Not Sure?

[PreacherJon]

A friend stopped by a wood store and bought a bunch of wood and asked that I make his wife a cutting board out of the different boards he got. And I can keep what is left over. Well... not all the wood is complimentary to each other. He bought, Bubinga, Paduak, Purpleheart, Wenge and Zebrawood. So, I decided to make him two boards Here the first one. Zebra, Wenge and Paduak. I think the Paduak will darken over time and make it a little better.
17" x 12"

I'm going to make the next one out of the Bubinga and Purpleheart and will be adding maple. I think that combination is going to be more complimentary.

 

[jttheclockman]

Now please do not take this in a way to discourage you and others from making these cutting boards. THIS IS MY OPINION only!!! I see way too often here and other sites where people makes these great looking cutting boards with all this fancy exotic woods. But in all my woodworking career I was told and still believe that certain woods are just not for cutting boards. Soft woods, large open grain woods and most exotics. i say exotics because they contain toxins that can be harmful when mixed with foods and ingested. Woods that secrete oils such as woods in the rosewood family really should be avoided. I make these baskets from many various woods including exotics and such but when I sell them I always have a card attached to them or at least warn the buyer if storing foods such as rolls and bread and fruits to place a doily in the bottom first. Of course they are not cutting on them so there is that. Now maybe you and others have done much more homework on this topic and found there is nothing wrong with using woods like this. But if I were to make cutting boards I would stick to the basics. Again this is just my opinion on this topic. No scientific facts that I have looked into. Just old timers talking on woodworking forums.

 

[PreacherJon]

Now please do not take this in a way to discourage you and others from making these cutting boards. THIS IS MY OPINION only!!! I see way too often here and other sites where people makes these great looking cutting boards with all this fancy exotic woods. But in all my woodworking career I was told and still believe that certain woods are just not for cutting boards. Soft woods, large open grain woods and most exotics. i say exotics because they contain toxins that can be harmful when mixed with foods and ingested. Woods that secrete oils such as woods in the rosewood family really should be avoided. I make these baskets from many various woods including exotics and such but when I sell them I always have a card attached to them or at least warn the buyer if storing foods such as rolls and bread and fruits to place a doily in the bottom first. Of course they are not cutting on them so there is that. Now maybe you and others have done much more homework on this topic and found there is nothing wrong with using woods like this. But if I were to make cutting boards I would stick to the basics. Again this is just my opinion on this topic. No scientific facts that I have looked into. Just old timers talking on woodworking forums.

View attachment 360975

Oh, I get you. But he bought the wood and wants them used. No amount of my telling him otherwise is going to work.

 

[bsshog40]

Looks nice! And as to johns point, I wonder about coating these cuttibg boards with a bar glaze instead of poly or such finishes. The bar glaze is a very stout finish plus has an awesome shine to it. I have a large piece of pecan that I woodburned a design on it back in 2007. I coated it with bar glaze and it still looks as good today as when I put it on back then.

 

[Lew]

I really like the look of the cutting boards from the material you had available. The design is really beautiful.
My 2 cents on the use of different woods: I have made a lot of boards for use in the kitchen, and I call end-grain boards cutting boards and edge grain charcuterie boards. The difference is that when you cut on an end-grain board, you're not slicing the fibers of the wood, where with an edge grain you are. With an edge-grain board you risk getting the fibers from the wood into the food you are preparing and that's where the problems might arise. For example, I've read that the dust and fibers from purpleheart can be very toxic, so I avoid putting wood like that into a cutting board but it's nominally ok in a charcuterie board. I tell people not to use the charcuterie boards as cutting boards because using a knife on them will cause marks that will be nearly impossible to repair. They will remain beautiful for a long time that way.

 

[umbert]

my 2 cents...
I made several cutting boards with some of exotic woods, for ex:
-paduk with wenge edge grain, made at least 4 yrs ago, finished with mineral oil, use it once a week. I don't see a difference comparing let's say to maple/walnut.
-purpleheart, walnut, maple - covered with 3-4 coats of General Finish Arm N Seal and each coat dried for couple weeks, last coat for at least a month. Now: I use it ONLY for meat trimming, definitely not chopping or even slicing. Poly keeps this "meat board" fresh, blood never touched wood here.
-Shedua, maple, huge chopping board, use it almost every day for past couple years, finished with mineral oil.
-purpleheart, maple, huge (42 x 24") dough board finished with food safe tung oil, dried for a couple of months. I make my bread dough on it for past couple yrs.
-another big but not huge dough board made with walnut and mahogany finished also with food safe tung oil.
NOW, I'm not saying use the above wood and you'll be fine. Every and each of us may react differently with even tiny piece of splinter from the above wood.
Me myself, I didn't feel anything when cutting those woods or inhaling some of its dust, but that doesn't mean you wont. Most of the warnings on using exotic woods are exaggerated but AGAIN, read above.
On the other hand, I would definitely not use Cocobolo or other rosewoods for cutting boards