Bread Slicer

21incher · February 04, 2014, 05:06:10 PM

For Christmas I got my wife one of those stand mixers with a dough hook. Ever since we have enjoyed fresh bread daily. The only problem was neither one of us could slice it evenly without hacking it up so I designed a bread slicer that is ambidextrous ( because I am left handed and she is right handed ) and allows us to get a perfect slice every time. It will slice from 0-1 inch thick and even works on soft hot bread.

It consists of a guided bow knife, a cutting board and a couple of removable guides for round loaves

The vertical guide is mortised into the base

The saw has a guide slot with about .010" slip fit on the guide

You just load the bread, slice it with a razor blade bread knife, then slide it forward the thickness you want and a perfect slice every time. I posted a pic on Facebook and it looks like I will have to build many more for next Christmas.

thecfarm · February 04, 2014, 05:27:38 PM

Good idea. We got a knife like that,but no stand for the bread.

mmartone · February 04, 2014, 05:30:05 PM

Did you use an old woodmizer blade? ???

Magicman · February 04, 2014, 05:44:50 PM

You solved the problem with some neat craftsmanship. ;)

yukon cornelius · February 04, 2014, 05:48:47 PM

wow that is a great idea! it looks great!

Jeff · February 04, 2014, 06:04:51 PM

That is beautiful!

sprucebunny · February 04, 2014, 06:12:32 PM

That's a great set up !
I keep imagining the sound different woods would make as you sawed back and forth. Guess most people would be hearing/smelling the bread ??? :D

pineywoods · February 04, 2014, 07:47:31 PM

Neat.. 8) I'm bookmarking this thread. Wife has one of those automatic bread makers that she never uses. I LOVE home-made bread. Maybe one of these would encourage her... Only problem, I don't have any maple. Wonder how cherry or sycamore would work ?

lowpolyjoe · February 04, 2014, 07:57:37 PM

That thing is great!

WDH · February 04, 2014, 08:02:38 PM

Go with the cherry unless you like your bread slices with a twist :D.

Larry · February 05, 2014, 07:42:15 AM

Good design and beautiful construction. Nice job on the pictures also...I can almost smell the fresh bread here. 8) 8)

21incher · February 05, 2014, 08:15:47 AM

Thanks for the comments everyone.

Quote from: mmartone on February 04, 2014, 05:30:05 PM
Did you use an old woodmizer blade? ???

Good idea. For one of the first crusty loaves we could have used one. The blade was from a knife that was given to me as a gift years ago. Now that I have to make more slicers for friends I am trying to find a source that is affordable for a couple dozen more.

Quote from: Magicman on February 04, 2014, 05:44:50 PM
You solved the problem with some neat craftsmanship. ;)

The first attempt was not so neat it looked like a giant coping saw that moved along the bread and could not cut a perfect slice every time. Needless to say my frustration was relieved watching it burn in my wood stove. The simpler the better.

Quote from: sprucebunny on February 04, 2014, 06:12:32 PM
That's a great set up !
I keep imagining the sound different woods would make as you sawed back and forth. Guess most people would be hearing/smelling the bread ??? :D

Lately I try to incorporate as many different type of woods as I can into each project and I know that these 3 trees were growing alongside each other in my yard so I figured I would keep them together.

Quote from: pineywoods on February 04, 2014, 07:47:31 PM
Neat.. 8) I'm bookmarking this thread. Wife has one of those automatic bread makers that she never uses. I LOVE home-made bread. Maybe one of these would encourage her... Only problem, I don't have any maple. Wonder how cherry or sycamore would work ?

The cherry should work. I made the saw handle of cherry and If I did not have the maple and walnut scraps the whole slicer would most likely be cherry.
Looks like one of my next projects is going to have to be a outside wood burning bread and pizza oven.

Tom L · February 05, 2014, 09:36:55 AM

that's a great idea, and the craftsmanship is perfect

can't wait to see your pizza cutter!

Dave Shepard · February 05, 2014, 10:07:08 AM

Next, you need to add an adjustable log, er I mean loaf stop, and a double cut blade so you can cut on the return stroke of the carriage. :D And maybe a roller outfeed table.

21incher · February 05, 2014, 11:28:04 AM

Quote from: Tom L on February 05, 2014, 09:36:55 AM
that's a great idea, and the craftsmanship is perfect

can't wait to see your pizza cutter!

Here is the ash & zebrawood pizza peel I built a while ago that I use with my grill.

