Choice of wood for a Cutting Board?

[Hoang N Nguyen]

I'm in the process of building one myself and got the design from a guy on youtube called the wood whisperer. I used Purple heart and Hard maple. Here's a picture of where I'm at so far.

[Phil Mueller]

I've made that exact cutting board as well. My complements...your glue up looks flawless. I had a few boards slip during glue up and you come to appreciate the hardness of those woods when you have to sand end grain smooth

[Al Launier]

Thanks for all your helpful responses. I decided to make good use some of walnut, hard maple & cherry that were "leftovers" from other projects. Rather than make the boards as end grain, the boards are being made with long slats using their edge grain as the cutting surface. Should be done in ~ a week, perhaps less depending on how much time I can spend on them. It's yard work season.

[Al Launier]

I'm in the process of building one myself and got the design from a guy on youtube called the wood whisperer. I used Purple heart and Hard maple. Here's a picture of where I'm at so far.

Nice work Hoang! I like the pattern. Nice joints.

What did you use for glue? I'm using Titebond II Extend & am glad I did as it took a long time to apply glue, align & clamp the slats (28-32 on te tree boards I'm still working on). Took about 20-25 minutes from start to final clamping.

I really get nervous when I have a lot of work to get everything done before the glue sets up, even after a trial run(s) where everything is laid out in advance ready to go & the timing is checked. I am also finding out that it is sometimes better to glue up sections first (depending on time), then glue the sections together, plus keeping the pieces (slats in my case) all down tight & flush with one another. The Titebond II glue leaves no visible glue line which is nice.

[Alan Lightstone]

My choices have usually been Padauk, Peruvian Walnut, Cherry, Goncalo Alves, and of course Maple. Sanding the Padauk has some issues with bleedover, but makes for gorgeous boards.

I always use Titebond III, for it's waterproof properties (Type I PVA). I'd hate to think someone aggressively washed one of my boards and it fell apart at the seams.

[Barry McFadden]

I use Cherry, Purpleheart and Maple most times and some veneers for accents. I use Gorilla Glue which is 100% waterproof and have never had a joint split. I coat them in a clear salad bowl finish that I get at the IKEA store.
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[Alan Lightstone]

I finish mine with a mineral oil, beeswax finish. Easy to apply, food safe, and if maintained periodically, remarkably durable.

[Bill Ryall]

I did a short production run of cutting boards for an acquaintance who owns a couple upper end restaurants. His executive chef was insistent on hard maple due to the hardness.
My wife who is a gourmet chef also prefers hard maple.

[Mike Cutler]

I did a short production run of cutting boards for an acquaintance who owns a couple upper end restaurants. His executive chef was insistent on hard maple due to the hardness.
My wife who is a gourmet chef also prefers hard maple.

Bill

IIRC. Most, if not all, of the testing done on wooden cutting boards for approval and use, by the FDA ,was on cutting boards made from maple.
It's actually an informative, but boring, read.


I've only made cutting boards out of cherry and bubinga. Bubinga makes a beautiful cutting board.

[Phil Mueller]

I've always used Titebond II...says it for exterior use (water resistant) and FDA approved for indirect food contact.

[Barry McFadden]

I've always used Titebond II...says it for exterior use (water resistant) and FDA approved for indirect food contact.

"water resistant" makes me nervous on a piece that is going to get wet often. That's why I use Gorilla Glue as it is 100% waterproof.

[Al Launier]

I used Titebond II Extend for a couple of reasons:

1. Recommended, as well as Titebond III for cutting boards.
2. Leaves a less visible glue line

These will be gifts, so I'll be sure to inform the receiver re: minimume water exposure: not to immerse the boards in water - a damp cloth wash/rinse only.

[Prashun Patel]

Personally, I use TB III, not II. I just re-read the TB website and it appears that TB III is 'more' waterproof than TB II. There are two different tests for water proof, and TBIII passes the more stringent of those. TB II passes the less stringent.

Further, TBIII dries to brown, so I find it is less visible against dark woods (read Purpleheart) than is TBII, which is yellow; TBII is visible against both light and dark woods if your seam is not perfect.

While Polyurethane glue may also be appropriate, I find it a pain to work with both in terms of wood prep (wetting) and clean up.

[Bryan Vaughan]

Rob Duke, thank you for the photos, that's interesting .

[Al Launier]

Finished Product(s). Applied (4) coats of "Cutting Board Oil" (food quality mineral oil) that I picked up at HD to season them. Used a mix of Walnut, Hard Maple & Cherry. Handles all of Cherry. Decided to "monogram" my work with the branding iron. Took a while to complete this project, but now I'm off to another one(?).