Walnut and Maple Cutting Board

Nice looking board, Maple and Walnut are a good combination. Also, can you tell me the benefit in mixing your finish?

-- Vince

I seem to think that the mineral pulls a bit more color than salad bowl finish alone. Mixing the two seems to give me the color and durability that I’m looking for.

-- Eric, Seattle Washington - Sawdust Maker

Nice board, and cool design. I like the lines, the 50/50 mix helps thin out the Salad Bowl finish to penetrate the board more easily. If you ever put the S. Bowl finish on full strength I think you would find it takes more work smoothing it out. I really like the 50/50 mix and after about 6-8 coats the boards look amazing. Some people I have made them for however, want a dull finish so I use the butcher Block Paste & rub it in.
Hope this helps a little.

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

That is purty. I like the woods and the design.

A walnut floor made out of that must look amazing.

Good job,
Steve

-- -- I'm no rocket surgeon

Eroch,

Nice board that’s a touch different. Boy, wish I could score some “scrap walnut and hard maple” for free to use for such things!

What are the dimensions of this particular board? Thanks for posting it.

Vince,

I’d agree with Ken in why you want to thin the Salad Bowl Finish. Thinning the SBF allows for deeper penetration of the finish into the board. From what I’ve seen, a 50/50 mix is the minimum you want to go if you really want to get good penetration into the board. I’m probably going to go 60-70% mineral spirits/30-40% SBF on my next end grain board, at least for the initial coat or two so it really gets down into the wood. I’m going to really thin it out for the first coat or two because I never did get the SBF to go all the way through the board to the bottom, and that was with a 50/50 mix to start with. I flipped the board and finished the bottom in the same way, so I might’ve gotten penetration all the way through, but I’m not sure?
Someone needs to come up with something like a moisture meter, only it measures the depth of penetration of your finish!

If you don’t thin the SBF, the finish isn’t really going to penetrate the wood very well and you will rapidly build a finish on top of the wood, something you probably want to avoid on a cutting board. Now if you’re putting SBF on say, a serving platter that won’t see anything cutting into it, then by all means, build a finish and throw the SBF on undiluted.

This has just been my experience.

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

Jonathan – The board is roughly 10”x14” I see you’re in Denver! I’ll be there all next week :)

-- Eric, Seattle Washington - Sawdust Maker

My profile pic is actually from Garden of the Gods in Co. Springs

-- Eric, Seattle Washington - Sawdust Maker

Well enjoy your stay while you are here! It should be pretty good weather, depending on the length of your stay.

Are you coming down for business, family, vacation?

Good useable size on the board, I’d say… not overly cumbersome, but not made for just cutting lemons and limes either. How thick is it?

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

Just visiting some family. It’s about 1/2” thick. I only had 3/4” flooring to start with and it has kerfs on the bottom that i had to mill down.

-- Eric, Seattle Washington - Sawdust Maker

Well it’ll still work just as well, just not as heavy.

I know it’ll be a fair amount of glue lines, but you could mill the kerfs out, then do a glue-up and make an end-grain board next time maybe? It would just be a little harder on your knives than thicker stock with less glue joints, but hey, it’d still be free (except for the glue).

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

Looks good,
Thanks for posting

-- Safety first because someone needs you.

I was thinking about doing that. I have about 15 square feet left of the walnut. That should make a pretty hefty butcher block!

-- Eric, Seattle Washington - Sawdust Maker

Very Nice work!
Great use of scraps!
Thanks for sharing.

-- Robert B. Sabina, Ohio.....