One last thing I would love to see is, customer willing, a couple glamour shots of the board in it's new (and probably forever) home. Great job though, this was fantastic!
As a finishing carpenter, I have learned over the years that if I need a special tool just once, it is better to buy it to use than not too. Makes the job so much easier.
Remember what you do is an art. Enjoy it and take it one day at a time. I love my board, thank you for what you do. I would wait months to get one of your boards. Do not rush or let it stress you out. Blessings to you and your family.
Great work, a couple quick things I learned from the countless butcher blocks I have built. For juice grooves, get a palm router with a small fence on one side and you can freehand the juice groove. It takes two seconds to learn and you can ditch your massive jig. Super easy and super clean product. Also way faster. For cutting through 4” plus stock like this, drop your circular saw or track saw to max depth on one side and cut it, then break off the off-cut, flip the board, and clean up the other side with a long, spiral cut bottom bearing flush trim bit. The bit will run against the saw cut and be super clean. This worked like a dream for me when I built my roubo bench with a 4” thick top. Lastly, I hit my beeswax lightly with a torch to melt it into the wood a bit, has worked well for me. Keep making sawdust!
How do you go around a 90 degree corner with a router and fence and have the groove at the corner come out perfect? How do you know when to rotate the fence through 90 degrees?
I'm missing something. With a palm router, how are you freehanding a juice groove? You mentioned a fence, but also said you don't need a jig, which in my eyes is really the same thing.
@@ryanhawkins Love your attitude & skill. I'm 66 and new to woodworking. It's fun and people like you Ryan are so nice to have helped me design and build my bathroom closet, vanity, mirror and a few other things from cedar picket fence panels. Simply beautiful & money saving! It takes on a totally new beauty when you design and build it. Such a sense of pride, accomplishment & bragging rights. lol Thank you, young Sir!
Incredible build. Love the humbleness you display. As a pastor your advice for burnout is spot on and bold. Thanks for the video, I learned some new ideas
Don't worry about an "upload schedule" that's where good channels go to die. Keep making quality content, don't worry about quantity. That's the main reason I stopped watching John Malecki, he went full ham on clickbait content and digressed from what made his content great. There's only so many "I bought a pallet of Amazon returns" a guy can watch.
Wow. That’s one massive board. Maybe you answered this somewhere… but what the heck were they going to use that board for???? 😮 It sure was beautiful. Just found your channel. Looking forward to checking out more.
Re: logo burning. I *HIGHLY* recommend the LaserPecker (I know, but I didn’t name it). Can burn anywhere, fen has a battery for remote sites. I’m not affiliated in any way.
I made end grain cutting boards for a living for a few years from 2015 - 2018, so I understand the struggle. My biggest piece was an end grain Island counter top about 3ft x 7ft x 2.5”. This vid brought back several memories. Nice work.
I just finished a 4'x5' island counter from self-milled lumber using all Texas natives - osage orange, walnut, pecan, and red oak. I think it turned out wonderfully, though not close to as flawless as yours! I bought all the wood for $100 total from a local sawmill, dried it in my garage, and milled into lumber just using a mitersaw, tablesaw, and a whole lot of hand planing and ROS sanding. Finished it off with a vinegar/steel wool stain, tung oil, and beeswax. I made a thousand mistakes and the process took forever, but I don't regret a moment of it. I won't lie though: I envy you using the proper tools ;)
I am very impressed by your openness and what will help others. I have been through that dark night of the soul. Other professionals make a difference!
Good for you taking a break and seeking help! I was wondering as I hadn't seen a video for about 4 months in my feed, even went to the channel to confirm. Glad to see you with a smile on your face in a current video!!!
I watch a lot of UA-cam carpentry channels and I really like how you time lapsed your work throughout the video without making us feel disconnected from the process. Awesome vid!
As a wood worker myself, when I retired from my bridge construction job for over 34 years, I constructed a wood working shop in my back yard as a hobby shop. One of the first things I made was a cutting board. I did the end grain board using walnut, cherry and maple. It turned out to be a beautiful board and it sits in my kitchen on its side along with a cheap cutting board. My wife will not allow me to use it. Go figure. She says it is too pretty. I told her if it was used and had scratches on it, I could take it in the shop and re-finish it. NOT. I can relate to the work it takes to make something like this. The cost of wood alone is terrible. My cutting board is just for the kitchen. I measures 14x16. When people ask how much to make one for them and I tell them $200, that conversation is over. lol. The one you did here is a massive project. When I first started watching the video, my first thought was, the time and money this is going to take. Now the most I do in my wood working shop lately is roast coffee. Yep. I picked up that hobby about six months ago and man is there a lot to learn. It is a great hobby and I am loving it. Chef Jerry wood worker, coffee roaster. JH Coffee Roasters Irmo South Carolina USA
I normally don’t follow woodworking but your honesty about your mental health and what you did to make things better took a lot of courage. The board is beautiful and sure was a lot of work. And was a mammoth board. Good work on all fronts!👏🏻👌🏻
I think it's just used by people more as a pattern, like you can have a "Brick" pattern with things other than Brick. Certainly the end grain is what you want for a cutting block, and is where the name comes from probably. example Ikea sells butcher block counters, but they aren't end grain.
It is meant to be end grain sycamore (acer pseudoplatanus) as it closes after cuts and is naturally sterile. There's a reason for the use and selection, not just a pretty pattern. I doubt a butcher gave two hoots about a pattern he was going to cut meat on lol😅
@@tompugh388 quick google search and you'd see it is a pattern. the word derives from yes an actual Butchers cutting table, which no doubt would have been end grain wood. But its just a pattern, those who make an edge grain "butcher block" table would be using the term correctly.
Why is it end grain? I'm not about to make a butcher's block and have never used one, I'm here purely from interest, but I can't work out why that's the case, though I'm sure there's a good and straightforward reason.