Holmes · February 05, 2014, 11:39:41 AM

That is EXCELLENT I really like the log stop. 8)

PC-Urban-Sawyer · February 05, 2014, 11:59:15 AM

Quote from: 21incher on February 05, 2014, 08:15:47 AM
... Now that I have to make more slicers for friends I am trying to find a source that is affordable for a couple dozen more.
e one of my next projects is going to have to be a outside wood burning bread and pizza oven.

You might want to check this source: http://www.sawbladeexpress.com/ProductDetails.aspx?item_no=089-R303-32&CatId=17c449bd-8c84-4c45-a925-7a7e972c1afe They sell a 32 pack of blades for $43.00

Be sure to check their home page for special discounts. They currently list a 10% holiday discount. When I ordered the discount did not work but I emailed them after ordering and they gave me the discount.

The blades are really sharp.

I like your design even better than the one I was planning to make. This has moved up on my To Do list...

Herb

Lud · February 05, 2014, 02:33:35 PM

That's a nice piece of equipment you made! I've made a few peels over the years. If you do build the outside pizza oven you'll want a lot longer handle! 8)

Dave Shepard · February 05, 2014, 02:37:17 PM

With blades that cheap, you could mount 20 of them on one handle and do the whole loaf at once.

21incher · February 05, 2014, 02:59:24 PM

Herb thanks for the link. My blade is 10 3/4" overall with 10 1/4 between the holes, sawblade express list their blades as 10 1/4" long. Could you please check the between hole distance on them? Thanks. One thing you will want to do is locate the mounting screws so there is some tension on the blade to get a really straight cut on soft hot bread.

Quote from: Dave Shepard on February 05, 2014, 02:37:17 PM
With blades that cheap, you could mount 20 of them on one handle and do the whole loaf at once.

It seems that is what the blades are made for. They are used in commercial bread slicers. That would be scary to use as the blades are razor sharp.

Busy Beaver Lumber · February 05, 2014, 05:11:21 PM

21incher

I love your bread slicer. Very nice piece of craftsmanship and very practical. I may have to make a scaled down version of that for my 27 year old daughter. She has one of those bread machine and is always treating me to one bread or another. I bet she would really like something like that.

Don't forget the bagel holding attachment, like the wood bagel slicers you see in the stores, that would allow you to use the same blade setup to safely, and consistently cut the bagel precisely in half.

You do some very nice work there my friend. Now you need a cnc to cut your parts for you when you go into mass production. :D

21incher · February 05, 2014, 06:38:25 PM

Busy Beaver Lumber.
Thanks for the compliment. That CNC sounds better everyday. I built a CNC plasma table a couple of years ago that was going to also be a router, but the plasma turned out to be so dirty that it just is not practical. So lately I have been thinking about building the router as I already own copies of all the cad, cam, and machine control software plus I have a extra set of servo motors. The only problem is I really don't like to build anything more then once. But now it seems that may have to change since I have requests. Once you get used to fresh bread toasted you will never return to bagels.

PC-Urban-Sawyer · February 05, 2014, 08:27:22 PM

Quote from: 21incher on February 05, 2014, 02:59:24 PM
Herb thanks for the link. My blade is 10 3/4" overall with 10 1/4 between the holes, sawblade express list their blades as 10 1/4" long. Could you please check the between hole distance on them? Thanks. One thing you will want to do is locate the mounting screws so there is some tension on the blade to get a really straight cut on soft hot bread.

I just measured the ones I received. Overall length is 10 3/4" and distance between centers of holes is 10 1/4". Width of blade at widest point is 3/8" and yes, they are very, VERY, VEERRRYYYY sharp.

Thanks for the tip on tensioning the blade.

Herb

Red Good · February 05, 2014, 08:38:15 PM

We had a bread knife when I was a kid growing up . Blade looked like that and it had a chrome bar that allowed you to cut 1/2 inch slices . Yours looks much better . Nice work . Red

21incher · February 06, 2014, 07:38:14 AM

Quote from: PC-Urban-Sawyer on February 05, 2014, 08:27:22 PM

I just measured the ones I received. Overall length is 10 3/4" and distance between centers of holes is 10 1/4". Width of blade at widest point is 3/8" and yes, they are very, VERY, VEERRRYYYY sharp.

Thanks for checking that. One other thing. I went to my local dollar store and bought a pack of those clear plastic report folders with the colored plastic splines that slide on to pinch the paper in. Cut the plastic splines to a length that will fit over the blade to act as a safety cover when the knife is not being used.