How to Declutter Kitchen Space, DIY Cutting Board Holder

The kitchen is a space where hundreds of different chemistry reactions occur in order to make dishes that satisfy your hunger or taste. To many, like myself and my parents, find that the kitchen space may sometimes be too small for the sophisticated process of cooking. Turns out, many other people suffer from the same issue as well. For example, in an article written by Kitchen Guide, common problems people face in the kitchen are lack of counter space and storage. To solve this, I have come up with a sustainable solution to free up some extra storage and counter space (if you keep your cutting board on the counter), which is a cutting board holder.

• Autodesk Inventor
• Laser Cutter
• Plywood panels (Dependent on cutting board size)
• Wood Glue
• Utility Knife
• Any food grade stain (Optional)
• Piece of cloth (Optional)
• Double-sided mounting tape

Firstly, measure the height, width and length of your cutting board and note these measurements on a sheet of paper. These dimensions will be crucial to designing the holder in Inventor and will ultimately create a very snug fit for your cutting board once finished. My cutting board measures to 10.5" x 8", or 266.7mm x 203.2mm.

In Inventor, create a new .ipt file (I used mm) and begin by clicking start sketch along the XZ plane. In the top bar, click rectangle and create a rectangle with the same length and width as the measurements you made earlier of your cutting board. You can create precise measurements using the dimensions tool and clicking the side of the rectangle you want to measure. Create another rectangle in the center with a 40 mm gap in between. Next, create the joints by aligning with the center rectangle, creating two small rectangle on each long side with dimensions of 10 and 50mm and cut the line to bring the joint together. Beside your main frame, create two rectangles with the same length and 10mm more of your thickness of your cutting board and copy the dimensions of the middle joints shown. Create the same joints as before, and set the dimensions of the holes as the same thickness of your cutting board to the side of the joint end. Create 4 smaller rectangles with the dimensions shown and the same joint hole, you want these triangles to be in the center of your main frame to reduce waste of plywood. Lastly, hit finish sketch and click extrude and extrude the same areas shown, set the extrusion to 0.01mm and you are ready for the next step.

Transfer your finished panels over to a pdf file and upload it to your laser cutting software. Place your plywood directly into the laser cutter and trace the perimeter of the project to make sure everything fits. Set your material to plywood and set your cut settings as shown in the picture above. Once done close the lid and start the machine hovering over the entire process to ensure utmost safety and no hazards.

Bring finished pieces over to a clean work area and assemble the holder by simply sliding in each part in its respective slot. Once finished it can be seen that the four pads meant to stick have large pieces of wood sticking out, this is just to make sure the laser cutter doesn't cut too much off the knobs, you can simply cut it off with a utility knife.

Once assembled and the layout and what the finished product would look like, you can begin gluing all the joints on the outer edges. Do not glue the inside joints as this will create rubbery spots on the inside that could grip onto the cutting board making it harder to slide in. Evenly lather glue into the crooks and crannies of each joint, once done set to dry in a clean area for an hour.

Once the glue has dried, the holder can be used already, but in order to make the tool last longer and look better possibly match the rest of your kitchen. Pour your food grade stain into a small container, no more than a quarter cup of stain should do the trick. With your cloth, dip into the stain and begin rubbing it into the wood, rub one area with a good amount of stain to get a good idea of what an even coat looks like and stain the entire holder. Once finished, dry on top of a area with low surface area, i.e. a piece of wood with nails nailed into it, or hang it up with string. It should take no longer than thirty minutes for the wood to dry.

Cut your double-sided tape as the same length of your four pads making sure each pad is fully covered with the tape. Peel the ends and stick it wherever you would like. For example, I found the best spots were on cupboards, whether the side walls or bottom, having it stay on the cupboards provides easy access to your cutting board while not taking up any space.

Overall, this project is decently easy to make yourself with the most challenging part being Inventor if you have never used it before. The product is durable and relatively cheap and cost efficient if you have the major tools required for this project. (Even if you don't have a laser cutter you could even cut it with various other tools). The DIY Cutting Board Holder is able to assist hundreds of kitchens with space and can reduce the need to spend hundreds of dollars on extending your kitchen. On top of the flexibility of where you can place the holder, your access to the cutting board can be at the snap of a finger, it makes it easier and quicker to bring delicious, fulfilling meals to your friends and family.