# Woods to use/avoid for cutting boards



## Maverick44spec

I have never made a cutting board, and I want to change that within the next few weeks. I know some woods like oak and hickory are not good choices because they have an open grain, and some other species are toxic, but what specifically should I use, and what should I avoid?

Here are a few wood's I'd like to use (not all on the same one), are they safe?

Maple (obviously safe )
Cherry
Walnut
Mahogany
Bloodwood
Butternut
Ash
Aromatic Cedar
Poplar

Also, what should I finish it with? Boiled Linseed Oil?

Thanks


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## shopdog

butternut, cedar and poplar are too soft.
Ash has open grain.
I use Ipe on many of my boards, and maple, cherry and walnut.


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## KenBry

Your wood choices need to be based around the characteristics of the woods. You want a dense wood with little in the way of natrual oils or odor.

Wood Hardness Chart
http://tinytimbers.com/janka.htm

Here is a wood Toxicity chart for you:
http://www.woodworkerssource.com/toxicity_list.php

The best finish is a Salad bowl finish or just plain mineral oil. BOL is NOT a good choice.


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## mafe

Thank you Ken for the info.
Best thoughts,
Mads


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## Maverick44spec

Ok, I'll see if I can find some salad bowl finish around here, if not, I'll get the mineral oil.

I love the color of bloodwood, how oily is it?

Thanks for the tips, I'll avoid softer woods.


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## KenDolph

Stay away from walnut.

Some people have a violent allergic reaction to it. This is not real common but it can kill those who are allergic. I talked to a woman who was rushed to the hospital while picking out wood with her husband.


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## bondogaposis

Mahogany is pretty soft too and expensive. If I were going to spend that kind of money I would look at purple heart and paduak as either is harder and more durable. Another thing to consider is that some people are allergic to nuts and for that reason walnut may not be a good choice.


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## Maverick44spec

Wow, that's bad, but couldn't the same thing be said for pretty much every kind of wood there is?


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## Maverick44spec

I did a little research, and found that bloodwood has been used in cutting boards before, so for my first one, I'll probably go with maple, bloodwood, and possibly cherry.


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## KenDolph

I suppose you are right but tree nut allergies are somewhat common.


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## tyskkvinna

Yeah I always get anxious when I see people make walnut cutting boards. Sadly, I know a few people have come into my shop and I show them the pretty wood and they don't realise "walnut wood" is the same thing as "walnut nuts"... or more specifically, that an allergy to one equals an allergy to the other.

It's the only wood that has a very well-known and large allergy pool. Others, like rosewood, woodworkers can easily develop an allergy to after working it but the average person keeping a cutting board in their house is unlikely to encounter such ailments from the board.

I would like to second avoiding mahogany, butternut and cedar. Purpleheart and paduak are great choices! And yellowheart. Maybe holly?


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## Maverick44spec

Thanks for the advice everyone, I'll avoid walnut, and soft woods. I may get a piece of paduak for my first cutting board instead of cherry.


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## AandCstyle

If you look at the wood toxicity chart posted by KenBry, you will notice that maple is a more potent sensitizer than walnut. I know that walnut allergy can be extremely severe, perhaps fatal, but I think you need to be aware of the potential issues and ensure that any potential users of your products are aware as well so they can make informed decisions. FWIW


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## Philzoel

Maple, cherry, walnut and purple-hart are fine for end grain cutting board. They are small pored and hard. open pored makes for soft and porous board. I have made 30 or so out of these and they work really well.

I finish all boards now with salad bowl or butcher block finish, but cut it 50% mineral spirits so it soaks in. You do nor want finish that builds up. Cuts too easy.


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## MNgary

I don't think you can go wrong by selecting food grade mineral oil for finishing. I apply 3 heavy coats (wrapping the first two with plastic wrap overnight). Also, so the end-user knows how to maintain, I include a couple ounces of mineral oil with a note on refreshing the wood periodically.

For the couple ounces I use those little bottles purchased to hold liquid soap for making bubbles at a wedding ceremony.

For the note I print a "tag" with blah blah r.e. handcrafted on one side and maintenance instructions on the other. I use curling ribbon to attach the tag to the bottle.


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## Bobmedic

Walnut will work fine, especially if you use salad bowl finish on it. The only difference between salad bowl finish and polyurethane is that it is cut with mineral spirits by about 50% and has less dryers in it. Don't spend big money on "Butcher Block Oil". Go to your local pharmacy or grocery store and get mineral oil it is the same thing. The allergies encountered by nuts can be severe but the amount of exposure from a sealed/cured cutting board are so minuscule it's unlikely to cause a problem. The amount of people that have those types of reactions is really small too. So I say go ahead and make your boards out of walnut, I do, the combination of maple and walnut in an end grain cutting board is phenomenal.







My wife uses this one all the time and she is allergic to walnuts and it is made from walnut and ambrosia maple.


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## Purrmaster

I realize this thread is older than dirt But I wanted to note that I have a (fairly mild) allergy to all tree nuts, including walnuts. And I have used walnut lumber extensively and not had an ounce of allergic reaction.

