Replies

1. 
   Stanley_Niemiec | Jul 03, 2000 01:32am | #1

   *
   Jim

   The safety of wood, unless a tree falls on you or some such occurrance, is more or less related to the presense of extractives within the woods.

   Sassafras contain safrol, a class I carcinogen. The thujaplicenes of western red cedar are extremely toxic (so I doubt if I will ever eat planked salmon no matter how great somebody tells me it tastes). Likewise, sheep that forage on sufficient quantitites of yew foliage will die from taxol poisoning. These complex organic extractive chemicals act as defense mechanisms with the living trees and provide resistance to decay. But then again some extractives have medicinal uses as well (including taxol for ovarian, breast cancer treatments).

   Extractives are classed by their solubility to primarily benzene, alcohol and water. I would tend to avoid woods that contain extractives that taste bad (as contained in the pitches of softwoods) or that are extremely high in decay resistance. If they have low decay resistance, then it is apparent that lots of microorganism feed very efficiently on the lignin and cellulosic compounds. Tropical/exotic woods would be off my list as well cuz some of them have nasty extractives as well -- stuff that can cause liver damage or respiratory problems.

   There are exceptions to decay resistence parameters. Black cherry heartwood has high decay resistance as do the white oaks (which make great whiskey and wine barrels).

   Stick with diffuse porous woods rather than ring porous woods like red oak that provide cavities that trap food. I still have and use a hard maple cutting board -- going on almost 30 years of use and I got it used. Probably has another 30+ years in it too. Higher density woods wear better than lower density one.

1. 
   Jim_O'Donnell | Aug 05, 2000 04:45am | #2

   *Thanks, Stanley for your comprehensive review. I appreciate it!Jim

1. 
   Stephen_Shepherd | Aug 05, 2000 08:39pm | #3

   *I have to take exception with the toxic effects of woods. Just how much of the wood are you actually going to eat? How long would alcohol, water or benzene have to soak on the woods to bring out enough toxins to make one sick? I use very little benzene while cooking or preparing food. Of course some of the dust while working certain woods should be avoided and I think that is where there are hazards. As for woods around food I feel a lot safer using them than plastics. But that is just my opinion.Stephen

1. 
   CStanford_ | Aug 07, 2000 03:44am | #4

   *Try Beechwood for your project........ or rock Maple.

1. 
   Colm_Keogh | Aug 28, 2000 12:38am | #5

   *I have to agree that the toxicity of the commonly available wood species would not be of primary concern. I am curious though, is tainting of food not an issue? How does say Beech compare with ASh or Maple?

2. 
   Dan_Turner | Jan 28, 2001 09:48pm | #6

   *Jim, after making several cutting boards, my all time fav is ash. Its food safe, soft enough not to dull your cutlery yet durable, and is very attractive. Hard maple will deffintly put you looking for knive sharpeners!