Cutting Boards - Part 1

I bought a palette of firewood a few years ago, offcuts of hard tropical wood from furniture making, according to the description it was supposed to be a mix of black locust and jatoba. I was expecting mostly black locust and I hoped there might be a few nice pieces of jatoba fit for making knife handles in there too. Maybe even for a knife stand, if I am lucky.

After I opened the first sack it was clear that there is more than just a few nice pieces in there. Some of it was fit just for burning, but a lot was nice pieces, big and healthy. I also found out when sorting it that there was a third tropical hardwood mixed in there – garapa.

It took me a while to sort it all according to species and usability. The unusable pieces provided me with heat for a few days, the rest is since then in the shed, dry and protected from the elements.

And there is so much of it that I could make knife handles for the rest of my life and I would not be able to use it all. I already made some knife sets with wooden stands from it (see webshop -click – click – click -) and it did not make a dent in the pile.

That is why I decided to use at least some of it to make cutting boards. Next week I will be finishing the first seven pieces that will go into various testing laboratories (= kitchens) in the family. And making cutting boards and maybe empty knife stands will be a project for this winter. I need to make some space in the shed.