Replies

1. 
   [email protected] | Nov 29, 2021 07:50am | #1

   I really like the way Cherry, Maple, and Walnut look together in cutting boards. Purpleheart and Padauk tend to discolor lighter colors when sanding. I had Padauk turn some maple pink once! Check on the toxicity of Chatke Viga. Jatoba looks great and is really dense. The attached picture is Cherry, Maple, and Walnut.

   
1. 
   esch5995 | Nov 29, 2021 08:00am | #2

   A tip of the hat to you sir/ma'am that is a heck of a cutting board. Well done.

2. 
   Jack759 | Nov 29, 2021 08:06am | #3

   Gosh, that's fantastic! I was wondering about toxicity as I do a lot of cutting on my soon to be retired cutting board. I was wanting to make rips of various woods and glue them up. I read that Chatke and Wenge can be toxic so I don't know about food preparation on them.

   If I have to I can always just use cherry, walnut, and maple as I have a lot of it in the shop but am hoping to use some exotics. My new all-time favorite wood is Padauk, that red when waxing it on a lathe is pure joy to behold.

   Many thanks kind sir.

2. 
   jharveyb | Nov 29, 2021 08:40am | #4

   There are two things to check with exotic woods: toxicity and allergenicity. There was a short article in FWW years ago about a man who made a recorder out of a tropical wood (maybe rosewood, I don't remember for sure.) The second time he played it, his mouth and throat swelled up from an allergic reaction. This would not be a good response from using a cutting board.

   The general recommendations for cutting boards are to avoid open pored woods as much as possible. Cherry and maple are great, as they are closed pored. Walnut is marginal, as its pores are pretty small, tho visible.

   I also use walnut oil to finish my cutting boards. Seems like it works well.

1. 
   Jack759 | Nov 29, 2021 09:04am | #6

   Much appreciated! Thank you. Do you think a striped board of maple, cherry, and padauk would be ok? I see so many people making these things but like you I need to be sure it won’t be toxic. My old broken down one now is maple but I wanted some nice contrasting woods in it.

3. 
   jdstreet | Nov 29, 2021 08:53am | #5

   I would shy away from Wenge. It is a great wood for accents due to almost black color. However, it is brittle and prone to fine splinters. I am not sure how the short fibers would hold up to constant knife use

1. 
   Jack759 | Nov 29, 2021 09:05am | #7

   Thank you sir. After reading this I will. It turns ok but does splinter. I didn’t even add lacewood to the list because it splinters so easily had has huge pores.

4. 
   stantheman | Nov 29, 2021 10:01am | #8

   I've only used paduak a couple of times, but it seemed to me that it can bleed color into adjacent wood. Anyone else confirm that?

1. 
   Jack759 | Nov 29, 2021 12:02pm | #9

   Thanks. This is odd how a kiln dried wood can bleed colors.

2. 
   noober | Nov 29, 2021 06:32pm | #10

   In my experience it's less that it "bleeds" than that fine sanding dust can get transferred and smashed into nearby lighter woods, especially with end grain.

   I try to use padauk on mainly face-grain stuff, and just carefully hand-sand around the end grain if I'm worried about turning adjacent bits pink.

1. 
   Jack759 | Nov 30, 2021 08:18am | #11

   Thank you! I've only used Padauk in pens and a couple of candle stick holders using the long grain. I've decided I'm going to make one out of walnut with strips of walnut in it.

5. 
   _mj_ | Nov 30, 2021 11:26am | #12

   Walnut with strips of walnut will be a pretty plain design, you might as well just go with walnut. (sorry, could not resist)

1. 
   Jack759 | Nov 30, 2021 12:09pm | #13

   Oops, my bad, sorry, I meant maple. :)

6. 
   Jack759 | Dec 01, 2021 12:27pm | #14

   Hi fellas, I'm back again. I have all the wood ripped and ready for glue up. Since this is a cutting board can I use Titebond II yellow glue?

   Thanks

7. 
   _mj_ | Dec 01, 2021 04:18pm | #15

   I'd go with TB3 just in case it winds up in a sinkful of water one night.

1. 
   Jack759 | Dec 01, 2021 04:32pm | #16

   Thanks. Titebond 3. But I've been using it for decades and it's never been submerged.

8. 
   _mj_ | Dec 01, 2021 09:41pm | #17

   As ever, your call.

9. 
   user-7167239 | Dec 09, 2021 05:45pm | #18

   I have attached a few end grain boards I made in the past so you can reference what they look like as end grain and one that is more of a straight grain design. They have most of the species you are asking about! These are all used in a commercial environment and have held up pretty well as long as they don't end up in the dishwashers!

   
10. 
    Jack759 | Dec 09, 2021 07:04pm | #19

    Holy cow, these are fantastic! I made mine of maple and walnut and used Titebond 3 glue. I didn't make a gutter though. Can you explain how you made the gutter?

    
11. 
    user-7167239 | Dec 13, 2021 12:50pm | #20

    I made a jig for my router table that I got from a King's Woodworking youtube video and it worked well as long as you are very careful to get it set up perfectly. It is always the scary part as you can ruin things real quick and being at that point of a project and having to start over is no fun!

1. 
   Jack759 | Dec 13, 2021 01:17pm | #21

   I can imagine. Nicely done.

12. 
    Fly2High | Jan 04, 2022 07:33am | #22

    I am a novice and wonder why a router with a fence could not be used to route the drip channel?

    I am now curious what the jig looks like.

    Thanks.

1. 
   john_c2 | Jan 04, 2022 11:04am | #23

   You could use a router with a fence. But you'd have to be careful at the corners to avoid overshooting the turn.

13. 
    vickers | Jan 04, 2022 11:06am | #24

    In my kitchen I have used oak, maple, cherry and bamboo cutting boards. In terms of function the bamboo has been the best by far. Super hard. takes a lot of abuse and easily maintained. But it might be impossible to develop the beautiful designs achieved with the other woods.