I could not have been more impressed with the precise nature of the board and the machinery. I have build a board for myself (red oak) and am a huge fan of black walnut that I cut myself from trees, so, all of which is to say, kudos and may you have many more projects with the blessings of our Lord, Jhay
Ryan, it takes courage to admit when you need help. And one of the best ways is to talk about it. I have a motto “It’s not Week to Speak” You’ve taken the first steps, things can quickly overwhelm you, and talking about it can sometimes be the release you need, we tend to hold on to our problems until it’s spirals out of control. Now I’m am an armature and what you do is truly amazing. My wife wants me to build her a custom wardrobe, but your video’s have given me the courage to build them. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing your MH story. As men we are conditioned to respond to MH issues they way you started. I am happy to hear you have found counciling that will help. More men need to open up and see that 1 we all need help some times and it is not a weakness, and 2 it is ok to ask for help. Thank you!
Ryan, that’s one incredible build and work of art! Absolutely love the Walnut Big Board and your enthusiasm in creating this beautiful one of a kind “Big Boy Block!👌🏽🤩👏🏽
Great product and presentation Ryan. I congratulate you on your honesty with your mental health struggles, your decisions regarding construction methods and your time estimates. This post needs to "go straight to the "poolroom" (Oz term). Well done.
Hey thanks for the tip about the handheld belt sander. I was still getting some gouges even when going as straight as I could, but I figured out that my belt sander prefers a little pressure on the front grip and to move about half a belt width between passes. Your feedback really gave me the gumption to figure it out
I agree with you about the fact that there was too much time between your videos, but that is only because they are so good. I really appreciate the details you share as I frequently tackle projects which are quite similar, and so I find the comments useful. It may not have been profitable, but that is a truly gorgeous board!
We’ve all been through the issues in pricing and time management, it’s a lesson learned as long as you don’t compromise your quality attempting to make it up. The biggest shocker was the shipping 😮 , didn’t see that coming 🤷♂️
Thank you for being honest with yourself and with everyone watching. I have had the same feelings myself while running my own business. Thank you for saying out loud, what everyone experiences to some degree at some point in their lives. Best of luck in business and in health!
Agree, and I do. No guitar but a guitar stand and a kitchen table and a buffet shelf and two fire place mantels and master bath vanity and roman tub facia and mirror frame and light sconce plate and coat rack, etc.
We lived on Vancouver Island for around 12 years. I am also a carpenter (cabinetmaker) and wish I had a shop such as yours. I know walnut does not grown in Western Canada (or Canada at all I believe) so getting slabs of walnut that thick is costly. Nice work Ryan.
Factor in all your other costs (oils, sandpaper, bee’s wax, branding iron), and you’re at about $2,200 gross profit for 120 hours of work, or $18/hr. And you still have overhead, wear and tear on equipment, maintenance, taxes. Someone at your level of craft should be at $50/hr gross MINIMUM, not including wood or other expenses. That means this cutting board would be priced at around $8,200, and it would be worth it. I live in a metro area that would easily pay $10K for this. So RAISE YOUR PRICES! I was shocked by how little you charged for this, and you still threw in another board as a freebie. You deserve more than you are asking, and your therapist would agree! Just ask them. This is how you prevent burnout. Do less work for more money, because you are not a slave.
The guy does good honest work and should value himself and his product at least 160% of what he does. He’s probably worth 200-300% more than $18hr easily. Unfortunately charging hourly for something like this just feels wrong as a craftsman.
That's not how money works tho... you gotta make the thing that the people wanna buy for the right price I can work for 10 hours sifting and sorting dirt and filtering the finest water to make the best mud pancake but it won't sell for a price that represents the effort I put in and tools and consumables. Tbh I'm just a Lil upset I put 25 hours into a red wood slab table with a black steel base and i can't sell it for $1200
Spectacular end products. Nothing much causes me to be impressed, any more; seen many wonderful things in my long life, but the work and the end products that are shown in this video have left me very impressed with your work. Respect...
That right there is what I call a true tradesmen , craftsmen , artist . The video was perfect , not to long or boring , edited perfect ! Great watch and inspirational , keep going.
Walnut is my favorite wood and I have been using it for over 60 years. I am now deep into my second copy of a Les Paul electric guitar made from the crotch of a walnut tree. The piece of walnut that I got for this guitar was air dried in a barn for 60 years. So with this being said I really loved your walnut project. I learned to project time for a project and triple it. Thats just the way it is with big projects. I would love to get you a picture of this guitar as it is my second one I have built. I wish you the best
Jesus Christ died for all of our sins. He died the death we all deserved. He was the perfect one who never sinned once, but he loved us so much he decided to die for us so our sins would be paid for and we can enter the Kingdom of Heaven before God the Father blamelessly. He is the living son of God who wants to know us and have a personal relationship with us. No matter what you have done no matter how far gone you think you are Jesus can and will save you. All you have to do is confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior. Believe that he died on the cross for your sins and had a bodily resurrection 3 days later. We cannot be saved by our works but by faith in Christ alone. Repent and turn to Christ. You will have joy, happiness, love, and peace beyond understanding.
I had a similar problem squaring the end of a large slab with limited tools. Although, mine was a workbench top made of pine, not $2000 worth of walnut. I clamped 2 boards on the end, 1 on the face of the bench and 1 on the bottom, protruding about 1/4" from the end of the bench, taking extra care to make sure they were perfectly square an parallel. From there I stood the bench up, put an oversized base on my router and used those boards as a mini flattening sled. It was cumbersome to set up perfectly but made a clean, square end and worked very well. The board you made is absolutely beautiful, nicely done.
He could have wanted it in a chaotic pattern, using half a dozen different timbers, by which time you would have booked into the funny farm. Great work, Cheers
I remember trips to our butcher when I was a young boy. He was in his early 60’s and had been using the same butcher block table for 40+ years. It had so much use it had a crater in the middle that was at least 2” deep. It was really cool.
I enjoyed this Ryan. Your details to quality craftsmanship and your transparent communication reveals a channel worth following. The way you packaged the boards for shipment says a ton about your character. Keep up the great work.
I am about as green as they come to wood working (starting today on my 1st project). I definitely learned a few things from this so thank you very much for posting it. Loved the board, can only imagine what it is being used for.
