What wood for a butcher block cutting board?

[dennis thompson]

I just finished making a butcher block piece for our counter for my wife to place on our granite counter. I have a good sized piece of hard maple left over & I'b like to make a cutting board out of it with a second type of contrasting wood so I could alternate them, would walnut work for this, if not what ,readily available wood ,might?
Thanks
Dennis

[Brian D Anderson]

Sure . . . walnut works. You may find a couple people like to use purpleheart as well. I don't know if that falls under "readily available" though. Do a search (here or google) for the woodwhisperer's cutting board.

-Brian

[Tim Wagner]

maple, walnut, purple hart, and bamboo are common woods for butcher blocks.

just make sure the end grain is facing up. less chance of really damaging the wood when you chop on it.

HTH, Tim.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

I like maple and walnut together, I think they contrast nicely.

Of course purple heart looks awesome too..