I think the proteins that are in the tree's fruit (walnuts) are not the same proteins that are in the wood. And it is those proteins that are responsible for allergies.


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## MikeUT

> I realize this thread is older than dirt But I wanted to note that I have a (fairly mild) allergy to all tree nuts, including walnuts. And I have used walnut lumber extensively and not had an ounce of allergic reaction.
> 
> I think the proteins that are in the tree s fruit (walnuts) are not the same proteins that are in the wood. And it is those proteins that are responsible for allergies.
> 
> - Purrmaster


I am the same. I have a fairly severe allergy to tree nuts and several other things but I have no issue with walnut sawdust. I am not a doctor but I was told by an Allergist that there is not a correlation between the two. I'm grateful for that, I would be lost without walnut!


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## PaGeorge

You'll never see a wood cutting board of any kind in any commercial food kitchen,,dept of health will not allow it. I've used them all my life and still do. As for using Walnut, that I don't know but what I do know is that people get carried away over issues that get way overblown.


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## GnarlyErik

You can bleach the surface oils out of almost any wood with a 50/50 bleach/water mix. I've even done it with teak which tends to be quite oily. Scrub it well and leave it in the sun to dry each time. Do this several times, then give it a good soaking (several coats) in mineral oil, or vegetable oil. Maintenance is another coat of vegetable oil when needed. sometimes just letting it bleach out is fine too, and using the board 'au natural'. As stated above, avoid soft woods like cedar, although white pine may be OK so long as you can accept the wear over time from use. Nothing is forever, right?


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## GrayOwl

Soft woods are fine to use as long as its end grain. I have made many boards out of Southern Yellow Pine and they work great.


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## AlaskaGuy

I wouldn't shy away from walnut. Walnut is everywhere and the big named companies sell both end grain and edge grain walnut cutting boards all the time.

https://www.google.com/search?q=walnut+cutting+board+end+grain&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8


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## BurlyBob

Hickory, cherry and beech are good woods to use as well.


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## Tennessee

PaGeorge that info is a bit out of date.
More recent studies show that bacteria has a better chance of living in a knife mark on a plastic cutting board than it does in wood.
The issue now is having boards dedicated to certain foods, like meat, veggies, bread, etc. And the material of the board can change for each group.

See the article here: (There are many, actually) http://www.foodhandler.com/cutting-board-safety/


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## wildwoodbybrianjohns

Aromatic cedar is commonly used for cutting boards where this wood is common, as it has a Janka rating of 900 which is close to cherry and maple. The oils in this wood are also excellent at rot prevention; and the strong smell usually will dissipate after treatment with mineral oil or whatever you intend to use. Also glues well at correct moisture content.

As B.Bob said, Beech is an excellent wood for boards too, one that is often overlooked.

Then, there is olivewood!!!


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## PCDub

> PaGeorge that info is a bit out of date…...
> - Tennessee


It's a 5-year old post!


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## Kerux2

You can never go wrong with a combo of Walnut and Maple. throw some Paduak in there if you'd like.


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## bigJohninvegas

So Walnut, Maple, Cherry, and Ash Are all good to use. And more affordable, and perfect for a 1st cutting board. 
Hold off on exotic woods till later. Many things to consider with exotics. And toxicity is at the lower end. But grain, and how oily the wood is makes big differences. I use an end grain board made of scraps with maybe 20 different woods in it. (Never really tried to count that). It is nine year old now and looks and works as good as day one. But took a lot to make sure it was glued up proper so that it would not come apart. 
Now there are woods out there that are flat out poisonous that I would not use. But I would not worry about any of the woods mentioned. Just keep the 1st one simple. 
It's crazy how different we are. If I sand cherry, I had better be wearing a good respirator. But not had any issues with it on my cutting boards, or bowls 
Try not to mix softer wood with hard wood. It is tough to plan and sand constantly. 
And if you use maple, make sure it is hard maple, not soft. Dark wood dust from sanding gets into soft maple, and makes it muddy looking.

As for finishing, avoid strait mineral oil to start out with. I use Watco Danish oil on all of mine. Pretty much the same thing as Salad bowl finish. 
For the most part it just different branded recipes, but very similar. Both finishes should sit a good week or two to fully cure before putting the cutting board to use. 
And I use my cutting board just about every day. So when it gets to looking dry, and after I wash it. I splash whatever oil am cooking with on it. generally olive or walnut oil, and wipe it dry. This will spark comments of vegetable oils spoiling. lol. 
Its a cutting board. it gets used, meats and veggies alike get cut on it. It gets washed. lol.

Good luck, and have fun with it.


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## AlaskaGuy

> PaGeorge that info is a bit out of date…...
> - Tennessee
> 
> It s a 5-year old post!
> 
> - PCDub





> PaGeorge that info is a bit out of date…...
> - Tennessee
> 
> It s a 5-year old post!
> 
> - PCDub


What does that change? The woods discussed here still have the same qualities. New members may find it helpful.


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