Cutting Board Wood Selection

[Joseph Handy]

Just wondering what would be the prefered wood for cutting boards.

Hard rock maple would seem to fit the bill, would Birdseye maple withstand daily use as well?

Thanks J

[Doug Miller]

Birdseye maple is not a separate species; the term refers to a particular type of figure sometimes found in the wood of both hard and soft maples.

Hard maple, with or without birdseye figure, is a better choice for a cutting board than soft maple, with or without birdseye.

[N Hurst]

My father gave me some extra maple doors from a cabinet installation a friend of his did. How can I determine if these are hard maple or not? If they're not, the wood should still be OK for a cutting board, no?

I need a new cutting board and would like to use this wood, instead of buying a new one.

-Nathan

[Toller]

It will be fine. If it is soft maple it will wear faster than hard would. Not a big deal. There is no real difference between "hard" and "soft"; just that some species tend to be harder than others. If you really cared, you would have to compare it to a piece of hard maple and see how it seems to compare.

[Patriarch]

"N Hurst" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I have a bunch of cutting boards from who knows where. Well, some of them are from Macy's, and are made of some used-up latex growing tree, as near as I can tell. Those darned things won't wear out,so I can throw them away, without irritating LOML.

There may be a 'BEST', but it's comforting to know that we can get along with 'OK' pretty well, most of the time.

By the way, the cutting board I glued up for my daughter-in-law's kitchen was made from figured soft maple. It's part of her counter. Much easier than finding a longer piece of matching plastic laminate counter. And she's thrilled.

Well, she'll be more thrilled when I install the drawers in the cabinets.

Patriarch

[Andy]

Any maple will be FINE for a cutting board. So would cherry, walnut, bamboo, plastic, etc. etc. Professional chefs probably like hard maple specifically for its long life and density, and end grain for its self-healing ability, but for most average people who don't use a cutting board heavily every single day, just about anything is fine. I might stay away from oak or other things with big open pores, but other than that, pick a wood you like and go for it. My parents used a "cutting board" for more than 10 years that I made in middle school shop - this was actually a square of 3/4" CX plywood. My wife's parents have used a chunk of pine 1x10 for who knows how long - maybe

20 years? Sure the surface is quite worn, but it works. They just throw it in the dishwasher, let it sit with food on it, and whatever else you're not supposed to do with cutting boards, but it still works. Don't be so concerned about the perfect wood for a cutting board - make one, use it, and if it has problems, chalk it up to experience and make another one. Have fun woodworking, Andy

[Doug Miller]

You can dent soft maple with your fingernail, but not hard maple.

Sure. It'll wear faster, but it'll still work fine.

Go for it.

[Doug Miller]

Don't be silly. There is an enormous difference in hardness between the hard maples (sugar and black) and the soft maples (silver, red and bigleaf, chiefly). The difference in hardness between sugar and silver maples is particularly pronounced.

[Arvid Sorsdahl]

[Chris Friesen]

There is some research indicating that wood is actually more hygenic than plastic. There's nothing at all wrong with cutting directly on wood.

Chris

[Michel]

Yes indeed. first time I heard about it was over 10 years ago when the Ottawa Citizen ran a short article, quoting some research. I don't remember the research, but given the timing, it was probably this study:

"Ak, N. O., D. O. Cliver and C. W. Kaspar. 1994 Cutting boards of plastic and wood contaminated experimentally with bacteria. J. Food Protect. 57:16-22."

And in reference to the solution two posts previous, putting a plastic cutting board on top of wood cutting boards when using it is like putting a plastic cover on your couch, even worst. Cutting boards are made to be used! (just be sure to use a quality waterproof glue and oil it liberally and semi-regularly)

I have made and sold many cutting boards and the only criteria I had was that the wood should be reasonably hard and not too porous. Having said that, I have used walnut to add visual interest, with no ill effects. The cutting board we use daily (for the last 8 or more years) is made from strips of walnut, cherry and maple with the edge grain on the top surface (not end or face) This allowed me to easily make a 1" thick board using 3/4" stock.

Michel.

Wood Portal.

[Ron]

I built several 2 holidays ago as gifts using various combinations hard maple, cherry, walnut and purpleheart.

Ron

[Todd the wood junkie]

Personally, I wouldn't use the birds-eye sections of your maple for a cutting board. You will never see the really cool figure as well as if you made them into panels or a table top. I would make the cutting board from cutoffs of a project that would better accentuate the birds- eye better.