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Cherry Serving Board with Juice Groove

Single-slab cherry board, routed juice groove, no glue-up at all. The best first project in the catalog.

Difficulty: Beginner
Time: 2–3 hrs, plus oiling
Cost: $

Cut list

Part	Qty	T × W × L	Material	✓
Board blank One piece. If your board is cupped, take the cup out before you do anything else.	1	13/16" × 10" × 16"	Cherry	☐

Materials

Item	Qty	✓
Cherry board, 4/4, 10" wide, surfaced (Cherry) ~$9/bd ft. Ask the lumberyard for one clear, flat board — you want no knots and no cup.	2 board feet	☐
Food-safe mineral oil	8 oz	☐
Beeswax / mineral oil paste	2 oz	☐
Sandpaper, assorted grits	6 each	☐

Overall cost: $. Lumber varies by region, species, and season, so we give a band rather than a figure.

Tools

Combination Square
Random Orbit Sander
Router
The juice groove needs a core box (round-nose) bit. This is the one tool you can't skip.
Spring Clamps
To hold the board and the router fence to the bench.
Straight Edge
Clamped down as a router fence. A straight scrap board works.
Tape Measure
Jigsaw — optional
Only if you shape a handle.
Miter Saw — optional
Squaring the ends. A hand saw and a square do it.

Instructions

1. Pick a flat board
Tools: Combination Square. Materials: Cherry board, 4/4, 10" wide, surfaced
Standing in the lumber aisle, sight down the board's length and across its width. Reject anything cupped or twisted — you have no glue-up to hide behind here, and a cupped serving board rocks on the table forever.
A clear, flat, 10"-wide cherry board is worth walking to a second yard for.
2. Cut to size and square the ends
Tools: Combination Square, Miter Saw, Random Orbit Sander. Materials: Cherry board, 4/4, 10" wide, surfaced
Crosscut to 16". Check both ends with a square — if the board rocks or the ends aren't 90°, fix it now.
Sand the faces flat with 100 grit if the mill marks are heavy.
3. Lay out the juice groove
Tools: Combination Square, Tape Measure
Mark a rectangle 1-1/4" in from every edge. That's the centerline of the groove.
The groove's job is to catch juice off a roast, so it needs to be a closed loop — an unclosed groove just delivers juice onto the counter.
4. Rout the groove
Tools: Router, Spring Clamps, Straight Edge
Chuck a 1/2" core box bit. Set the depth to 1/4", no deeper — go deeper and you're structurally weakening a 13/16" board.
Clamp a straight-edge as a fence, rout one side, reposition, repeat. Four passes and four repositionings.
Go slowly at the corners. Take a light pass first and sneak up on the full depth — cherry burns if you dwell.
5. Round the corners and ease the edges
Tools: Jigsaw, Random Orbit Sander. Materials: Sandpaper, assorted grits
Trace something round (a paint can lid) at each corner and cut with a jigsaw, or just sand them round. Square corners on a serving board chip and jab.
Break every edge with sandpaper until nothing feels sharp.
6. Sand
Tools: Random Orbit Sander. Materials: Sandpaper, assorted grits
100 → 150 → 220. Get inside the groove too — fold sandpaper over a dowel.
Wipe with a damp rag, let dry, and sand once more at 220. That raised grain would otherwise come up on the first wash.

Cut list

Materials

Tools

Instructions

1. Pick a flat board

2. Cut to size and square the ends

3. Lay out the juice groove

4. Rout the groove

5. Round the corners and ease the edges

6. Sand

7. Oil and wax