I’m betting this is how my project priority will break down: something will annoy me enough often enough that it will jump to the top of the list, even though there are smarter things I should be doing. That’s how it was with this cutting board, anyway.

We have a really (potentially) slick under-counter cutting board in our kitchen, a great space saver and really handy already. Two problems: it sticks and won’t come out when it’s recessed completely, and there was a growing gap between two of the boards that was filling up with food bits and grossness.

I pulled it out (problem three: it comes out all the way and could easily fall out when loaded) and looked at the bottom – there was a line of "polished" wood, obviously the part causing friction and sticking. I went to work with some sandpaper and sanded down the rail it was sliding on and also a bit of the board, and soon had it sliding much better in and out. I was unable to keep it from sticking during the last 1/4" of the track, so I added a screw into the backboard to keep it offset by that much. Works well. One problem down.

Problem two: the gap. My guess on the gap is that it was caused by repeated attempts to dislodge the previously stuck cutting board by pulling on a single knob in the middle. The glue on the forward two joints held but the third broke and thus was born the gap. I was partially proved right when I was able to enlarge the gap slightly with a carefully wedged knife – the board slid in a tongue and groove on the sides. I cleaned out the crusted food and gunk, sanded a bit, slapped some wood glue in there and clamped it up. Good to go.

Finally, I re-seated the board and moved the makeshift knob from the front to the back but on the cupboard interior, so it would act as a stop when pulling the board foward. Problem three solved.

Still a bit of hesitancy in the motion of the board, might attack it once more with a sander, but on the whole my annoyance has been resolved! Now on to the 99 other things I put off by working on this one…

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