Russian cutting boards??

Advertise with us
Miura knives
Shop Knives and stones on ebay
Japanese Knives - by Tokushu Knife
Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
B

brooksie967

No more Ashi
Joined
May 21, 2015
Messages
1,222
Reaction score
564
Location
Coquitlam, BC
I caught wind that there is a Russian gentleman here, used to or still has a vendor thread, that makes great cutting boards?

Right now I'm looking at the sitka spruce boards Takeshi has as well as the larch wood boards available from Sydney Nova Scotia.

What do you guys recommend? I'm looking at something 25x12.
 
I haven't used them, but I've always thought those larch boards look pretty cool. I love the strong grain pattern. Makes my perfectly serviceable maple look boring, but I can't really justify replacing it.
The Russian made ones also look nice. I'm sure there must be some members who own one and can comment.
 
Found it. Mtm boards.

I notice he uses some pretty hard woods.

Should I just go for the larch or the spruce?
 
Pick what you like most. I got a couple of cutting boards from him and they're beautiful! And high-quality, too.
 
brooksie967 said:
Found it. Mtm boards.
I notice he uses some pretty hard woods.
Click to expand...
Most of the wood he uses isn't hard (there was a thread somewhere where he explained, that different species of, let say Oak, have very different hardness depending on where it was grown. So just knowing the word "Oak" won't tell you how hard that specific wood is). Bought couple of boards from him over the years and all of them are perfect.

…but shipping heavy boards overseas is expensive and makes those boards much less attractive.
 
icanhaschzbrgr said:
Most of the wood he uses isn't hard (there was a thread somewhere where he explained, that different species of, let say Oak, have very different hardness depending on where it was grown. So just knowing the word "Oak" won't tell you how hard that specific wood is). Bought couple of boards from him over the years and all of them are perfect.

…but shipping heavy boards overseas is expensive and makes those boards much less attractive.
Click to expand...

Agree on all counts. I have one and would have gotten more but shipping is a pain.
 
I have one and it is great, I'm going to get another quite soon.
 
I think i'm going to have a custom one done by larchwoodcanada, apparently they planted Japanese larch back in the 1970s and are the best of the best for end grain boards.
 
Am I correct in thinking that Larch is a type of Pine which has very high amounts of Silica?

If I remember correctly, there's a lot of it in England which nobody will touch because it dulls the cutting tools so fast.
 
MAS4T0 said:
Am I correct in thinking that Larch is a type of Pine which has very high amounts of Silica?

If I remember correctly, there's a lot of it in England which nobody will touch because it dulls the cutting tools so fast.
Click to expand...


I never heard that up until now but based on a quick search your point looks correct! I'll have to email them and ask their opinions!
 
There's a few different species of Larch, but the one you're talking about is often referred to as Tamarack or American Larch. Larch is primarily known for its antimicrobial properties and resistance to rot. Some will caution you about the softness of the wood, but it's perfectly suitable for a cutting surface -- I haven't experienced any issues whatsoever. The board looks great, ages very well, and is gentle on the knife's edge.

The grain pattern on these boards is just beautiful. A word of caution, though -- the board will darken over time as you oil it (I use Boos). Here is a good example of what you can expect after 2-3 years of regular maintenance. Otherwise, you'll be hard pressed to notice any signs of wear.

Depending on your location, several Canadian retailers carry Larchwood cutting boards, so you might be able to find one of the standard sizes on sale. Also, don't forget to investigate local woodworkers. If you can find someone competent, they can make you something very, very nice as well!
 
By all means, being a country of much wood please look in Canada. I also exchanged messages with the MTM a few times on boards, and am very confident about dealing with him even if I didn't go ahead for reasons that weren't his fault. In contrast I had some difficulties with Boardsmith a few years back if they're a fav here, though now under new ownership. I have a feeling that MTM would be more talked about here if in one of the more common KKF countries.
 
I just got a response from the amazing folks at larchwoodcanada.com

"Hi Jeremy

There is a very low silica content in Eastern Canadian Larch. The end grain Larch is very forgiving and a pleasure to work on. *insert store name here* use large end grain Larch blocks that we provided them with for their demo boards in their stores.

Kind regards, Don"

Looks like i'll be ordering one as soon as funds turn up!
 
Asteger said:
I have a feeling that MTM would be more talked about here if in one of the more common KKF countries.
Click to expand...
Ditto. They have some really spectacular looking stuff, and on top of that he shares a lot of his production methods in youtube videos. Definitly looks like he knows what he's doing. He does custom work too. The main problem is that, being in Russia, the shipping (and customs) costs are pretty high...
 
