Break bread easily with this simply-made breakfast champion.
Overall dimensions: 8 1⁄2"w × 3"d × 5 3⁄4"h
Say good-bye to the dangerous circus trick of holding a bagel in one hand while trying to knife it into two equal halves with the other. Say hello to this simple scrapwood project that lets you slice bagels safely with a bread knife while ensuring perfect cuts every time. For the slicer body, I went with cherry for the supports, divider, and base. To dress up this kitchen accessory, I glued on figured sides made from quartersawn sycamore. Let’s build one.
Start with the bagel supports
1. To create the bagel supports (A), rip enough 3⁄4"-thick cherry to 7⁄8" wide by 16" long to create the lamination shown in Figure 1. (If you have 7⁄8"-thick stock, skip the lamination step.) Laminate the pieces together face-to-face for a 7⁄8"-thick lamination, keeping the surfaces and ends flush.
2. Remove the clamps, and scrape or wipe off the excess glue. Let dry and then plane or sand the two faces smooth. Rip the lamination to 5" wide. 3 Set your mitersaw at 7°, and miter-cut two 71⁄2"-long pieces from the lamination. Using double-faced tape, adhere the two interior support pieces (A) together with the mitercut ends and edges flush.
3. Lay out the U-shaped interior cutline on the top blank, and bandsaw the opening to shape, as shown in Photo A. Sand the bandsawn edges smooth using a drum sander or oscillating spindle sander. (I used a 3" drum sander.) Separate the pieces, and remove the double-faced tape.
4. Plane or resaw a piece of hardwood. (I used quartersawn sycamore) to 1⁄4" thick × 5" wide × 17" long. Plane or sand both faces of the exterior blank smooth.
5. Using one of the bagel supports (A) as a template, mark the 7° profile for the two sides (B). Miter-cut the side pieces to the same length and shape as the bagel supports.
6. Adhere the two sides (B) together with the miter-cut ends and edges flush. Use a compass to mark a 2" radius on the top piece, where shown in Figure 2. Bandsaw the cutouts in the tapedtogether pieces, and drum-sand the bandsawn edges smooth.
7. Spread glue on the mating surfaces of the supports and sides (A, B). Now, adhere and clamp one side to one support with the edges and ends flush. Wipe off any excess glue with a damp cloth. Repeat for the other support and side.
8. Cut the 1⁄8"-thick divider (C) to size plus 1" in length. With a 1⁄2" overhang at each end, glue it With a between the outside assemblies (A, B), checking that the assembly edges are aligned (Photo B).
9. Trim the divider (C) flush with the top assembly halves. Sand the miter-cut edges of the sides flush with the supports (A). Sand a 1⁄8" round-over along the miter-cut edges of the body assembly. (See Figure 2.) Sand a slight round-over along the radiused edges of the sides (B).
10. Cut the base (D) to size, and rout a 1⁄4" round-over on the top edges. Drill countersunk holes 1" in from the edges and 1 1⁄2" in from the ends. Sand the parts to 220 grit. Center the body (A, B, C) on the base (D). Glue and screw together. Apply finish. (I used Behlen’s Salad Bowl Finish.)
