The Charcuterie Cookies
Woodchip, not chocolate chip
What is it?
What started out as rough, chainsaw-cut wood cookies, turned into conversational charcuterie boards. We started out trying to flatten or reshape these cookies, but it was at a time when we didn’t have a router mill, bandsaw, or many of the other tools and techniques we’ve acquired over time. They were cut in half using a reciprocating saw with an extra-long blade and gave up on sanding after burning through too many discs. So epoxy saved the day! When we received these, Mrs. Woodworking overestimated some abilities to shape these in time for a birthday party, but we eventually did come through.
What did we learn?
This project is when we discovered that you can make epoxy forms out of almost anything as long as it is non-porous and has a few other redeeming qualities. For this project, we used painter’s edging which is used to protect carpet that is next to trim you are painting. We then taped some metal strap we had to the outside of the rings to make them a little more rigid. Finally, we added a bead of silicone caulk at the bottom on the inside and outside to prevent leaks and to hold the form in place on top of some waxed melamine.
This was also the first time we mixed two different colors of epoxy, colored with mica powder. The shape of this cookie reminded us of the shape of Ukraine, which is where our youngest daughter was born. Because the cookie wasn’t properly weighted down after the pour, it raised a bit, so we turned it into a clock that is always set to her birth country’s time.
Finally, this was the first project where we degassed the epoxy before pouring. It greatly improved the clarity of the epoxy and the end result. Unfortunately it does nothing for air trapped under the cookies that decides to surface late in the curing process, but drill bits can help fix that later.
But like was said in the beginning, we learned so much since this project. We would use a bandsaw to cut the cookies in half and shave off the outer layers to true them up. We could also use a router mill to flatten them. These steps would reduce the amount of epoxy we used and improve the results.
In Closing…
Be willing to take chances, try things out, make mistakes, and learn. Life is a journey and God guides every step and He uses EVERYTHING in our journey for His purposes and to grow us. And sometimes, the learnings come much later. Altogether we are happy with the end result and these charcuterie boards have served very useful!
PS - Be sure to cover your pieces while the epoxy cures. Sometimes you may get unplanned visitors trying to drink your epoxy.
