# Cutting board woods?



## sgtq (Jan 27, 2011)

I am wanting to make a cutting board, I just recieved a bunch of 3/4 thick beautiful black walnut and I want to pair it with a lighter/white wood, this is my first cutting board so I know it needs to be non open hardwood, but the only other hardwoods i have access to right now is Whitewood, Poplar and Oak are any of these ok or do I need to look for some maple or other wood? Thanks for the Help in advance.


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

im pretty sure that as long as its white oak you can use it .. red oak is porous.


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## childress (Sep 14, 2008)

Whitewood isn't a hardwood. It's a generalized description of several different softwoods. I have had success joining softwood with walnut, but you need to make sure it doesn't contain pitch/resin….

Poplar will work as will oak, but like chris said above, red oak has open pores while white oak has closed pores and is more suitable for cutting boards. Maple is obviously a great choice as it's been used in butcher blocks for a long time.


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## sgtq (Jan 27, 2011)

So I should be ok with poplar?


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## childress (Sep 14, 2008)

yes… just note that it is softer than walnut so when you sand the board, it will take more of the poplar down than the walnut. You might get a slightly wavy surface after this, but it will still work fine as a cutting board.


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## christopheralan (Mar 19, 2008)

I have used poplar for a few cheese boards I did a while back and they work great. You can get some really nice color combos if you pick through the stack.


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## reberly (Jan 14, 2011)

I prefer ginko. It is used heavily in Asia for cutting boards. It is supposed to release antibiotic agents when cut so it cleans the knife edge during use.
Rich


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## Cornductor (Feb 5, 2011)

If your looking for a light colored wood use Maple. It's a tight pored grained and it's tough, the poplar is a softer wood and will mare easily with cutting. I use cherry and maple on all my cutting boards and then give them a proper seal.


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## CaptainSkully (Aug 28, 2008)

Don't forget any "nut" woods (e.g. walnut) may set off people with nut allergies.


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## MashMaster (Feb 12, 2011)

What about Alder, would that work? I recently came into possession of some 2" Alder and 2" Mahogany scraps that I thought might work for making a cool cutting board.


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