Goodness gracious, what a beast. For fun I calculated the weight of the block with the dimensions you had. Walnut is around 38 lbs/ft3 when between 8-12% humidity. Weight came out at about 160 lbs for the wood; I didn't add the glue, wax and legs and didn't subtract the hand cutout. That's huge.
I'm glad I found your channel, Burnout can really suck, and in my experience dealing with it sooner is far better than ignoring it. like a slow leak, you can keep topping it up but it will always leak. Fix the problem early on and save yourself the trouble. Thanks for sharing!
I know there were times that you just have been near despair but the end result is absolutely stunning. The video isn’t bad either - the footage of your attempt to joint the entire 200 pound block was hilarious (and something I totally would have tried as well).
The experiances that cost us the most, teach us the most valuable lessons... great job on the board, i deal with oversized requests often and i felt your struggle.
You are 1 phenomenal cutting board builder!! Im in awe every time i watch one of your videos! We all get bogged down with life sometimes and its good to see you didn't throw in the towel😊....kepp the awesome videos coming
Thank you. Great job and worth your effort, patience, and I am sure, a valuable experience. I learned a golden rule in my life: Often we mess up and make stupid mistakes and we are left with 2 options. 1. Can we change the outcome, the answer is often no. 2. Swallow it, accept it, learn from it and move on.
I can't believe I came across this video today. My last holiday was exactly like yours and I'm sitting on my deck still unable to get into the shop. Lost my last parent/step-parent in the fall and I think that's stalling me a bit. Gonna click the link here and see what Better Help is all about. Appreciate the link
I've been doing custom woodworking for over forty years and one of the first things I learned was to ALWAYS cut the painted ends off rough lumber. The paint is highly abrasive to jointer and planer knives, also there could be dirt or other debris under the paint. I did cringe when you tried to joint the edge across what was face grain, but we learn by doing and I'm sure that was a valuable lesson. I commend your willingness to show the whole process, including the struggles. You definitely achieved an amazing final product, just keep at it and I'm sure there will be many more to come.
My dad ran a machine shop. His biggest problem was under pricing his excellent work. Our lack of confidence makes our worth a hard lesson to learn. Lean a little toward the higher side. If you loose the job it just was not the path the Lord intended for you. I am not much for cutting boards, but this was heroic. Go watch a Nick Sawyer video, you have that potential. But get a Joiner. Cordially, David McGuinn.
Also, I love the little song that's created by the machinery in the footage of you running boards through a jointer or planer or whatever it is at the time. I smiled every time haha
Beautiful board! Don’t worry about the money. Exactly what you said, the knowledge you learned through that hiccup is priceless. Love your work and thank you for your time.
It's good to see your breakdown of costs. I made a bad habit of under-quoting on jobs which sank my startup woodcraft shop. Your video gives me hope to return and be better and see it through next time.
The whole thing is just insane, but that's what the client wanted. You did a great job with it. Including the smaller board was total class. I hope the client was happy with his absolutely unique cutting board.
So when the customer opens up the delivered package, he finds a small cutting board and then does a double-take on the size; "Did I mistakenly order my cutting board in centimetres instead of inches and where is the extra weight? Is it ballast below my cutting board? Lignum Vitae? Deleted uranium? Oh, there's a bigger cutting board underneath..."
My Dad introduced me to the cabinet scraper once when I was belt sanding a large panel. A hand tool faster and better than a power tool, what a concept!
As a professional chef of over 33 years, I could tell you it’s gorgeous and any real. Chef would use that board as a showcase in his kitchen beautiful job. 🫵🏼
have found that waiting a week or so before the final sanding -- after gluing -- is best. The blue works way out over a few days after that last glue up. Beautiful work!!!
I know absolutely nothing about woodworking but I always enjoy the process that goes into making something out of wood, the final product looks amazing.
❤❤❤ I’m not your station. I just stumbled across you and thought I’d give you a watch and see what was going on with your station. I love table top tables, coffee tables, countertops, all of the above. And that one came out really nice kinda heavy but you did great lifting it by yourself. Be careful though you’re young you think you’re back and everything works just fine but when you get older, it will remind you of those days when you thought that you were young lol have a good weekend. This is a new week. Why didn’t anybody tell me that this was the week when you’re off from work you seem to forget what day it is what time it is the other day I got up And asked my husband what time is it and he says 730 and I looked at him. I said in the evening and he just stared at me and said no Sandra in the morning he said when was the last time you saw the sun 730 in the evening I said well it has happened, but that’s another story anyway have a good weekend bye😊
Ryan it’s great to see you do a video and what an amazing and stunning one it was. The cutting board turned out absolutely amazing your attention to detail is what sets you apart. So glad you are doing better and got help I know it’s not an easy thing to do is to ask for help. So hats off to you and then to get on here and share with us all God Bless and stay strong. Can’t wait to see what you do next my friend. 🙏🏻🙏🏻
Mad props to you for getting this done with the tools available. With a big jointer and thicknesser the initial steps would have been a couple of hours, flattening and sanding would have been... 3 hours with a wide belt sander, and for the final cutting down, juice groove and handles, 30 minutes with a CNC 😀 So I'm in awe of your patience and time dedicated!
I'm just amazed by the sheer massive size of the board! The smaller off-cut board would have been large enough for me, TBH. Your work is amazing; keep it up!
Great video! Your attention to detail is what it should be. Hey…I’m a retired Orthopedic surgeon and I was really watching you around the table saw. In my practice I saw many hand injuries from the table saw as you are pushing toward a fast moving blade. I do not remember an injury from a radial arm saw as you are “hands on” on the saw and moving the saw to the board! You perform meticulous work and could do what I do! Bob
Tremendous accomplishment. Great news that you recognized the need to get some help. Takes courage to realize one's limitations and that it is a sign of strength to get help when needed.
Awesome!! What a job!!!!! You sure fid a beautiful job. What a man! Glad you got the therapy and being open about it. A lot of people, 1 would not have gotten the help and 2, would not have admitted they needed help. So glad to see you doing well. Awesome video
Beautifully made board, well done I hope the customer was happy with his purchase, even though it was way over schedule receiving it the way you packaged it was awesome they will appreciate the effort involved in shipping it the way you did, once again outstanding job.
