Replies

1. 
   FastEddie1 | Oct 14, 2003 06:02am | #1

   Not familiar with black maple.  Hard maple makes a nice light colored wood, you could use walnut or white oak for the darker wood.  You don't need much wood...is there any lumberyard near you that stocks hardwood?

   Do it right, or do it twice.

2. 
   dthodal | Oct 14, 2003 07:18am | #2

   I like using alder. It has a beautiful reddish brown colour after oiling. And it is harder than pine or fir, but still soft enough to help the knife keep it's edge longer. Hard maple or oak cutting boards tend to dull the knife steel quicker than softer woods.

   Another suggestion would be to find some fruitwood slabs to be milled. They can work well too.

   walk good
1. 
   larryscabnuts | Oct 14, 2003 08:40am | #3

   I make cutting boards outta maple (soft or hard maple) or sycamore. I rip strips 3/4 x 3/4 and glue them up then plain them down to about 5/8ths thick. I use polyerathane glue (waterproof). Sometimes I glue in a few strips if 1/4 inch walnut for contrast. My boards are about 8 by 12 and I give em 2 of them. One to cut meat on and one to cut veggies on so their is no cross contamination.

3. 
   Mongo | Oct 14, 2003 01:36pm | #4

   Yesterday I picked up 210 bdft of 8/4 teak, for kitchen countertops. Going to use the scraps for the same thing. May be too pricey for your project, though.

   On the teak I'm using an acetone wash, then West Systems epoxy.

   Go to a lumberyard, a good lumberyard. Every decent yard I've been to has machinery for dressing the wood they get off the truck. They almost always have offcuts, and you can get them for a fraction of the whole-board price.

   For the quantity of wood you need I think buying a board at the lumberyard would be more frugal than ordering mail-order.

   You might also want to ask over at Knots.

1. 
   RWalters | Oct 14, 2003 08:15pm | #5

   My problem is that I live on an island in the Puget Sound.  We do have a lumber yard, but their stock of hardwoods is limited.  I recently paid $36 for 2 boardfeet of 3/4"x12" red oak.  I priced some woods through Rockler and justhardwoods.com.  They seemed reasonable.  Hard maple in 4/4 x 3"-5" widths was $4/ft.  Black Walnut $4.50/ft, and Black Cherry $5/ft.

   Edited 10/14/2003 4:15:18 PM ET by Bubba

1. 
   Mongo | Oct 15, 2003 12:33am | #6

   With prices like that, ask for hardwood as a holiday gift. Then give out the cutting boards as New Year gifts. Lay off the eggnog so your cut lines stay straight.<g>

   I'd love to give you an on-line source, but I've never bought that way.

1. 
   Scooter1 | Oct 15, 2003 01:50am | #7

   Ditto on Alder. Easier to work with.

   Another neat gift, which is fun to make, are knife blocks.

   Regards,

   Boris

   "Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934

2. 
   woodguy99 | Oct 15, 2003 05:20pm | #14

   Bubba, try this site:  http://www.penningtonhardwoods.com

3. 
   parrothead | Oct 15, 2003 05:41pm | #15

   Hello Buba, that is VERY expensive for oak. I have purchased a lot of wood from Ebay with good results. For the amouint and the sizes of wood that you need you can get it at very reasonable prices. Shorts of cherry, maple and walnut are plentifull. With the small amount that you need you could even add in some woods like purpleheart, redheart, ash, birch, beech, hickory, mahogany and on and on. I would stay away from the more exotics such as the  rosewoods because of the oils that they contain, and things like zebrawood, makore, padauk and eucalpytus.

   I personally also like to avoid oak because it has such an open grain. As for glues the polyurathane, titebond II (not regular titebond it is not water proof) or a good epoxy.

   Also as far as finishes I would just order the butcher block finish from some place like Rockler. It is a good food grade minerial oil. Don't use any vegetable oils as they will become rancid.

   Good luck, MikeWe are the people our parents warned us about. J. Buffett

2. 
   Frankie | Oct 15, 2003 02:02am | #8

   Mongo -

   Teak is toxic! Okay for countertops, but cutting boards - a definite No-No!

   Be sure to wear a respirator when sanding the countertop.

   F

1. 
   Mongo | Oct 15, 2003 03:27am | #9

   I'm aware that the dust is nasty, but thanks for the heads up.

   Never heard about not using it in a cutting board...better get the word out, there are zillions of them out there!<g>

4. 
   armin | Oct 15, 2003 04:05am | #10

   Yo there Bubba,

   I use a fair amount of birdseye and curly lumber in my projects. The cut offs mixed with walnut or cherry make dandy cutting blocks. The wood is free for the asking, you pay the UPS shipping, if you are interested send me a message.

1. 
   KQRenovation | Oct 15, 2003 06:07am | #11

   Where  are you located, if you don't mind my asking?

1. 
   armin | Oct 15, 2003 03:28pm | #13

   Northern Michigan, upper peninsula, long way from everywhere.

2. 
   RWalters | Oct 15, 2003 07:24am | #12

   Armin, I'm very interested and appreciative.  I found some 4/4 cherry stock in my cutoff pile this afternoon, about 8 total board feet at 5" width.  I was hoping to  make about a dozen boards.  Half 8"x10" and half 6"x8".  I was planning on using 3/4"x2" strips of wood, but any falls you have in the curly woods would be nice.  You can e-mail me directly at [email protected].  Thank you again.

5. 
   MrsReese | Oct 15, 2003 09:35pm | #16

   I have a few cutting boards my uncle made for me out of beech. One is very small and thin and is just for cutting garlic. The other is medium sized and I use it for everything else. These are made of one piece of wood. He has a Woodmizer and harvests his own wood. Still, if you can find beech, it recommend it. I used to have a very large pieced together cutting board, but I just got rid of it after I started using these.