First cutting board

Very nice.

It sounds like this cutting board will actually get used as a cutting board. I would wager that at least 75% of the cutting boards on this site have never been touched by a knife. I know none of mine have. Some of mine are hanging on walls as display items.

I think we woodworkers like cutting boards because it is like having a blank canvas to paint on. A great place to show off some pretty woods.

-- Rich, Cedar Rapids, IA - I'm a woodworker. I don't create beauty, I reveal it.

I’ve probably made a couple of dozen cutting boards and at least 10 cheese slicer boards. The cheese slicers get used occasionally, but I know of only two cutting boards that get used – the one I made for myself (daily) and the one I made for my mom. Everyone else thinks they are too nice to use. I even include a 2oz bottle of mineral oil with every cutting board with instructions to oil it every once in a while, but they just won’t use them.

James

I like the mesquite as the outside frame with the maple inside.

Is the next board going to be an end grain board?

-- Jonathan, Denver, CO "Constructive criticism is welcome and valued as it gives me new perspectives and helps me to advance as a woodworker."

Well, I would probably feel bad marring some of the intricate designs I’ve seen here. Not so much this one. In tool parlance, it’s a ‘user’. I’m not sure how long this one will last, as I really do use the cleaver shown in the picture – chopping through pork neck bones and whole chickens is a workout!

-- To do is to be

Nice cutting board!

-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker

Nice board….

-- Ken, "Everyday above ground is a good day!"

very nice board… give one of those chickens an extra whack for me

-- Paul , Calfornia

What I like about your design is the fact that you used maple on the central business part of the cutting board and used contrasting wood to edge it. As I read, maple is the best material for cutting boards. Since the edges can be flanked with any species, which could be very attractive, like yours, this leaves more maple to be used in the center. Great ! That means more cutting boards from a maple board. I’ll keep that in mind for the next Christmas gifts I will m

Thanks for sharing.

Best,

Serge

http://www.atelierdubricoleur.spaces.live.com

-- Learn from yesterday, work today and enjoy success tomorrow. -- http://atelierdubricoleur.wordpress.com

In your pictures, the maple looks like cherry and the mesquite looks like walnut (or at least to my eye) since I made a cherry and walnut “user” cutting board that looks very similar to yours.

-- A bad craftsmen blames his cheap #$%ing tools

Jonathan:

Maybe an endgrain board – lots more work though!

Serge:

Believe it or not, I actually did think about that. I think maybe for my next one, I’ll make the center out of Osage Orange – but what to use as a contrasting wood? What rhymes with orange?

Joe:

Yeah, blame the flourescent lights, and a rather dim kitchen. The mesquite is from a tree that my Mom had taken down in her back yard a few years back – the maple was in the bargain bin at Woodcraft.

-- To do is to be

Is it soft or hard maple?

Just thought the endgrain board would be more forgiving, especially since you’re using a cleaver. But yes, more work (and BF of wood) involved.

-- Jonathan, Denver, CO "Constructive criticism is welcome and valued as it gives me new perspectives and helps me to advance as a woodworker."

Jonathan:
I’m not sure whether it’s hard or soft maple – it was just marked ‘maple’.

-- To do is to be