This was the first video of yours that we watched. How enjoyable! The butcher block is beautiful and rich and massive! And we just love it that you included that mini-me (but a big baby) cutting board as a lagniappe. We have subscribed! We’d love to know how the client liked it.
Thanks for this video! I was looking to see what others have experienced, as I have an order for a 30"x30" butcher block, 3 inches thick. I see you have solutions for a lot of the problems I was anticipating, so this is good as I don't think I found another video on all of youtube that is for something this large. Also, few videos actually understand the term butcher block actually means end grain, but you definitely get it! I see that your long strips when joined for final glue up already had tight joints, whereas my previous attempt at this the joints had gaps and I had lots of trouble pulling them tight even with the entire surface covered in heavy duty clamps. It had thought the curved strips were just a result of stress release when cutting the wood and then gluing up the strip. Maybe walnut is more forgiving than maple in this respect, but it could also be from your slab flattening work. I'll have to review your video in more detail to see! Also, the pricing is always a problem for a one-off. If you instead wanted to get say $50/hr for your time, the labour would have been $6,000, and you would have had to quote $8,000. At $8,000 (plus shipping) even your understanding client would likely have said "I'll think about it", even though there's not much margin in the $8,000. So for my butcher block order, I will quote a lot more than I originally planned on, as I doubt I will be able to do it in one week if you took 3 months for this. And if the client walks, they walk.
Wow!!! Nice work Ryan. Love that you shared your thoughts on how to make sure you don't under-estimate on a project. Those can kill your passion to continue.
Amazing build, beautiful work. One thing that stuck out to me, for the hand holds cut into the bottom of the board, I thought it would be beneficial to see a groove cut upwards into the board, for your fingers to nest into when lifting.
What an incredible amount of skilled work. The client must be stoked with the result. I’d love to be on the receiving end of one of these. Cheers and thanks for the entertainment Robert Down under
I love the whole thing, the way you made the video, showing lots of details, mistakes, and explaining why. Too bad you didn't come out nice with the overall bill.But indeed a nice result in the end, a happy customer and lots of viewers, keep going. Thanks for sharing from Mexico.
That board is beautiful!!! I absolutely love walnut. Thanks for sharing your process with us. You make it look so easy, but I know it was not. Thanks again.
I will admit i was a little skeptical after the first 10 minutes however i am happy to say that i watched until the end! You did the best that you possibly could with what you have and to not only know but openly admit where you have made “mistakes” along the way; for one is tough and for two just goes to show that you are only human like the rest of us. I think you did an amazing job, i can tell how stressful it was for you but i can also see in your eyes how passionate you are about your work and that in itself is priceless! I am definitely subscribing and binge watching your content! I wish you the best of luck on future projects and i believe that you have what it takes to do great things! Keep it up!! Add also, a quote from a very wholesome and wise man “we don’t make mistakes just happy accidents” - Bob Ross
I gotta admit, $18 an hour has to sting! As you said though, you cannot put a price on experience! The piece was magnificent!! A monumental task, one that I would be terrified to undertake! $2K worth of material? Insane! It turned out amazing! You have massive cohonez just for taking the job!!! Amazing work, and thank you for sharing!!!
Fantastic video and job love the details you provided. As a small shop woodworker I picked up a number of really good tips and ideas. I can’t imagine what the customer is using the huge cutting board for but they must be a butcher lol. Thank you for sharing loved it!
One last thing I would love to see is, customer willing, a couple glamour shots of the board in it's new (and probably forever) home. Great job though, this was fantastic!
If it was in my kitchen, I'd need a new top or table to let it sit on.
@@StCreed If that were in my kitchen it would be the table! lol
I want to see the same, the kitchen must be enormous
Me too.
As a finishing carpenter, I have learned over the years that if I need a special tool just once, it is better to buy it to use than not too. Makes the job so much easier.
As the saying goes, better to have it and not need it then need it and not have it... :)
I agree. I include the price of the tool in the finished project.
Remember what you do is an art. Enjoy it and take it one day at a time. I love my board, thank you for what you do. I would wait months to get one of your boards. Do not rush or let it stress you out. Blessings to you and your family.
I appreciate that :)
@@ryanhawkins (I left you a comment with some thoughts that I hope you find helpful. Cheers!)
Great work, a couple quick things I learned from the countless butcher blocks I have built. For juice grooves, get a palm router with a small fence on one side and you can freehand the juice groove. It takes two seconds to learn and you can ditch your massive jig. Super easy and super clean product. Also way faster.
For cutting through 4” plus stock like this, drop your circular saw or track saw to max depth on one side and cut it, then break off the off-cut, flip the board, and clean up the other side with a long, spiral cut bottom bearing flush trim bit. The bit will run against the saw cut and be super clean. This worked like a dream for me when I built my roubo bench with a 4” thick top.
Lastly, I hit my beeswax lightly with a torch to melt it into the wood a bit, has worked well for me.
Keep making sawdust!
How do you go around a 90 degree corner with a router and fence and have the groove at the corner come out perfect? How do you know when to rotate the fence through 90 degrees?
I'm missing something. With a palm router, how are you freehanding a juice groove? You mentioned a fence, but also said you don't need a jig, which in my eyes is really the same thing.
Using a hot air blower instead of a torch makes melting the beeswax less risky.
I like that the client got two boards. That was very nice of you!
It was the least I could do😊
@@ryanhawkins Good people get blessed, don't change, we need more like you.
@@ryanhawkins Love your attitude & skill. I'm 66 and new to woodworking. It's fun and people like you Ryan are so nice to have helped me design and build my bathroom closet, vanity, mirror and a few other things from cedar picket fence panels. Simply beautiful & money saving! It takes on a totally new beauty when you design and build it. Such a sense of pride, accomplishment & bragging rights. lol Thank you, young Sir!