Jovidah said:
Ditto. ... The main problem is that, being in Russia, the shipping (and customs) costs are pretty high...
Click to expand...

With customs it all depends on where you are, I guess. I didn't find his shipping to be that bad.

One thing I would have liked to see, though, would be if he lowered his prices a bit when the Ruble fell. In a short time, the amount he'd make in rubles would have become 2x previous when converted from Euro or USD, etc. Who knows, if you point that out he might be willing to discount. I was even willing to trade with him.
 
Asteger said:
With customs it all depends on where you are, I guess. I didn't find his shipping to be that bad.

One thing I would have liked to see, though, would be if he lowered his prices a bit when the Ruble fell. In a short time, the amount he'd make in rubles would have become 2x previous when converted from Euro or USD, etc. Who knows, if you point that out he might be willing to discount. I was even willing to trade with him.
Click to expand...

Well I guess it's all relative but for me the shipping cost would amount to about 50 dollars. I know he can't help it because boards are heavy and this is a pretty normal rate for shipping, but I guess it does move people to source from a more local vendor. Then with customs and all that crap you can add about 30% on top of that. So it can turn a 200 dollar board into a 300 dollar board...

Regarding pricing; I'm not sure how applicable this reasoning is. Sure, the ruble fell, but there's a good chance he buys a lot of his material priced in dollars. Even if he buys his product in rubles there's a good chance those prices haven't remained the same (inflation), so I doubt he's really making all that much extra profit. Currently there's a lot of inflation in the country so most of his bills will be getting higher, not lower.
 
Jovidah said:
Even if he buys his product in rubles there's a good chance those prices haven't remained the same (inflation), so I doubt he's really making all that much extra profit. Currently there's a lot of inflation in the country so most of his bills will be getting higher, not lower.
Click to expand...
Above is 146% correct.
 
Sounds all right. Ah jeez, now I feel I have to order a nice board from him. :dontknow:
 
Asteger said:
Sounds all right. Ah jeez, now I feel I have to order a nice board from him. :dontknow:
Click to expand...

You won't regret it.

When you get one of his boards in hand you'll feel like you massively underpaid for it.
 
I watched MTM create a chess board. As someone who grew up in USSR and learned to play chess, I feel good and bad about it. His work is just amazing and chess board looked perfect, but then I go back and think how I learned on a cardboard chess board, it makes me sad,... Why sad? i dont know... maybe not sad but melancholy. To me, cutting board is not really same as knife, where tastes and preference chances with steel, metal, etc.. Sure, cutting boards preferences changes too, but nowhere near as knives, IMO. I would probably change knives 10 times and cutting board never.

For that reason, shipping cost, would likely not be a reason not to order it. He also used to hang around here, too bad he stopped.
 
brooksie967 said:
I caught wind that there is a Russian gentleman here, used to or still has a vendor thread, that makes great cutting boards?

Right now I'm looking at the sitka spruce boards Takeshi has as well as the larch wood boards available from Sydney Nova Scotia.

What do you guys recommend? I'm looking at something 25x12.
Click to expand...

I do not use coniferous woods due to a large content of resin. I know that American larch boards are popular in North America. Here is the link to the good video - [video=youtube;DYu37-vyMLA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYu37-vyMLA[/video]
I didn't work with this wood, but judging by it's features it can be use for end grain cutting boards. I do not know the content of resin in this wood.
I think that optimum is the European oak. It is about 50% of my sales. I use 15 different woods. I choose the woods for cutting boards for some characteristics. You can compare.
European oak:
Weight - 690 kg
Hardness - 4980 N
Crushing strength - 46.3 Mpa
Volumetric shrinkage - 13.0%
American larch:
Weight - 595 kg
Hardness - 2620 N
Crushing strength - 49.4 Mpa
Volumetric shrinkage - 13.6%

I think it is good. It is soft enough, but this is good for knife blades.
 
@mtmwood, Здравствуй Андрей! Очаровательние доски.
Would you give an opinion if the attached board which I ordered yesterday would make my knives dull...It is from European oak and as far as I can determine, the grains are oriented vertically...If I am correct, does it mean such board would offer the "end grain" advantages?
Greetings from Bulgaria!
 

Attachments

  • Capture.JPG
    Capture.JPG
    41.5 KB · Views: 62
  • Capture2.JPG
    Capture2.JPG
    60.1 KB · Views: 64
Last edited:
It does look end grain. A big piece like this tends to split over time, like the round Chinese cutting boards which is made from section of tree trunk. it splits over time, some comes with metal braces around to keep it in one piece.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top