IE - They work well together. And today we have a case in point!
Backstory? Or just jump into it? OK, pictures first.
Yep, that's right - you are looking at the finest, uniquest, combination egg holder & charcuterie board in all the land!
(Somebody please tell spell check that "uniquest" is totally a word...)
This awesome live edge egg holder / charcuterie board came about because of a collaboration between yours truly and Genuine Skagit Valley. Stuff like this is why collaboration projects can be so fun and interesting - I honestly don't think I would (wood?!) have made an egg holder on my own, but I'm thrilled with how they turned out!
(If you're interested, there are a limited number of these available right now on the Genuine Skagit Valley shop here https://genuineskagitvalley.com/shop/
*Note, this is a natural wood product, so no two will be the same!*
OK, right, about the laser/cnc/sandwich thing!
So, I had planned to make these with my handheld router using a template I cut with my Glowforge laser. It worked OK, but was time consuming and I had some tearout while trying to get the tapered sides just right to hold the eggs (hold on, this isn't the peanut butter part yet, getting there soon, I promise).
After working through a few iterations of the egg holders with Blake from Genuine Skagit Valley, my X-Carve Pro CNC router showed up at the laboratory! Talk about a game changer! With the CNC I was able to make faster and cleaner cuts in the red alder live edge boards. After sanding, it was time to put the Genuine Skagit Valley logo onto the boards. This is where my Glowforge laser really shined, the laser engraved the logo beautifully on the first try. Whereas I would have struggled some with a V bit on the CNC to get similar results. Kinda like how peanut butter is good, but jelly makes it better!
So there you go, a real world excuse to get a CNC and a Laser!
Mmmmmm Peanut Butter and Jelly!
After the logos were finished, a little more sanding (there's always more sanding isn't there?!) and it was time for the finishing oil. I used food safe Nature's Mineral Oil, it's soooo satisfying how the wood comes to life more when you wipe on the finish!
Alright, looks like we have time fore a few last details before we wrap it up - The egg holder / charcuterie boards are made from a spalted red alder tree that came down near the laboratory here in Sedro-Woolley WA during a windstorm a few years ago. This was one of the first logs I cut up with my chainsaw mill and I was able to salvage a lot of tree. My hand carved live edge bench is also made from the same tree.
OK, I feel like I'm rambling now so we'll do the outro 😎
Fun project, and I've really enjoyed how working with Genuine Skagit Valley has helped me see more of the agriculture side of what Skagit Valley has to offer! Go check them out and if you're up with way feel free to say hi!
I'm kind hungry now... So yeah, bye-bye!