Add a Juice Groove to Your Cutting Board

Some people like to add a juice groove to their cutting board. So what it is is just a shell cut right around the perimeter where if you're cutting that lovely piece of roast beef, the juice from it has some place to go rather than running off the edge of the cutting board. So we need to know a few things before we get into the jig. The jig itself is pretty simple and straightforward. First off what bit, this is a half inch round nose also called a core box bit. So it gives us that complete U shape. When we cut into the material with it, it works great for a juice group. The other thing we need to know is some info from the router itself. So we got to put things together. And what I want to know now is the distance from the edge of the base to the center of the bit. So simple stuff on this router. It's two inches. What we're gonna do with that information is a little bit of math. I'm gonna set my jig up so that when I do cut a juice groove, it's one inch in from the edge. So what that means is that when we build this jig, there has to be a ledge on the bottom of this fence. So that when the ledge goes against our board like that, and the router comes in like this and it rides on that fence, the resulting groove there is gonna be one inch in. So the math is simple, if it's two inches from there to there and I wanna be one inch in, I need one inch of cantilever on this base. You want to check that for your particular router and get it right for your router. Now, when we build these, it's a real simple system. I've used MD F for the vertical and for the L down here, three quarter inch thick, I've used half inch thick material for the base and the width of that is such that it allows for that one inch cantilever toward the inside. When you put these together, we want to have a little gap there. We want this to be in my case, one inch short of the end so that when we put everything together, they can overlay like this. So this base piece is one inch shorter in my case than the overall length of the vertical, but that could change for you depending on how much cantilever you need. So assembly is simple. I have three of these already done. We're gonna do this and this but with some glue I'm gonna staple and the other component we need, the way we're gonna create this frame on the workbench is by clamping the parts together. So that's what that L shaped piece is for. So we need to add one of those and that is that little block just like that. Yeah. All right. Now, I gotta grab some clamps and then I'll show you how we're gonna use this chick to put this whole plan together. What we need to do is build the frame around the board. So piece in a piece. The biggest thing you wanna make sure of as you do this is that, that cantilever piece on the bottom is against that. Here is against that edge because if that walks away, you spacing on one side with your groove is gonna be different than on the other sides. So I'm closing the gap getting everything where it seems right, tight, tight, tight, tight, then clamp these double checking, clamp these. OK? All right now, visually. OK. I got a little gappy on that side. So I'm gonna close this there. So that's the importance of doing that double check to make sure that you don't have any gaps. And two, when the board is in here, it shouldn't wiggle. All right, I'm gonna pinch this guy one more time there. Give that a little hip to hold it. Next thing this is a system, but let's get that system secured to the bench and I think we're ready to go light depth. The cut, I'm only cutting about 1/16 of an inch deep right now. Direction of feet is a big deal. We want to work this in a direction where the rotation of the bit, which is this way is going to help hold us against the rail. So that means I'm gonna go around the jig this way, it's easiest to start in a corner because then the base can be registered against two surfaces. And what I'll do is turn this on plunge, move, increase your depth. That's given me what I want. That's absolutely beautiful. A little bit of hand sanding and that juice groove is ready to catch the juice off your roast beef.