with the 3/4" dimension. I'm think of trying 1".



Yes it's the 3/8"- 3/4" - 3/8" combo. Also I left it large....12.5" x 17.5" x 1.375" thick

Reactions: Like 1


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## Wildthings (Aug 7, 2020)

Brandon Sloan said:


> You must be close to 100 years old if your daughter is old enough to make QBert references.


LOL Nope 65 next month

Reactions: Like 1


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## FranklinWorkshops (Aug 7, 2020)

Tom Smart said:


> Actually, Barry I think I twisted and flipped too much. Might have come back to the start point. I'm going to revisit this as soon as I get my hands on some appropriately sized walnut or a substitute other than padauk.
> 
> Your board appears a bit larger in the picture. Did you go with the 3/4" dimension. I'm think of trying 1".


I've got tons of walnut, Tom. I'll send you a PM to discuss.

Reactions: Like 1


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## DKMD (Aug 7, 2020)

Nicely done! I’ve never attempted one of these, but after looking at the finished products here, I think I need to spend a little more time studying the process before jumping in. I had always assumed that the board would be constructed from hexagons with each hexagon being made from 3 contrasting parallelograms. It seems like everyone here is using repeating squares or rectangles to create the pattern. Geometry.... yuck!


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## Tom Smart (Aug 7, 2020)

DKMD said:


> Geometry.... yuck!


It’s worse than that....it’s fractions and math and other junk my brain ain’t wired for.

We really need to use the metric system.

Reactions: Like 1


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## FranklinWorkshops (Aug 7, 2020)

Now Tom and David, this is why us old engineers get paid so much. It helps if you use metric to lay out everything. Fractions are for those who like to use only the most difficult methods of work. I've used metric rules for 42 years and would never think about a layout in fractions and multiples of fractions.

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Tom Smart (Aug 7, 2020)

FranklinWorkshops said:


> Now Tom and David, this is why us old engineers get paid so much. It helps if you use metric to lay out everything. Fractions are for those who like to use only the most difficult methods of work. I've used metric rules for 42 years and would never think about a layout in fractions and multiples of fractions.


Exactly! 

3/8” is half of 3/4”? Who knew? Now, if you told me the core dimension was 20mm even a math challenged psychology major like me can figure the rest out.

Reactions: Like 1


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## FranklinWorkshops (Aug 7, 2020)

Right. Just an example for consideration. Quickly add up 3/8ths, 1/4r, and 3/16ths. Now add 15mm, 6mm and 8mm. 

The human mind was never designed for the measuring system we in the USA use. I think we are the last in the world still stuck with it.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Wildthings (Aug 7, 2020)

Ahhh y'all bunch of whiney heads! That's what the Fraction Plus app is for...easy peasy


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## Tom Smart (Aug 8, 2020)

Looks too complicated.


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## Wildthings (Aug 9, 2020)

Wildthings said:


> Working on my second ones now!! Last crosscut today with the flip and twist and then last glue


And I screwed these ones up...daggummit


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## Tom Smart (Aug 9, 2020)

Oh no, what happened? Look like mine?


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## FranklinWorkshops (Aug 9, 2020)

Wildthings said:


> Ahhh y'all bunch of whiney heads! That's what the Fraction Plus app is for...easy peasy
> View attachment 191790


Just for the heck of it, I downloaded this app just now and tried it out. I entered 1/3rd plus 5/32n and got, correctly, 47/96. Now you tell me how to find 47/96 on a tape. However, this same math in metric is 8.5mm plus 4 mm = 12.5mm which I can see on a metric tape.

Reactions: Funny 3


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## tocws2002 (Aug 11, 2020)

FranklinWorkshops said:


> Just for the heck of it, I downloaded this app just now and tried it out. I entered 1/3rd plus 5/32 and got, correctly, 47/96. Now you tell me how to find 47/96 on a tape. However, this same math in metric is 8.5mm plus 4 mm = 12.5mm which I can see on a metric tape.



Can't find 47/96 on the tape measure, but can't find a 1/3 either?  1/3 looks more like 11/32 to me, add that to your 5/32 and you get 16/32 or 1/2, which I can find on my tape measure. 

Or, just make larger tumbling block boards and measure to the nearest inch (or 2.54 cm)!

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## FranklinWorkshops (Aug 11, 2020)

tocws2002 said:


> Can't find 47/96 on the tape measure, but can't find a 1/3 either?  1/3 looks more like 11/32 to me, add that to your 5/32 and you get 16/32 or 1/2, which I can find on my tape measure.
> 
> Or, just make larger tumbling block boards and measure to the nearest inch (or 2.54 cm)!


You made my point with an even better illustration. Thanks. Just make the tumbling blocks 3mm or 2mm and everything is so much easier. Dealing with fractions is a mess. And I can find a ⅓rd on a metric tape.

Reactions: Like 1


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## gman2431 (Aug 14, 2020)

I can only imagine how difficult things must have been engineering, when people can't agree on a measurement... thank god my software provides both at once.

Reactions: Agree 1


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