# ~$100 a board foot walnut for sale



## tengallonhat (Aug 5, 2013)

I was looking through a recent issue of Dwell and noticed they sell walnut for $100 a board foot (I knocked off $30 for finishing time):
http://store.dwell.com/1-3-2-chisel-walnut-cutting-board.html

From what I can tell, its actually just a piece of walnut, albeit a wide piece, that has been finished. Maybe I'm missing something, but as someone who just finished 14 end grain cutting boards as gifts, for about the same material cost, I was a bit in shock at the cost of this product.


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## JustJoe (Oct 26, 2012)

It's not even a wide piece. The one in the pic is three boards glued together.

I wonder how many have sold?


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## 280305 (Sep 28, 2008)

Hmmm…

It looks to me like it was made from two 5" wide boards edge glued, so it isn't even a wide piece of walnut.

Maybe the hidden value is that it can be used for charcuterie!

I had to look it up. It must be that "charcuterie" is an $80 word.


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## Nicky (Mar 13, 2007)

1.3.2 Chisel is a dynamic, multi-purpose kitchen tool perfectly suited for cutting, serving and charcuterie and cheese.

It must be the "charcuterie" (whatever that means, and no, I won't go looking it up)

Maybe time for a new thread called "Online business that have gone nuts"


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## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

Maybe it's expensive because Geoffrey Lilge designed it. Now, can anyone tell who Geoffrey Lilge is and why his work is desirable?


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## ColonelTravis (Mar 19, 2013)

The grand idea is not to buy just one board, but spend close to $400 so you can fit them together like this:









http://www.betterlivingthroughdesign.com/accessories/chisel-boards/

Ugh.


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## longgone (May 5, 2009)

A person can ask $1,000,000 for a cutting board and it is ridiculous unless someone pays that much for it. This world is full of people that pay outrageous amounts of $$$ for something they want.


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## DKV (Jul 18, 2011)

Since no one else did and since I didn't know…

Charcuterie is the branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products, such as bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, galantines, pâtés, and confit, primarily from pork. Charcuterie is part of the garde manger chef's repertoire.


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## None999 (Jun 1, 2012)

What DKV said. Charcuterie is a hobby of mine and I think it's a shame that the craft isn't more widely known. It tastes so good. Here's some of my work:




It would look good on that board…but $130? C'mon…


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## JayG46 (Apr 24, 2013)

I don't know, that is a pretty innovative "design".


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## 280305 (Sep 28, 2008)

You are right Jay. I wonder if there are any books or workshops available that teach how to made these boards at home.

I noticed that the ratio of length to width for the 1.3.2 Chisel is 1.6 - very close to the Golden Mean being discussed on another thread!


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## hydro (Aug 9, 2013)

I hate to point this out, but after reading the posts above I feel it needs to be said. What is presented on the website in the OP is not primarily a walnut cutting board, but rather a "product" that merely happens to be made of wood. The material is almost irrelevant in the presentation. It is a product cleverly marketed to a well targeted audience.

It is simply an upscale kitchen accessory, conceived to be placed in view and seen on the kitchen countertop of a consumer who has no concern of how it came to be, but who is most likely more interested in the likelihood that their guests have not acquired a similar product yet.


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## 280305 (Sep 28, 2008)

It is very important to me to have something unique on the kitchen counter.


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## Bogeyguy (Sep 26, 2012)

hydro, you hit the nail on the head. If you break down the cost of material in a fine piece of furniture I'm sure the cost would be sky high, less labor of course. Kind of like a major league shortstop earning 5 million a year and a batting avg. below 250.


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## nicholasrhall (Aug 19, 2012)

I think hydro nailed it.

I also think that there are many folks on this site who are considering going into the woodworking business who should give this some thought. A commercially successful woodworking business is usually 80% marketing, 10% design ability, and 10% woodworking talent. It's easy to laugh at this guy, but somewhere out there is a woodworker turning these out for $20 each. The designer gets $40. The retailer gets $70…

If you're interested in woodworking as a business, this a Harvard case study made just for you. Great food for thought.


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## AandCstyle (Mar 21, 2012)

Or, there's one born every minute!


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## Texcaster (Oct 26, 2013)

This is like the story of the woman that went to the famous millinery shop to have a hat made for race day. In front of the woman's eyes a hat was fashioned from a long, wide ribbon. The woman loved it! The bill was $500.
" What? $500 for a piece of ribbon! ... Madam, the ribbon is free. "


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## nicholasrhall (Aug 19, 2012)

That's exactly it Texcaster; the walnut is $0 per board ft…


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## JayG46 (Apr 24, 2013)

Along the lines of what Greg said, it depends on whether or not people are actually buying these at this price. Maybe we should hold the Harvard case study until we see how successful this strategy really is.

More than likely, few if any of these have been sold and we are just reacting to the audacity of this Geoffrey Lilge character to cut the corner of a 3/4" thick walnut glue-up, give it some nonsensical name and ask $130 for it.

If he can sell these, congratulations, but I'm skeptical that people are going to find this product irresistible at that price point. I think most people who are starting a woodworking business would prefer to make a superior product like an endgrain cutting board that is going to stand the test of time and try to sell them based on that durability and attractiveness. You won't have the same margin but you would be able to be proud of what you sell and probably get more repeat customers and positive word of mouth because your product adds value to someone's cooking/entertaining experience and isn't a complete rip-off.

Or you could create something super-artistic like the 1/7.4-8 Hammer (or whatever random number, punctuation and tool combination you prefer) and hope that your customers don't do any research, comparison shopping or have any semblance of common sense.


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## mantwi (Mar 17, 2013)

Art and P.T. Barnum called it right. There's a sucker born every minute. Some of them have big bankrolls and huge egos so this product fits the bill. I'm just mad that I didn't think of selling my offcuts as a work of art/kitchen necessity at $130.00 a bdft first.


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## Unknowncraftsman (Jun 23, 2013)

What if Sam maloof had made that cutting board and sign it.What would be the price?
Would the buyer Dare use it?
Or would they hang up on the wall to show their friends.
Or maybe lock it away in a heavy steel safe.
Now imagine Sam Maloof up in heaven with a tear rolling down his cheek because his work fell short of its intended purpose.!


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## Vincent (Mar 10, 2009)

Think about the design process. Should I cut that angle in the lower right or the upper left? 30 or 45 degrees. It takes time to come up with a masterpiece.


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## 280305 (Sep 28, 2008)

Vincent,

Excellent point!

To get one acceptable cut, he might toss out hundreds of BF of walnut with cuts that do not have the spiritual resonance that he seeks. I can not imagine the stress that is felt making the final cut - when all the previous hard work is at risk of being erased.


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## tefinn (Sep 23, 2011)

Did anyone click on the "Brand" tab? It apparently took a collaboration of three people to design a rectangle with a corner cut off.


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## rtriplett (Nov 25, 2009)

Well, I certainly feel silly because I have taken a piece of natural edge walnut, sanded it and sold a few of them at $100.00 each. I must work on my 'brand'. I could charge more! What is the angle of the cut again?


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## 280305 (Sep 28, 2008)

What is the angle of the cut again?

I am sure that the number is legally protected by intellectual property law.


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