Incredible build. Love the humbleness you display. As a pastor your advice for burnout is spot on and bold. Thanks for the video, I learned some new ideas
Don't worry about an "upload schedule" that's where good channels go to die. Keep making quality content, don't worry about quantity. That's the main reason I stopped watching John Malecki, he went full ham on clickbait content and digressed from what made his content great. There's only so many "I bought a pallet of Amazon returns" a guy can watch.
I appreciate hearing that! I enjoy doing these large, custom, one of a kind projects.
Wow. That’s one massive board. Maybe you answered this somewhere… but what the heck were they going to use that board for???? 😮 It sure was beautiful. Just found your channel. Looking forward to checking out more.
Re: logo burning. I *HIGHLY* recommend the LaserPecker (I know, but I didn’t name it). Can burn anywhere, fen has a battery for remote sites. I’m not affiliated in any way.
I concur. I’ll take quality over quantity any day
Messenger67 are you a soundman?
I made end grain cutting boards for a living for a few years from 2015 - 2018, so I understand the struggle. My biggest piece was an end grain Island counter top about 3ft x 7ft x 2.5”. This vid brought back several memories. Nice work.
I just finished a 4'x5' island counter from self-milled lumber using all Texas natives - osage orange, walnut, pecan, and red oak. I think it turned out wonderfully, though not close to as flawless as yours!
I bought all the wood for $100 total from a local sawmill, dried it in my garage, and milled into lumber just using a mitersaw, tablesaw, and a whole lot of hand planing and ROS sanding. Finished it off with a vinegar/steel wool stain, tung oil, and beeswax.
I made a thousand mistakes and the process took forever, but I don't regret a moment of it. I won't lie though: I envy you using the proper tools ;)
I am very impressed by your openness and what will help others. I have been through that dark night of the soul. Other professionals make a difference!
I love that you never sacrifice quality and craftsmanship. And your candour- always that.
Thanks 😉
We are beyond proud to have you use our branding irons again! Beautiful work as always Ryan!
Good for you taking a break and seeking help! I was wondering as I hadn't seen a video for about 4 months in my feed, even went to the channel to confirm. Glad to see you with a smile on your face in a current video!!!
I watch a lot of UA-cam carpentry channels and I really like how you time lapsed your work throughout the video without making us feel disconnected from the process. Awesome vid!
As a wood worker myself, when I retired from my bridge construction job for over 34 years, I constructed a wood working shop in my back yard as a hobby shop. One of the first things I made was a cutting board. I did the end grain board using walnut, cherry and maple. It turned out to be a beautiful board and it sits in my kitchen on its side along with a cheap cutting board. My wife will not allow me to use it. Go figure. She says it is too pretty. I told her if it was used and had scratches on it, I could take it in the shop and re-finish it. NOT. I can relate to the work it takes to make something like this. The cost of wood alone is terrible. My cutting board is just for the kitchen. I measures 14x16. When people ask how much to make one for them and I tell them $200, that conversation is over. lol. The one you did here is a massive project. When I first started watching the video, my first thought was, the time and money this is going to take. Now the most I do in my wood working shop lately is roast coffee. Yep. I picked up that hobby about six months ago and man is there a lot to learn. It is a great hobby and I am loving it. Chef Jerry wood worker, coffee roaster. JH Coffee Roasters Irmo South Carolina USA
I normally don’t follow woodworking but your honesty about your mental health and what you did to make things better took a lot of courage. The board is beautiful and sure was a lot of work. And was a mammoth board. Good work on all fronts!👏🏻👌🏻
Gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous!
"I have enough clamps" said no woodworker anywhere, ever.
Finally!!!! Somebody that actually knows a butcher block is end grain and not just boards glued together !!!
Excellent bro!! 🤜🤛
I think it's just used by people more as a pattern, like you can have a "Brick" pattern with things other than Brick. Certainly the end grain is what you want for a cutting block, and is where the name comes from probably. example Ikea sells butcher block counters, but they aren't end grain.
It is meant to be end grain sycamore (acer pseudoplatanus) as it closes after cuts and is naturally sterile. There's a reason for the use and selection, not just a pretty pattern. I doubt a butcher gave two hoots about a pattern he was going to cut meat on lol😅
@@tompugh388 we don't have sycamore here, most butchers blocks I've seen are made from jarrah!
@@tompugh388 quick google search and you'd see it is a pattern. the word derives from yes an actual Butchers cutting table, which no doubt would have been end grain wood. But its just a pattern, those who make an edge grain "butcher block" table would be using the term correctly.
Why is it end grain? I'm not about to make a butcher's block and have never used one, I'm here purely from interest, but I can't work out why that's the case, though I'm sure there's a good and straightforward reason.
Thank you for taking care of yourself and returning for our benefit.
I could not have been more impressed with the precise nature of the board and the machinery. I have build a board for myself (red oak) and am a huge fan of black walnut that I cut myself from trees, so, all of which is to say, kudos and may you have many more projects with the blessings of our Lord, Jhay
That is a gorgeous hunk of walnut. I LOVE working with walnut. I've never done anything close to this size but bravo, sir! That is beautiful
Agree, do a fair amount of wood work , and walnut always machines well and behaves, LOL. Then when you finish it always amazes.
Ryan, it takes courage to admit when you need help. And one of the best ways is to talk about it. I have a motto “It’s not Week to Speak” You’ve taken the first steps, things can quickly overwhelm you, and talking about it can sometimes be the release you need, we tend to hold on to our problems until it’s spirals out of control. Now I’m am an armature and what you do is truly amazing. My wife wants me to build her a custom wardrobe, but your video’s have given me the courage to build them. Thank you.
Get yourself a few pipe unions at the big box store and just hook 2 pipes together when clamping - will make your life much easier!
Awesome idea
Be great to see the reception of the board. Wow. What a piece. Will be handed down for generations. Xx
Thank you for sharing your MH story. As men we are conditioned to respond to MH issues they way you started. I am happy to hear you have found counciling that will help. More men need to open up and see that 1 we all need help some times and it is not a weakness, and 2 it is ok to ask for help. Thank you!
