Bread-loaf Miter Box from Ikea cutting board


Materials: 1 $1.99 Ikea wood cutting board, 8 galvanized 1 1/2" Grabber screws, table saw, drill and countersink, drill/driver, wood putty, Workmate 400 workbench, carpenter's wood glue

Description: I've been using our bread machine a lot recently, and wanted a miter box to help me cut thinner, more consistent slices. The $1.99 Ikea cutting board I'd been using for a couple of years was warping, so was fair game for cutting up to make such a device.

Using the remnant of the last loaf I had baked as a template, I took measurements and laid out cut lines on the soon-to-be-ex-cutting board. I designed it so the front panel extends down a half inch below the front lip of the countertop - the so-called bench hook effect, so the whole contraption doesn't slip around while you are sawing your rustic loaf.

A miter box could hardly be simpler, consisting as it does of only three pieces - front, back, and bottom. This box, designed around the loaf that comes out of a Breadman bread machine, wastes only a 3/4 -inch crosswise strip from the Ikea cutting board.


I held the bottom panel vertically in the Workmate vise, and aligned the front panel horizontally on top of it, countersinking one hole at a time, then fastening them temporarily with a screw.

The reason to drill and fasten one screw at a time is because the bottom panel had a curve in it, due to the previous warping of the cutting board, and I was able to straighten it out by bending it straight with my hands until the screws could take the tension. When all the screws were fitted, I disassembled it, applied glue to the two joints, and reassembled it.


I marked vertical cut lines on the front and back panels and cut the slots with a large hand saw. In retrospect, this is not really accurate enough, and next time I'll do this job on the table saw while the parts are disassembled. Since I'm right-handed, the cut slot is near the right side of the box.

I filled the screw holes with wood putty, waited for it to dry, and sanded the plugs flush. Then I sanded off all the various pencil marks and knocked down the fresh cut edges a little to avoid sliver hazards. Finally, I applied Ikea Skydd, food-grade mineral oil for conditioning cutting boards.

~ Mark Ungar, Richmond, CA
Related Posts
Share This Article

0 comments

Recent Comments

  1. Great blog ! I am impressed with suggestions of author.
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.
  3. Hi, did you also cut the back mounting bracket (if so, does this still work well?), or did you use