New butcher block-- crazy board

I did a little experimentation on this one, using a mix of about 80% walnut, 20% everything else. It's all end grain butcher block, and probably required 15 glue-ups or so. I started out by making 3 separate panels, and the final butcher block is probably 1/3 the size of those original panels... Lots of sawing = lots of size reduction. 20 minutes after we finished it, Oliver bought it. He graciously photographed it for us and gave us permission to use the pics. (courtesy El8ed Artists)

I have another, similar board that used maple as the base wood. I'll probably make a couple more of these. Kind of a fun project.

2 thumbs up!

That's really cool, almost like a mosaic

Was the board planned like a puzzle or fit up dry and "that looks better" and bonded? This would be a terrific art piece in a high end kitchen. What do you think they will sell for and how big was your first one.

2 thumbs up as well.

Awesome board and excellent photography

This board is absolutely spectacular. We haven't even dared to slice on it yet - it's just too beautiful. Maybe we'll hang it on the wall and buy another for the kitchen. :lol2:
John is a true class act and it was a privilege chatting with him when I bought the board - I still can't believe he let me have it at all.

Thank you again John!

Cheers,
Oliver

Would live to see how that was made

That is a amazing look! Love it!!

looks awesome!

very nice board

goatgolfer said:

Was the board planned like a puzzle or fit up dry and "that looks better" and bonded? This would be a terrific art piece in a high end kitchen. What do you think they will sell for and how big was your first one.

2 thumbs up as well.

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Extremely reasonable price considering the amount of hand work obviously required. I've got a 14 x 18 on order and can't wait to see it.

Smurfmacaw said:

Extremely reasonable price considering the amount of hand work obviously required. I've got a 14 x 18 on order and can't wait to see it.

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You went for the mosaic? Nice! I have a plain maple on order as well, but I got it a custom thickness. I'd almost want one of these as an art piece, or perhaps as a smaller board to go with the larger one

tjangula said:

You went for the mosaic? Nice! I have a plain maple on order as well, but I got it a custom thickness. I'd almost want one of these as an art piece, or perhaps as a smaller board to go with the larger one

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Yeah, it's kind of a peace offering to she who must be obeyed. If she finds out I bought three knives this week I'll be walking with a limp for a while. I can't wait to see it, it's going to replace the crappy board my wife uses at her station (we love cooking together).

tjangula said:

You went for the mosaic? Nice! I have a plain maple on order as well, but I got it a custom thickness. I'd almost want one of these as an art piece, or perhaps as a smaller board to go with the larger one

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Hey Tjangula, your custom board is shipping today, assuming I can persuade the shipping department to navigate the USPS with 3 kids in tow (Canada shipment). My sawmill has been sending me a bit of quartersawn lumber recently, so I went with that on your board. I think you are going to be really pleased. Beautiful wood grain.

It's a heavy beast!

John
(trying to insert a cell phone picture of it here, which I seem to fail miserably at every time.)


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John Loftis said:

Hey Tjangula, your custom board is shipping today, assuming I can persuade the shipping department to navigate the USPS with 3 kids in tow (Canada shipment). My sawmill has been sending me a bit of quartersawn lumber recently, so I went with that on your board. I think you are going to be really pleased. Beautiful wood grain.

It's a heavy beast!

John
(trying to insert a cell phone picture of it here, which I seem to fail miserably at every time.)


View attachment 29016

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Thanks John, I'm looking forward to getting it!

That board is beautiful. I just got a brick pattern from John which is also gorgeous, but wow, that crazy pattern will be a hit!

I posted a review of my first one here http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/s...y-Board-Review?p=388068&viewfull=1#post388068

I'm so happy with mine I bought four more. For anyone hesitant to cut on them, they are extremely durable. I've got two in the kitchen and both are used daily and you'd be hard pressed to tell they get used at all.

Wow stunning!

The holidays are probably not the greatest time to enquire about when these might become available?

ConstantLearning said:

The holidays are probably not the greatest time to enquire about when these might become available?

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Due to the labor involved, I don't plan on carrying these as regular items. I've gotten 2 orders for them in the last couple days, so I can add a third if you'd like. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected] if you are interested.

Thanks much!
John

Curiosity questions... One of the comments I've read about bamboo boards is that the immense amount of glued joins is hard on knife edges (in addition to bamboo being hard on it's own and not a good material anyway). When you have a highly patterned board of proper cutting board wood, is the large volume of glued joints also harder on edges then something with larger pieces?

Also, when using woods of different hardness, is there any noticeable difference in wear of the softer blocks vs the harder ones?

I can answer that for John.

Bamboo is much harder and the amount of glues and resins used in the manufacture of those boards will be tough on the good edges the posters here strive for. What is not known is the type and quality of the glues used for bamboo. The Oriental makers simply don't follow the same techniques we do here in the states. John uses a cross-linked polymer type 3 glue which when dried isn't as hard are other polymer glues which is why it is water-proof. All glues simply aren't the same.

The boards in question here, mosaic with small pieces, do use a lot more glue that traditional brick patterned boards but the type of glue used will not pose the same amount of potential problems to the good edges.

As for uneven wear on the blocks, I believe that would be more evident on boards with larger blocks. With the smaller pieces used in the mosaic boards the knife edges will stay on the harder pieces and not be able to ride deeply into any softer pieces. And with the edges the posters here use, those scary sharp edges will do less damage/wear on the wood due to the lessened force required for cutting.

Hope this helps.

Thanks David, I was wondering the same thing as strumke. Appreciated!

What are the dimensions of the mosaic board one the fist page of this thread. What is the minimum thickness required for an end grain board such as this?

buckeye said:

What are the dimensions of the mosaic board one the fist page of this thread. What is the minimum thickness required for an end grain board such as this?

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Hi Buckeye, these are almost always made to order. I've never had one in stock for more than a few minutes. So we can make whatever you'd like. As with our other boards, we generally go 2" thick or thicker.

Having said that, I actually just finished a 14 X 18 in a walnut base. It's gorgeous, and available.

I also just got a custom order for our first mosiac board (I've gotta quit calling these crazy boards) using cherry as a base wood. Looking forward to seeing how that comes out.

John Loftis said:

Due to the labor involved, I don't plan on carrying these as regular items. I've gotten 2 orders for them in the last couple days, so I can add a third if you'd like. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected] if you are interested.

Thanks much!
John

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It does look like a ton of work but the results are beautiful.

This board is just simply stunning display of craftsmanship. I am just curious, is it possible to submit the order for a board like this one?

John Loftis said:

Hi Buckeye, these are almost always made to order. I've never had one in stock for more than a few minutes. So we can make whatever you'd like. As with our other boards, we generally go 2" thick or thicker.

Having said that, I actually just finished a 14 X 18 in a walnut base. It's gorgeous, and available.

I also just got a custom order for our first mosiac board (I've gotta quit calling these crazy boards) using cherry as a base wood. Looking forward to seeing how that comes out.

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Do you have any pictures of the cherry based mosiac board?

I cannot recommend BoardSmith boards more highly. I recently received a walnut board. Its a beautiful, very high quality product. In fact, I just ordered a mosaic (crazy) board from John. I told my wife we needed one for proteins and one for fruits and veggies, she went for it! Customer service was top notch. Thank you John.

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lans8939 said:

I cannot recommend BoardSmith boards more highly. I recently received a walnut board. Its a beautiful, very high quality product. In fact, I just ordered a mosaic (crazy) board from John. I told my wife we needed one for proteins and one for fruits and veggies, she went for it! Customer service was top notch. Thank you John.

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Thanks so much!!! Really appreciate the kind words.