Ryan, that’s one incredible build and work of art! Absolutely love the Walnut Big Board and your enthusiasm in creating this beautiful one of a kind “Big Boy Block!👌🏽🤩👏🏽
Thanks Ron!
Great product and presentation Ryan. I congratulate you on your honesty with your mental health struggles, your decisions regarding construction methods and your time estimates. This post needs to "go straight to the "poolroom" (Oz term).
Well done.
Hey thanks for the tip about the handheld belt sander. I was still getting some gouges even when going as straight as I could, but I figured out that my belt sander prefers a little pressure on the front grip and to move about half a belt width between passes. Your feedback really gave me the gumption to figure it out
Welcome Back Ryan. Hope you are feeling better mate. All the best from Australia. We missed you !! 👍
The world is now a better place. Thanks for the time to share all your work and experiences.
Let's see 294K subscribers, SOMEBODY SEND THIS MAN A TRACK SAW!
Or a Therapist 😂
@@jimthomas1989 pretty sure thats what better help is for hehe
I agree with you about the fact that there was too much time between your videos, but that is only because they are so good. I really appreciate the details you share as I frequently tackle projects which are quite similar, and so I find the comments useful. It may not have been profitable, but that is a truly gorgeous board!
We’ve all been through the issues in pricing and time management, it’s a lesson learned as long as you don’t compromise your quality attempting to make it up. The biggest shocker was the shipping 😮 , didn’t see that coming 🤷♂️
Must have been overseas freight. You can ship cars in the US for less than what he paid.
yeah that was insane.
Thank you for being honest with yourself and with everyone watching. I have had the same feelings myself while running my own business. Thank you for saying out loud, what everyone experiences to some degree at some point in their lives. Best of luck in business and in health!
Walnut really is just the best wood. I'd have all the tables, cabinets, guitars, etc. in my house made of walnut if I could
Agree, and I do. No guitar but a guitar stand and a kitchen table and a buffet shelf and two fire place mantels and master bath vanity and roman tub facia and mirror frame and light sconce plate and coat rack, etc.
We lived on Vancouver Island for around 12 years. I am also a carpenter (cabinetmaker) and wish I had a shop such as yours. I know walnut does not grown in Western Canada (or Canada at all I believe) so getting slabs of walnut that thick is costly.
Nice work Ryan.
Factor in all your other costs (oils, sandpaper, bee’s wax, branding iron), and you’re at about $2,200 gross profit for 120 hours of work, or $18/hr. And you still have overhead, wear and tear on equipment, maintenance, taxes. Someone at your level of craft should be at $50/hr gross MINIMUM, not including wood or other expenses. That means this cutting board would be priced at around $8,200, and it would be worth it. I live in a metro area that would easily pay $10K for this. So RAISE YOUR PRICES! I was shocked by how little you charged for this, and you still threw in another board as a freebie. You deserve more than you are asking, and your therapist would agree! Just ask them. This is how you prevent burnout. Do less work for more money, because you are not a slave.
Filming adding to that labor time too. Revenue making up a little of cost but not nearly enough until it’s gained views over years.
The guy does good honest work and should value himself and his product at least 160% of what he does. He’s probably worth 200-300% more than $18hr easily. Unfortunately charging hourly for something like this just feels wrong as a craftsman.
Yes, but unfortunately, there’s probably not much of a market for $10k cutting boards.
That's not how money works tho... you gotta make the thing that the people wanna buy for the right price I can work for 10 hours sifting and sorting dirt and filtering the finest water to make the best mud pancake but it won't sell for a price that represents the effort I put in and tools and consumables.
Tbh I'm just a Lil upset I put 25 hours into a red wood slab table with a black steel base and i can't sell it for $1200
@@FearsomeWarrior It does, but you can't really charge the customer for that.
Spectacular end products. Nothing much causes me to be impressed, any more; seen many wonderful things in my long life, but the work and the end products that are shown in this video have left me very impressed with your work. Respect...
That right there is what I call a true tradesmen , craftsmen , artist . The video was perfect , not to long or boring , edited perfect ! Great watch and inspirational , keep going.
Walnut is my favorite wood and I have been using it for over 60 years. I am now deep into my second copy of a Les Paul electric guitar made from the crotch of a walnut tree. The piece of walnut that I got for this guitar was air dried in a barn for 60 years. So with this being said I really loved your walnut project. I learned to project time for a project and triple it. Thats just the way it is with big projects. I would love to get you a picture of this guitar as it is my second one I have built. I wish you the best
God damn! That is one of the nicest, thickest, sturdiest cutting board I’ve ever seen.
Man I am jealous as hell
Jesus Christ died for all of our sins. He died the death we all deserved. He was the perfect one who never sinned once, but he loved us so much he decided to die for us so our sins would be paid for and we can enter the Kingdom of Heaven before God the Father blamelessly. He is the living son of God who wants to know us and have a personal relationship with us. No matter what you have done no matter how far gone you think you are Jesus can and will save you. All you have to do is confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior. Believe that he died on the cross for your sins and had a bodily resurrection 3 days later. We cannot be saved by our works but by faith in Christ alone. Repent and turn to Christ. You will have joy, happiness, love, and peace beyond understanding.
I had a similar problem squaring the end of a large slab with limited tools. Although, mine was a workbench top made of pine, not $2000 worth of walnut. I clamped 2 boards on the end, 1 on the face of the bench and 1 on the bottom, protruding about 1/4" from the end of the bench, taking extra care to make sure they were perfectly square an parallel. From there I stood the bench up, put an oversized base on my router and used those boards as a mini flattening sled. It was cumbersome to set up perfectly but made a clean, square end and worked very well. The board you made is absolutely beautiful, nicely done.
He could have wanted it in a chaotic pattern, using half a dozen different timbers, by which time you would have booked into the funny farm. Great work, Cheers
That would have broke something 😂
Really appreciate you being transparent about your burn out issues. Best of luck.❤
Thanks so much, I appreciate the support!
I remember trips to our butcher when I was a young boy. He was in his early 60’s and had been using the same butcher block table for 40+ years. It had so much use it had a crater in the middle that was at least 2” deep. It was really cool.
