Does absence really make the heart grow fonder?  Oh, good.

Here for Post 100 I’m going to share my new love, the light of my life, the reason I wake in the morning…my new cutting board.  Ahhhh, it’s so gorgeous I could almost cry when I look at it.  It was hard to actually cut on it instead of just hang it on the wall and ogle it daily, but I did it.  I done broked it in.

It’s made of a combo of woods by woodsman extraordinaire, Chad Johnson (see him here hard at work making beautiful organs:  http://www.bedientorgan.com/meet_us.html)  According to him this board includes: Quartered White Oak, Quartered Red Oak, White Oak, Red Oak, Cherry, Maple, Mahogany, Walnut and Mordillo.  His standard cutting boards are around 9″ x 12″ x 3/4″, which he sells for $18.00.  Yep, that’s all.  I paid a little more for this one since I wanted it larger and thicker, but such fantastic craftsmanship for that price!

He also made this lovely serving board from 100 year old Sugar Maple, with Cherry dados.  Hommina hommina hommina – can’t wait to have a dinner or party and put something special on it.

He would love to make one for you too, and has given me permission to give out his contact information.

email Big Tree Woodworking at:  chadrak123@aol.com

or call: 402.540.2995

I came up with this design while I was still working at ACE Hardware, and lived in an apartment with 12 foot ceilings.  Oh, and I also didn’t want to spend a hundred plus bucks for a rack I didn’t even like the style of.  I gave that one away to a friend who was moving into a new place.  Now I live in place with normal human-sized rooms and 8 foot ceilings.

I used:

• 4 – Ceiling hooks @ 3/$1.09
• 4 – Spring Clips/caribiners @ $.89/ea
• 2 – 4′ lengths of EMT conduit @ $1.98/10′
• 2 – 1.5′ lengths of chain @ $.65/foot
• 2 – 1′ lengths of chain @ $.65/foot
• 10 – S-hooks at $.99/ea

*Note: these parts can be painted, or colored versions substituted relatively easily – think copper or black.   You can also use shorter lengths of pipe or chain depending on your space available.

Simple to hang – put the ceiling hooks into stable place in the ceiling, placed between 2.5 and 3 feet apart.  Hang the chains from these hooks, with the shorter chains in the back – farthest away from you.  Put spring clips through other end of the chain.  Slide EMT through larger opening on spring clips.  Put on S-hooks, and hang those pots and pans – long -handled on the back, shorter pots/pans closer to you.