Quote Originally Posted by ngwagwa View Post
Instead of cheap pine you can use Kingspan insulation boards (though I haven't looked at the health and safety rules regarding machining this) it is firm enough to cut yet soft enough to give if you accidentally plunge in too fast/far.
Whilst nowhere near as toxic as say spraying polyurethane varnish, if you're making fine dust it's still potentially a bit nasty so some form of extraction wouldn't be a bad idea.