I enjoyed this Ryan. Your details to quality craftsmanship and your transparent communication reveals a channel worth following. The way you packaged the boards for shipment says a ton about your character. Keep up the great work.
I am about as green as they come to wood working (starting today on my 1st project). I definitely learned a few things from this so thank you very much for posting it. Loved the board, can only imagine what it is being used for.
Beautiful work. You can't be a creative human being and an accountant at the same time. You are an artist. What a fabulous piece of work.
Goodness gracious, what a beast. For fun I calculated the weight of the block with the dimensions you had. Walnut is around 38 lbs/ft3 when between 8-12% humidity. Weight came out at about 160 lbs for the wood; I didn't add the glue, wax and legs and didn't subtract the hand cutout. That's huge.
I'm glad I found your channel,
Burnout can really suck, and in my experience dealing with it sooner is far better than ignoring it.
like a slow leak, you can keep topping it up but it will always leak. Fix the problem early on and save yourself the trouble.
Thanks for sharing!
Ah, 17:30 a man of fine taste.
I love Claphams, you must be Canadian, or maybe have a Lee Valley near you.
I know there were times that you just have been near despair but the end result is absolutely stunning. The video isn’t bad either - the footage of your attempt to joint the entire 200 pound block was hilarious (and something I totally would have tried as well).
I must say the Butcher block turned out beautifully, despite your challenges. Very well done indeed!!
The experiances that cost us the most, teach us the most valuable lessons... great job on the board, i deal with oversized requests often and i felt your struggle.
You are 1 phenomenal cutting board builder!! Im in awe every time i watch one of your videos! We all get bogged down with life sometimes and its good to see you didn't throw in the towel😊....kepp the awesome videos coming
Thank you. Great job and worth your effort, patience, and I am sure, a valuable experience. I learned a golden rule in my life: Often we mess up and make stupid mistakes and we are left with 2 options. 1. Can we change the outcome, the answer is often no. 2. Swallow it, accept it, learn from it and move on.
Ryan, not good enough to say I was impressed with all art and workout you had to combine to get such fabulous result. You're THE man!
I can't believe I came across this video today. My last holiday was exactly like yours and I'm sitting on my deck still unable to get into the shop. Lost my last parent/step-parent in the fall and I think that's stalling me a bit. Gonna click the link here and see what Better Help is all about. Appreciate the link
I've been doing custom woodworking for over forty years and one of the first things I learned was to ALWAYS cut the painted ends off rough lumber. The paint is highly abrasive to jointer and planer knives, also there could be dirt or other debris under the paint. I did cringe when you tried to joint the edge across what was face grain, but we learn by doing and I'm sure that was a valuable lesson. I commend your willingness to show the whole process, including the struggles. You definitely achieved an amazing final product, just keep at it and I'm sure there will be many more to come.
My dad ran a machine shop. His biggest problem was under pricing his excellent work. Our lack of confidence makes our worth a hard lesson to learn. Lean a little toward the higher side. If you loose the job it just was not the path the Lord intended for you. I am not much for cutting boards, but this was heroic. Go watch a Nick Sawyer video, you have that potential. But get a Joiner. Cordially, David McGuinn.
Also, I love the little song that's created by the machinery in the footage of you running boards through a jointer or planer or whatever it is at the time. I smiled every time haha
Insane project, the best lesson in all of it to me is, you got it done. If the customer is happy then you WON!
Beautiful board! Don’t worry about the money. Exactly what you said, the knowledge you learned through that hiccup is priceless. Love your work and thank you for your time.
It's good to see your breakdown of costs. I made a bad habit of under-quoting on jobs which sank my startup woodcraft shop. Your video gives me hope to return and be better and see it through next time.
The whole thing is just insane, but that's what the client wanted. You did a great job with it. Including the smaller board was total class. I hope the client was happy with his absolutely unique cutting board.
So when the customer opens up the delivered package, he finds a small cutting board and then does a double-take on the size; "Did I mistakenly order my cutting board in centimetres instead of inches and where is the extra weight? Is it ballast below my cutting board? Lignum Vitae? Deleted uranium? Oh, there's a bigger cutting board underneath..."
That was monumental!! The 3 months is no surprise considering you tackled that monster project by yourself! Excellent work!
Fantastic job young man, I've been building with black walnut for years and you have done the wood proud.
My Dad introduced me to the cabinet scraper once when I was belt sanding a large panel. A hand tool faster and better than a power tool, what a concept!
As a professional chef of over 33 years, I could tell you it’s gorgeous and any real. Chef would use that board as a showcase in his kitchen beautiful job. 🫵🏼
have found that waiting a week or so before the final sanding -- after gluing -- is best. The blue works way out over a few days after that last glue up. Beautiful work!!!
Just the editing alone is a job in itself. Thank you for a crazy watch - what is the client going cut on a board this big!? Bigger is better I 'spose.
Fair play to you. A tremendous amount of labour hours. Hope the customer was very happy. And your still smiling at the end of the video 👍👍
I know absolutely nothing about woodworking but I always enjoy the process that goes into making something out of wood, the final product looks amazing.
That thing is remarkable. And it's really cool that you made a smaller one for the client with the leftovers.
The jointer work with the massive slabs was hard core!!! That took balls with the material you were dealing with!!!!
Yep , very admirable.
❤❤❤ I’m not your station. I just stumbled across you and thought I’d give you a watch and see what was going on with your station. I love table top tables, coffee tables, countertops, all of the above. And that one came out really nice kinda heavy but you did great lifting it by yourself. Be careful though you’re young you think you’re back and everything works just fine but when you get older, it will remind you of those days when you thought that you were young lol have a good weekend. This is a new week. Why didn’t anybody tell me that this was the week when you’re off from work you seem to forget what day it is what time it is the other day I got up And asked my husband what time is it and he says 730 and I looked at him. I said in the evening and he just stared at me and said no Sandra in the morning he said when was the last time you saw the sun 730 in the evening I said well it has happened, but that’s another story anyway have a good weekend bye😊
Great job on the end grain board. I love mixing maple and walnut into simple patterns of squares and rectangles. Take good care of yourself.
