Campervan Project #2: Cutting Board Sink Cover
We repurposed an old cutting board prototype into a cover for our sink for the campervan. Almost two decades ago, Left Buddy (LB) toyed with a woodworking business for a short while. Right Buddy (RB) still believes that the woodworking business was just a ploy to fill our garage with expensive man toys. [LB here: I do not disagree with this statement ;) ] However, those toys came in handy for building the sink cover and the old cutting board prototype, made from strips of maple, walnut and cherry, just happened to be the perfect size for the sink.
LB was back in his element, enjoying working with his hands and his toys. The planer was used to make the cutting board lie flat again. LB used the table saw for most of the cutting, but also made use of the band saw, drill press, router, and orbital sander.
The design was to cut the scrap cutting board down to fit into the ridge along the edge of the sink, then cut away part of the thickness around the edge of the cutting board to provide a lip, with the thick part of the cutting board extending down into the bowl of the sink, providing a nice fit. A finger hole would make it easier to lift the board off the sink.
There were two challenges with the design. The first was how to accurately transfer the shape and position of the sink bowl onto the cutting board. The second was how to cut away the thickness of the board from the edge of the sink bowl to the edge of the cutting board.
LB solved the first challenge by cutting out construction paper to the dimensions of the cutting board after it had been cut down to match the ridge of the sink. The construction paper was then taped to the sink. A hole in the center of the paper allowed LB to stick his hand into the sink bowl and trace the shape of the bowl from underneath using a Sharpie. The paper was then taped to the cutting board and the shape was scored into the cutting board using box cutters. Tracing the score with a pencil made the shape more visible on the cutting board.
The second challenge was also a multi-step process. LB made a jig that he clamped the cutting board to. The jig allowed the board to be safely cut with the table saw in a vertical position. This worked to remove most of the material using straight cuts. In order to remove the remaining material around the curves, LB free-handed the cuts using the router.
The rest of the project was pretty straightforward. The corners of the board were rounded using the band saw. The finger hole was cut using the drill press. After that, the only things left were filing and sanding to give it a smooth appearance and then rubbing in a food-grade oil for a nice finish.
Check out the video of the Cutting Board Sink Cover Build on our YouTube Channel. Please subscribe so you don’t miss any of our campervan project posts.
(RB)