They don't use my cutting board

[Ed Pawlowski]

Can a cutting board be too nice to use? Back over a dozen years ago I made three cutting boards. One for myself, the other two as gifts for good friends.

Mine is used on a regular basis and still looks rather good. I may give it a sanding as the wood had darkened with age. One a trip a couple of weeks ago I visited both people that I gave boards to. Both have them displayed in the kitchens, but neither even had a loaf of bread sliced on it.

One uses it to hod some coffee cups and stuff for the morning, the other uses it like a server for cheese and crackers and other dry stuff.

I was told, it is not a cutting board, it is a work of art. Its a tool, use it!

[hubops]

Looks like you put too much work into it ? Next time try an old piece of barnboard .. they won't use it either but you save some work ... :-) John T.

[DerbyDad03]

Make them a nice cutting board and they'll never use for the reason stated. Make them a boring looking one and they'll hide it in the back of a cabinet to avoid looking at. You'll never win. ;-)

Nice job!

It looks like you've got some Douglas Fir in there. I had bunch left over from a project so I was going to make some end-grain cutting boards with it. Before I got a chance to use it, my daughter asked me for it. Her and her BF are (were?) going to make a pair of nightstands with it.

It's been 2 years and the wood is still sitting in her basement. :-(

[Bill]

I agree with them. It looks too nice to risk scratching it up! : )

[Leon]

I got the same answers from the dozen or so boards that I had given. I told them that if they mark it up that I would resand it for them.

[Brian Welch]

Very nice work...Nice thing about endgrain boards is that they hold up pretty well against scratching, not to mention being easier on knife egdes...

[Michael]

I can see why they cherish them. Well done!

[krw]

It's my understanding that bacteria don't like them much either.

[Ed Pawlowski]

White oak, cherry, walnut

[Ed Pawlowski]

Yes, they were well oiled before I sent them. I'm going to sand mine as it is darkening a bit over the years

[Markem618]

They value it is a treasured gift from friend.

[pyotr filipivich]

Ed Pawlowski [e-mail] on Sun, 10 Jul 2022 19:34:05 -0400 typed in rec.woodworking the following:

They are _using_ the board. Maybe not the way you would, but they are.

The real question is "Whose board is it? Yours or theirs?" It is difficult to let go of something you put a lot of effort into, but ... you gave it to them.

Years ago, I sold a house. A week after closing, the shed which I had spent a summer rebuilding, caught fire. I was very upset. Then I learned that it had been empty, so no "great loss". And it wasn't my shed anymore, I'd sold the place, it wasn't my problem.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Yes, I'm happy to see they have it on display and value it.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Yes and I appreciate that.

For the one friend liked my Tudor bench so I make one for them too but they paid for the material.

[DerbyDad03]

I built this and gave it to my (adult) daughter. It's 5' long and made from skip-planed 8/4 poplar. It was the first thing I built where I milled (ripped and planed) every board to size.

She painted it pink.

[Ed Pawlowski]

I'd prefer the look of the wood but . . .

[DerbyDad03]

As do I, but as pyotr noted, once I gave it to her, especially unfinished, it's hers to do with as she pleases.

She loves it and that’s all that matters to me.

[Brian Welch]

[pyotr filipivich]

Excellent.

[Aoli]