{"id":17,"date":"2026-06-24T23:42:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T23:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.backfortylaserworks.com\/blog\/?p=17"},"modified":"2026-07-13T23:44:55","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T23:44:55","slug":"oak-and-epoxy-a-custom-cross-and-a-lesson-from-the-cutting-board","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.backfortylaserworks.com\/blog\/oak-and-epoxy-a-custom-cross-and-a-lesson-from-the-cutting-board\/","title":{"rendered":"OAK AND EPOXY: A CUSTOM CROSS AND A LESSON FROM THE CUTTING BOARD"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull ext-hero-section ext-hero-section--amused-fox is-style-ext-preset--group--natural-1--section ext-animate--on has-background-background-color has-background\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-top:0;padding-right:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-left:0\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-bcdf4cc6 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignfull ext-animate--on is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-6fde33c0 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top ext-animate--on is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some weeks in the shop are all wins. Others hand you a lesson alongside the finished piece. This week had both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The highlight was a custom cross in oak and cherry, with an epoxy-filled center. The contrast between the warm grain of the hardwood and the deep epoxy pour is exactly the kind of detail that makes a piece feel intentional \u2014 something built to be handed down, not just displayed. The cross came together cleanly, and the filled center adds a depth that&#8217;s hard to replicate any other way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The other project this week was an end grain cutting board in maple, cherry, and walnut \u2014 three species that together produce one of the most striking natural color combinations in woodworking. End grain boards are a shop favorite: easier on knife edges, more forgiving over time, and visually rich in a way that flat-grain boards simply aren&#8217;t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That one didn&#8217;t go as planned. The router pulled too deep cutting the juice groove, and the first board didn&#8217;t make the cut. It happens \u2014 and it&#8217;s a good reminder that even familiar operations deserve full attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The silver lining: it&#8217;s pushing us toward a better approach. We&#8217;re exploring using the Shaper Origin to cut juice grooves going forward. It&#8217;ll take a bit more setup time, but the precision and repeatability are worth it \u2014 every groove exactly where it should be, exactly as deep as it should be, every time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That maple, cherry, and walnut board will get made right. Watch for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you&#8217;d like a custom cross, cutting board, or any other handmade piece, send us a DM on Instagram \u2014 we&#8217;d love to make something for you.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A custom oak and cherry cross with an epoxy-filled center, an end grain cutting board in maple, cherry, and walnut, and a lesson pointing us toward using the Shaper Origin for juice grooves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-shop-update"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backfortylaserworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backfortylaserworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backfortylaserworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backfortylaserworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backfortylaserworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.backfortylaserworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25,"href":"https:\/\/www.backfortylaserworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17\/revisions\/25"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backfortylaserworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backfortylaserworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backfortylaserworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backfortylaserworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}