Imbuia, Andiroba & Maple Cutting Board

That turned out really nice. Hope you are able to get the sales going…..Good luck and let us know how it goes.

-- Max "Desperado", Salt Lake City, UT

Very nice. Your design is beautiful. You and the villagers will sell lots of them.

-- "A goal without a plan is a wish."

wow that is great…and I would love to hear more about the village you are living in (I teach high school social studies and I had a student a few years ago from the Dominican Republic).

-- Matt, Napa, CA...fun is beautiful...just trying to have some fun...

Nice looking board. Wow, I didn’t know The DR had available commercial hardwoods. I was there about 20 years ago. I heard the trees were supposed to be protected from cutting. (though from all the smoke and charcoal making they obviously weren’t). The story I heard was the island had pretty much been clear cut before WW II to build ships out of. The only wood legally available was stumps. I brought back a piece of root I was given by a local artisan who had dug it up. I know what you mean about the chocolate smell. I did not know what the species was until now (thanks). It must be nice to have those resources locally, I am sure that Imbuia is very valuable. It is beautiful, as you said very dense and polishes easily.

-- A thing of beauty is a joy forever...

Good luck with helping the villagers. I’m with Napaman – I’d like to hear more.

-- You can't get a hug from Facebook.

Contrary to popular belief, we have thousands of square miles of forest here on the island of Hispaniola. The island has two parts – Haiti is on one side (the West) and the Dominican Republic occupies about 70% of the island on the East.

The Haitian side is an environmental disaster and is almost devoid of greenery, whereas the Dominican Side, which has been well cared for, is a lush tropical paradise. This is a big island (4.5 hours to drive from North to South, which is the shorter of the two distances) and, in the middle are several magnificent mountain ranges. In some places, at the higher altitudes, you would think you are in the Adirondacks based on the vegetation. Pico Duarte, the highest mountain in the Caribbean, is 10,800 feet high and absolutely beautiful (I have climbed it twice) – and, it gets cold up there…

Anyway… we have every kind of tree you can imagine here… as well as a government that is pretty serious about protecting the environment. They don’t always have the money they need to protect it properly in the tourist areas, but the interior is pristine.

Anyway… I’ll keep you all posted on what happens with my cutting board idea. I’m heading to the states for 3 weeks to go skiing but, when I get back, it will be full steam ahead.

-- Mark, Dominican Republic

It’s a wonderfully rich cutting board design (too nice to actually cut anything on!). It’s great that you care for people less fortunate too, Mark. We should all find someone to teach our skills too, be we basic, intermediate, or advanced woodworkers and craftsmen. Good luck with you plans.

Simple and elegant!

-- Drink once, cut twice. New website up.... lazylarrywoodworks.com.au