Completed Wood Project

Yes, I made another cutting board and do not ask me what I will do with it. I have no idea.....sit on a table I guess. I really had not planned on making any more cutting boards until I saw this piece of parota wood. It was a new species for me and it had a beautiful end grain pattern. The sap wood provided a nice color contrast that could be blended into the final product. I had seen a photo a month or so before of a similar board and liked its looks. Picking up the piece of parota told me to make, yet again, another end grain cutting board. The two slabs  (earlier photos/e-mail) were essentially identical to each other but I intentionally made the two pieces of parota to be offset from the center (gives the stairstep look). Each 12-1/2" wide slab was cut into 1-7/8" pieces - a total of 11 pieces from each slab - 22 pieces total. I then alternated the pieces from the two slabs while keeping the order of cut. The final board measures 12" x 17-1/2" x 1-7/8".

When I first saw the finished board, it reminded me of an Aggie bonfire as the sap wood narrowed the dark log-like parota grain in the center and the edges framing the center with the red colors of jatoba.

This is a photo of the board (raw wood) after the final glue-up. The edges are still rough so they were trimmed and then sanded. All wood was sanded up to a 320 grit finish (hours of sanding). In the finished product (above), you can see router work with a 45° chamfer on the top and a 3/8" round-over on the bottom. The finger grips on the end were also made with the router. The router work is the most nerve-wracking part of the whole project as mistakes are nearly impossible to hide/fix.

After final shaping and finishing, the board is soaked in food grade mineral oil (baby oil without the scents) for about an hour and then allowed to drip off the excess. A mixture of mineral oil and bees wax (board butter) is then used as a final sealant and buffed to a nice finish. It always amazes me how smooth wood can get with a little attention to such details. These end grain cutting boards will last generations even under heavy use with a little attention to proper care. Board makers have a great debate about the need for feet on the bottom. The "purist" preach no feet so you can use both sides of the board. You simply place the board on a towel on the counter during use to minimize movement. I am in the "realist" camp and attach small feet of rubber and stainless steel to my boards. I am paranoid about a board being left flat on a damp surface without air circulation all around the board. The differential moisture entering/exiting the board from the counter side versus the top side can cause differential growth and warp or even break the board.

Typical pricing for this type board is in the $300 - $500 range though I have no intention of going into such a business. I have a hard time thinking anything less than $500 as an acceptable price for this board. Just the wood is about $100 for this board. When you go to a craft fair and think these prices are too high, maybe it is just not made for you to fully appreciate the amount of materials, labor, and equipment required.

Thanks,

Doug White

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