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Our over the sink cutting board is one of our most inquired
about items, but because it requires that YOU make a template
for us to use in building your board, it can be one of the
most problematic. In an effort to clarify the making of
this template, we have put together this brief tutorial.
A template is required because there are so many different
sizes, shapes, and styles of sinks that offering as few
"standard" sizes would be totally
impractical. Each board we make must be custom
tailored to the sink it will be used on. And since it
is equally impractical for you to send us your sink, a
template is the only way to make this happen.
All photographs used in this tutorial can be enlarged by
clicking on them. Return here by clicking your web
browser's BACK button.
 Tools and
materials needed are minimal: a piece of light cardboard, a
pair of sharp scissors, some masking tape and a pencil.
For the cardboard, a manila file folder, card stock from a
new shirt, or a light box, like a cake box or clothing box
all work well. Here I'm using the lid of a light
box that a printing job from an office supply store came to
us in. I flattened the box then used masking tape to
stabilize the corner flaps. What is important is that
whatever you use be stiff enough that you can hold it in the
sink opening without it flopping all over, yet be light
enough that you can trim it with scissors. Regular
paper is too light (unless you tape several sheets together)
and you will frustrate yourself in trying to get a good read
on how well it fits the opening. Corrugated cardboard
is very stiff, but also very hard to trim off just a hair
when you get to that point.
 For this
tutorial I will be using the sink in my workshop: and old
(and rather dirty, please over look the grunge) stainless
steel kitchen sink. Yours may be similar to this, it
may be porcelain or a modern integral unit made into a
Corian(tm) or stone countertop. It makes no difference,
the principles are the same. When I build the board I
will cut it 3/4 of an inch larger than your template
and cut a recess on the under side that fits into your sink,
leaving a lip around the edge to keep the board from falling
into the sink. We will need to fit two sides and three
corners, leaving one corner open so you can scrape cuttings
into the sink for disposal.
 Start by
cutting the cardboard to approximate size; a little bigger
than you need, then establishing - roughly - one corner and
two sides. The two sides need to lay evenly against the
inside edge of the sink, the curve of the corner needs to fit
fairly well into the inside curve of your sink.
 This will
be your reference point from here on, so it needs to be
pretty close to right. Snip away slivers to refine the
shape. If you cut away too much, restore it by wrapping
masking tape around the edge to replace the cardboard and
trim it again.
 Once your
reference corner is established, lay the cardboard on the
sink, with the reference corner snugly against the inside
surfaces of the sink, and rub your finger or thumb
hard against the rim of the sink to outline the shape
of the sink. Enlarge that picture, see that shiny line
where the outside of even this sink marked the
cardboard? The sharper the edge of your sink the easier
this is to do, but even a rolled edge like this will
transfer. Now, estimate (or measure it if you're
fussy) the distance between the edge of the sink that
transferred to the cardboard and the inner edge of the
sink. In this case, it was about a quarter of an
inch. Sketch a line that distance inside of the rub
mark representing your estimated inner edge.
 Take your
scissors and cut the cardboard between the rub mark
and the line your drew. How close you cut to the line
depends on your confidence in your measurement. Cutting
closer to the line will mean less trimming as long as you are
not cutting away too much. At this point you're
just trying to get rid of the bulk of the excess cardboard.
 Now comes
the tedious (and most important) part: refining the shape for
a perfect fit. Lay the cardboard in the top of the
sink, look to see where the template does not fit into the
sink opening, and trim away a little at that point.
Repeat this fitting and trimming until you have a good
fit. What is a good fit? Wood will expand
and contract a little with changes in atmospheric humidity -
and being washed.  If your
template is too snug in the opening, your board may be
difficult to insert into the sink opening. Too loose
and the board will wiggle around in the opening. It
would have to be WAY loose for the board to fall off the rim,
but a board that slides around when you're using it can
be annoying. A good fit will be a template that is not
jammed in the opening at any point, but also does not have
any gaps over 1/8" wide.
These boards are designed to be basically triangular.
They need to fit into three corners well enough that the
board can not walk across the sink enough that the corner
opposite the hypotenuse (for the mathematically challenged
that would be the long slanted side) will fall into the sink.
 OK, you
have your template made; there is one more very important
step to take. Clearly mark one side as "TOP",
meaning the upper surface of the board. There is no
need to get your curves perfectly radiused, I will even them
out. Now, send us the template. You may fold it,
but please don't mangle it. [Click Here] to get the mailing
address.
NOTICE:
Your cutting board will be made to the size and shape of the
template you supply, as described above. We will fair
out minor imperfections in the shape, but must hold to the
basic shape of the template. The template is all we
have to go on. If your board does not fit properly
because the template was sloppily made or improperly labeled
we will NOT remake the board at no charge. Adjustments
and do-overs can be done, but they will be charged at our
standard shop labor rate.
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