cutting board question

[brent warner]

I decided on a father -daughter woodwork project of a couple of cutting boards. I made a couple in h.s. (28 yrs. ago) out of oak&walnut. I'm just wondering what the favorite woods are ? maple ? walnut? or ? suggestions, please
thanks, brent :)

[Matt Stiegler]

If you do a search here for cutting boards you'll find lots of discussion of which woods to use/not use, as well as good design inspiration. Maple and walnut both are popular choices.

[Eric DeSilva]

I decided on a father -daughter woodwork project of a couple of cutting boards. I made a couple in h.s. (28 yrs. ago) out of oak&walnut. I'm just wondering what the favorite woods are ? maple ? walnut? or ? suggestions, please
thanks, brent :)

I tend to make end grain boards--more knife friendly, better looking IMHO. I've done maple, but sanding it flat is an unholy task. Tends to burn in my open frame drum sander and it is slow, slow work. More recently I've been using cherry, which is a little more manageable and the end grain is wonderful.

[Rob Young]

For END GRAIN boards, just about any tight grained hard wood will do. However avoid things like spalted maple as the spalting can be weak and punky.

Maple (rock is better), cherry, walnut, birch, and purple heart all look great. I've wanted to try osage orange in an E.G. board but haven't had the opportunity.

Oak and ash look good on the end grain but they are quite open (especially red oak, think bundle of straws). I have made end grain trivets with white oak (looks neat) but wouldn't use it in an E.G. cutting board.

I'd also avoid some of the oilier tropicals just for glue failure reasons.

[jim tracy]

Brent,

I just made three end grain cutting boards using The Wood Whisperer (http://thewoodwhisperer.com/episode-7-a-cut-above-part-1/) video as a guide. Each one I made came out great. The only problem is every time I finish one, the LOML comes up with another person to make one for :D.

[Chris Tsutsui]

Hard maple is my favorite for cutting boards.

If you make it end grain, make sure it's thick enough so it doesn't warp like a potato chip when it gets used all the time. :D

I would stay away from boards with bigger grain like Oak because it will be more difficult to clean stuff out of the grain.

[Rick Bunt]

+1 for the woodwhisperer videos (all of them).

My favorite wood for end grain cutting boards is cherry with lots of sapwood in it across the whole thickness of the board. I usually mix it with hard white (rock) maple. The sapwood patterns can be quite dramatic, and no two are ever the same. Plus, the sapwood cherry is often sold at a discount (my local sawmill sells select quality boards as #1 common).

Here's a photo of one of them I made as a gift last year.

-Rick

[jim tracy]

Nice cutting board Rick!

[Mark Patoka]

Cutting boards are probably the ultimate scrapwood project. Mix and match what you have, you really can't go wrong.

[Tom Winship]

Mesquite and maple are my pick. Haven't made an end grain one yet, but mesquite end grain is very dense and would work well, I'm sure.