CHARCUTERIE / CHEESE PRESENTATION BOARDS – ORANGEVILLE

Background

We created a one-of-a-kind coffee table for this client in 2016 and they have come back to us with a second request.  They asked us to make a ‘different’ charcuterie / cheese presentation board they could use when entertaining friends.

  • Custom Live Edge Charcuterie Board Cheese Board - Aether Creations Newmarket Aurora
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Inspiration

Given the fact this client trusts us they gave us free reign to choose the wood and finish, the only instruction they gave us was make us something ‘different’

Although we ended up with 3 boards we started with one 7’ long piece.  This piece was less about the finished board and more about the raw piece of lumber we had in front of us.  It became a task to simply decide how to take what mother nature gave us and highlight it as best we could.

In our eyes the spectacular grain, sections with burl present and natural colouring is the real show.

Our Materials

These boards are made from live edge Box Elder.

Our Process

The process first began with choosing the piece to start with.  There were several options available to us but we picked this piece after contemplating how to form the boards and how to take advantage of the unique shapes and grain patterns that existed.

Next was a lot of drawing and imagining where to cut and what angle to cut on so that each board would appear as natural as possible.  At the same time wanting the finished piece to be functional as well.

Once we had the boards shaped and cut into individual pieces it was off to the planer to get the finished side planed down to where we wanted it.  This process is interesting to us because with each pass a little more of the natural beauty comes out or disappears.

When we had each piece where we wanted them it was off to sanding.  Some people say that sanding is by far the most boring part of the job.  We like it because we can see hints of what the finished piece will look like as you go.  Cleaning up the live edge and highlighting the unique shapes of the wood is time consuming.  But in the end so completely worth it.

Once sanded to our satisfaction, it’s time for finishing.  Because these pieces are ‘presentation’ boards and are not designed to function as cutting boards we chose to seal them.  We chose this finish as it would help accentuate the grain and burl patterns that existed naturally in the wood.  3 coats later and we think these pieces are more like art than functional charcuterie / cheese presentation boards.

In the end we were asked to make 1 board, we made 3 and the client purchased 2 of them, as they said ‘I don’t want anyone else having them’  needless to say they were happy with their project.