Ryan it’s great to see you do a video and what an amazing and stunning one it was. The cutting board turned out absolutely amazing your attention to detail is what sets you apart. So glad you are doing better and got help I know it’s not an easy thing to do is to ask for help. So hats off to you and then to get on here and share with us all God Bless and stay strong. Can’t wait to see what you do next my friend. 🙏🏻🙏🏻
Mad props to you for getting this done with the tools available. With a big jointer and thicknesser the initial steps would have been a couple of hours, flattening and sanding would have been... 3 hours with a wide belt sander, and for the final cutting down, juice groove and handles, 30 minutes with a CNC 😀 So I'm in awe of your patience and time dedicated!
I'm just amazed by the sheer massive size of the board! The smaller off-cut board would have been large enough for me, TBH. Your work is amazing; keep it up!
Great video! Your attention to detail is what it should be. Hey…I’m a retired Orthopedic surgeon and I was really watching you around the table saw. In my practice I saw many hand injuries from the table saw as you are pushing toward a fast moving blade. I do not remember an injury from a radial arm saw as you are “hands on” on the saw and moving the saw to the board! You perform meticulous work and could do what I do! Bob
Tremendous accomplishment. Great news that you recognized the need to get some help. Takes courage to realize one's limitations and that it is a sign of strength to get help when needed.
Awesome!! What a job!!!!! You sure fid a beautiful job. What a man! Glad you got the therapy and being open about it. A lot of people, 1 would not have gotten the help and 2, would not have admitted they needed help. So glad to see you doing well. Awesome video
This video was naer perfect, honestly. It was 23 muns but felt like 5. The flow was perfect. The content was 😮. And your packaging was 😊. Well done!
Beautifully made board, well done I hope the customer was happy with his purchase, even though it was way over schedule receiving it the way you packaged it was awesome they will appreciate the effort involved in shipping it the way you did, once again outstanding job.
This was the first video of yours that we watched. How enjoyable! The butcher block is beautiful and rich and massive! And we just love it that you included that mini-me (but a big baby) cutting board as a lagniappe. We have subscribed! We’d love to know how the client liked it.
Thanks for this video! I was looking to see what others have experienced, as I have an order for a 30"x30" butcher block, 3 inches thick. I see you have solutions for a lot of the problems I was anticipating, so this is good as I don't think I found another video on all of youtube that is for something this large. Also, few videos actually understand the term butcher block actually means end grain, but you definitely get it! I see that your long strips when joined for final glue up already had tight joints, whereas my previous attempt at this the joints had gaps and I had lots of trouble pulling them tight even with the entire surface covered in heavy duty clamps. It had thought the curved strips were just a result of stress release when cutting the wood and then gluing up the strip. Maybe walnut is more forgiving than maple in this respect, but it could also be from your slab flattening work. I'll have to review your video in more detail to see!
Also, the pricing is always a problem for a one-off. If you instead wanted to get say $50/hr for your time, the labour would have been $6,000, and you would have had to quote $8,000. At $8,000 (plus shipping) even your understanding client would likely have said "I'll think about it", even though there's not much margin in the $8,000. So for my butcher block order, I will quote a lot more than I originally planned on, as I doubt I will be able to do it in one week if you took 3 months for this. And if the client walks, they walk.
Wow!!! Nice work Ryan. Love that you shared your thoughts on how to make sure you don't under-estimate on a project. Those can kill your passion to continue.
Amazing build, beautiful work.
One thing that stuck out to me, for the hand holds cut into the bottom of the board, I thought it would be beneficial to see a groove cut upwards into the board, for your fingers to nest into when lifting.
Ryan, lovely work as always. More importantly, glad you're ok. I needed to hear your story, very much. Appreciate you.
What an incredible amount of skilled work. The client must be stoked with the result. I’d love to be on the receiving end of one of these.
Cheers and thanks for the entertainment
Robert
Down under
I love the whole thing, the way you made the video, showing lots of details, mistakes, and explaining why. Too bad you didn't come out nice with the overall bill.But indeed a nice result in the end, a happy customer and lots of viewers, keep going. Thanks for sharing from Mexico.
That is a stunning piece. Beautiful board, and a smaller to go with it?! Holy cow. Your wife is a rock star.
That board is beautiful!!! I absolutely love walnut. Thanks for sharing your process with us. You make it look so easy, but I know it was not. Thanks again.
The physical exhaustion with big builds is hard to gauge initially. Nice video to watch. Thank you for the upload
Very nice work and you gave the customer a great deal. Custom work is artistry and that doesn't come cheap for a good reason.
I will admit i was a little skeptical after the first 10 minutes however i am happy to say that i watched until the end! You did the best that you possibly could with what you have and to not only know but openly admit where you have made “mistakes” along the way; for one is tough and for two just goes to show that you are only human like the rest of us. I think you did an amazing job, i can tell how stressful it was for you but i can also see in your eyes how passionate you are about your work and that in itself is priceless! I am definitely subscribing and binge watching your content! I wish you the best of luck on future projects and i believe that you have what it takes to do great things! Keep it up!! Add also, a quote from a very wholesome and wise man “we don’t make mistakes just happy accidents” - Bob Ross
I gotta admit, $18 an hour has to sting! As you said though, you cannot put a price on experience! The piece was magnificent!! A monumental task, one that I would be terrified to undertake! $2K worth of material? Insane! It turned out amazing! You have massive cohonez just for taking the job!!! Amazing work, and thank you for sharing!!!
As a former cabinet maker,I can appreciate the work that went into this project,beautiful job.
Fantastic video and job love the details you provided. As a small shop woodworker I picked up a number of really good tips and ideas. I can’t imagine what the customer is using the huge cutting board for but they must be a butcher lol. Thank you for sharing loved it!
You did a fabulous job, notwithstanding the issues you faced. Profit is not all. Experience is everything.
A huge THANK YOU for sharing with us the amazing job, the struggles, the tips, and your views. Great person you are.