How to Make a Charcuterie Board from Scrap Wood (Free Plans Included)

There's something about a striped charcuterie board that makes a cheese plate look ten times more impressive than it has any right to. The good news is they're genuinely easy to build — and they're one of the best projects going for using up the offcuts of nice timber that have been piling up in the corner of your workshop.

In this post I'll walk you through how to build my charcuterie board from start to finish. It uses two contrasting timbers ripped into thin strips and glued back together into a striped panel, then shaped into a paddle with a comfortable handle. The full digital plans are completely free to download, so you've got everything you need to follow along on the bench.

Why this build is a great use of scrap wood

Most "scrap" pieces are too small or oddly shaped to be useful for furniture, but they're perfect for a charcuterie board. You only need lengths over 650mm and you only need 19mm thickness — anything wider you can rip down. As long as you've got two different species kicking around, you can make this board.

The contrast between the two timbers is what makes the finished piece. Walnut and maple is a classic combination, but you can use whatever you've got — cedar and pine, oak and jarrah, blackwood and Tasmanian oak. The bigger the colour difference, the more the stripes pop.

A quick note on food safety: stick to closed-grain hardwoods (or tight-grain softwoods like cedar) and avoid anything toxic. Most common cabinet timbers are fine.

The finished board

The board is a long paddle shape — wide enough to lay out a generous spread, with a narrow handle at one end so you can carry it to the table.

Total dimensions:

• Length: 640mm
• Width: 200mm
• Thickness: 19mm

The handle is two strips wide, with 90mm radius curves transitioning from the body of the board.

What you'll need

Materials

• One length of Timber 1 — over 650mm long, 140mm wide, 19mm thick (or equivalent in offcuts)
• One length of Timber 2 — same dimensions, in a contrasting species
• Wood glue
• Sandpaper in 80, 120 and 240 grit
• Food-safe finish (I recommend tung oil — more on this later)

The 650mm minimum is so you can rip the strips long enough for the board. If you're piecing together offcuts, just make sure each strip is at least that long.

Tools

• Table saw (for ripping the strips)
• Push stick — non-negotiable for thin rips
• Plenty of clamps for the glue-up
• Thickness planer, hand plane, or random orbit sander (for flattening)
• Jigsaw (for cutting the handle)
• Palm router with a 5mm roundover bit
• Pencil, ruler, square

Cut list

Part	Length	Width	Thickness	Quantity
Strips (Timber 1)	650mm+	20mm	19mm	6
Strips (Timber 2)	650mm+	20mm	19mm	4

Step 1: Rip the strips

Set your table saw fence to 20mm and rip both timbers down into strips. You're aiming for 6 strips of Timber 1 and 4 strips of Timber 2.

These strips are thin, so use a push stick the whole way through. Keep your fingers well clear of the blade and take your time — there's no prize for finishing this step quickly.

If your timber is thicker than 19mm, plane it down to 19mm first before ripping. You want all ten strips identical so the glue-up sits flat.

Step 2: Glue the strips into a panel

Now arrange the strips on edge into a striped pattern, alternating between Timber 1 and Timber 2. The plans use a roughly 2:1 ratio of light to dark — you'll have enough strips to play with the arrangement until the pattern looks balanced. Lay them out dry first and shuffle until you're happy.

Once you've settled on the pattern, run a generous bead of wood glue down each mating edge. Don't be precious about it — squeeze-out is normal and easier to deal with than dry joints.

Clamp the whole panel up across its width with cauls (straight scrap pieces) above and below to keep everything flat. You'll want clamps every 100–150mm along the length. Wipe away the worst of the squeeze-out with a damp rag, then leave the panel clamped overnight to cure properly.

Step 3: Flatten the panel

After the glue has cured, the panel will likely have small ridges where strips sit slightly proud of their neighbours. There are three ways to deal with this, in order of preference:

• Thickness planer — fastest and flattest. Run the panel through in light passes from both faces until everything is flush.
• Hand plane — slower but very satisfying. A well-tuned smoother makes quick work of small ridges.
• Random orbit sander — works fine, just takes longer and uses a lot of sandpaper. Start at 80 grit.

Whichever method you use, your goal is a flat, even surface on both faces with all the strips perfectly flush.

Step 4: Mark out the handle

Lay the panel flat with one short end facing you. This end will become the handle.

Measure 170mm in from the end and draw a line across the panel — this is where the handle transition will start.

The handle itself runs down the centre of the board and is two strips wide (40mm). To shape the curves either side, measure two strips down from each long edge and mark those points on your 170mm line. From each of those points, draw a 90mm radius arc that sweeps from the long edge into the centre. The two arcs should leave a 40mm-wide handle running out the end.

Take your time marking this out — a compass or trammel makes the arcs easy. Double check both sides are symmetrical before cutting.

Step 5: Cut the handle

Cut along your marked lines with a jigsaw. Stay just outside the line by a millimetre or two — you'll sand back to the line in the next step, and it's much easier to remove a little extra than to fix a cut that went too far.

Use a fine-tooth blade for cleaner edges, and let the saw do the work — forcing it makes the blade wander.

Step 6: Round over the edges

Fit a 5mm roundover bit in your palm router and run it around every edge of the board — top and bottom, all the way around the perimeter and around the handle curves. The roundover does two things: it makes the board comfortable to hold and it prevents sharp edges from chipping in use.

For the corners (where the handle meets the long edges, and the four outer corners), just hand-sand a small radius onto them. This softens everything off and stops anything feeling sharp.

Step 7: Sand to a buttery finish

Work through the grits in order: 80, then 120, then 240. Don't skip grits — each one removes the scratches left by the one before it.

Pay particular attention to the saw marks left by the jigsaw on the handle curves, and to any glue squeeze-out you missed. By the time you finish at 240, the surface should feel completely smooth to the touch.

A tip: between 120 and 240 grit, wipe the board with a damp cloth and let it dry. This raises the grain so your final sand cuts off the raised fibres, leaving a much smoother finish.

Step 8: Apply a food-safe finish

This is the make-or-break step for how the board looks long term.

I recommend a food-safe tung oil. Make sure the tin specifically says it's safe for surfaces that contact food — some tung oil products contain driers and solvents that aren't. Other good options are pure mineral oil, beeswax, or a board butter (a mix of mineral oil and beeswax).

Apply a generous coat with a clean cloth, let it soak in for 15–20 minutes, then wipe off any excess. Let it cure for at least 24 hours, then apply a second coat. Two or three coats is plenty.

After that, you're done. Care for it like any cutting board — hand wash only, don't soak it, and re-oil every few months as the finish wears.

Download the free plans

If you'd rather work from a clean printed PDF on the bench than scroll on your phone, you can download the full plans free here. They include every measurement, diagram and step laid out the same way I work through them in the shop.

If you build one, I'd love to see it — tag me on Instagram @whiteravenwoodworking so I can share it.

Happy building.

— Josh