Replies

1. 
   Norse | Nov 22, 2003 06:15pm | #1

   Design -- the wood is your pallet and you are the artist. For my musical friends, I've made cheese boards in the shape of quarter notes. If you don't use end grain, the board will show knife cuts but for everyone I've given them to (I usually thank people for referrals with cutting boards) with flat grain, they'd rather have the beauty of the wood and don't care about the little knife cuts. The pretty ones are often used as serving boards and don't see that much rough use. I use scraps and cutoffs from other projects so there is often several woods including cherry, maple, walnut, and oak.

   USP grade mineral oil is the only finish. Yellow type II (waterproof) works great.

   Good luck,

2. 
   ron61 | Nov 22, 2003 06:25pm | #2

   If I were making a cutting board I would do End Grain Maple  - you need to use a food safe water proof glue

   Who Ever Has The Biggest Pile Of Tools When You Die Wins

3. 
   forestgirl | Nov 23, 2003 02:13am | #3

   The prettiest "cutting boards" I've seen had maple, walnut and I think purpleheart in them.  These probably were, as mentioned above, more for serving than for cutting, as the grain was presented for beauty, not knife-resistant.

   Mineral oil, definitely.  Important not to use peanut oil (people ask about this every year), as some folk have severe allergies to peanuts.  Mineral oil is really the only one you know won't produce allergies and won't get rancid.

   forestgirl Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

1. 
   darbywoods | Nov 23, 2003 06:06am | #4

   i agree that the colors of the world are at your finger. for a finish is use butcher block oil.  it adds a nice shean and is easy and quick to apply

4. 
   Bengst | Nov 24, 2003 07:04am | #5

   I make and sell hundreds of cutting boards a year. End grian and side grain. I use hard maple, cherry, pacific madrone, and myrtle. If you're ever in Portland, come down to the Portland Saturday Market and see my madrone endgrain chopping blocks, they're like nothing you've ever seen before. The aforementioned woods do very well in a cutting board application. Maple is probably the king of the cutting board kingdom.

   I would stay away from oak, walnut, purpleheart and other woods with open pores. Mine are 1.5" thick glued with Titebond II. Polyurathane glues would work well too but I use so much glue that it wouldn't be cost effective. The thinner you go the more risk you'll have of warping over time. I use mineral oil as a finish. @2 or 3 dips on my oil bath with about 24 hrs between dunks. Then keep up with oiling every few weeks and never put it in the dishwasher.

   Jeffrey