Your Opinions Needed (Steak Boards)

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Weird Wood Pusher
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In the very near future I will have equipment that will allow me to do some CNC wood carving.
This takes away a lot of the labor time for more basic tasks of woodworking projects.

One of the first projects will be some steak boards. (nicer than the photo)
LN_meat-steak_073_crop_xlarge.jpg


When you do an internet search you can find mass produced steak boards with kind of generic looking wood for about $40 to $50
I was thinking about using nice wood and making ones that would sell for a few dollars more.

These are my thoughts so far:
Size around 14 inches long and 10ish wide.
Juice groove around edges of the board.
Possibly a juice well for dipping.
1st boards will probably be some figured walnut or maple.
I could do some with extra fancy woods but the cost would increase in multiples of 2 to 4 times those with more normal-ish wood.

Please share any opinions you have.
I am open to input on woods, size and design of the boards.
So......don't be shy. I bet you have some good ideas.
 
A bunch of you have read this but no opinions or input yet.

If you leave all the decisions to me you never know what kind of wild ideas I will come up with.
Maybe a juice well shaped like a vampire Easter bunny skull? but that might be a bit too seasonal.
 
I like the idea. My brother commissioned a couple of endgrain boards with a juice groove and a cutout for a bowl/ramekin a while back, still not completed. Cnc plain wood plates would be pretty sweet as well.
 
My main cutting board is flat on one side with a juice groove on the other side. My only real complaint is that the groove is too shallow to accept much liquid. When you machine the groove on a prototype, measure out about how much liquid you think will ever go into the groove and pour it in there to see if the groove is deep enough.

Figured walnut and maple sound really nice, also traditional for boards, I'd bet they'd sell just fine. Maybe only do exotics as custom prepaid orders?

On a digression, I follow your Instagram and wonder what a bog oak board would look like and cost... Also love the duck vids. :)
 
As much as I love the idea, I am not sure if I'd buy a set (or at least a couple) because I'm not sure about having room for such a specialized item (I already have a lot of knives, knife-related gear, kitchen gadgets and appliances, etc.) But I'd still be tempted.
And then I'd have to get some really nice steak knives to go with the boards . . . which might require me to buy more burlsource wood blocks . . . sigh
 
If you make them big enough, they can double up as chicken (average size not huge) and roast O(again, not a huge one) carving boards. I like the idea of a nice figured board
 
I have a walnut board from you that is 18 x 11.5 and I love it. I would love it even more if it had a juice groove on the groove on the reverse side. Then I could bring a whole chicken to the table without having to make a platter dirty and do all of the side dish prep on the reverse side of the board while the chicken is in the oven. The board I got from you looks really really good. I get compliments on it all the time.
 
Not much I can add here. Like others' comments I'd like it to be a bit bigger than originally discussed (18X12) with a juice groove on one side. I'd like to be able to use it as a cutting board and serving board pretty much like Chuckles said above.
 
I don't know about the limits of the machinery but does the groove slope toward the well slightly? Kinda like how a rain gutter should slope toward the downspout. That would be great. It reminds of Peter Luger in NYC when they bring the meat plate they prop up one side so the juices pool on the plate.
 
Oh, just had a thought! If you want to make you boards stand out maybe you could burn/cut something unique into the well. I've been to your store but don't see a custom maker's mark? If it doesn't add too much labor maybe offer a few choices to help make the board semi-custom?
 
I don't know about the limits of the machinery but does the groove slope toward the well slightly? Kinda like how a rain gutter should slope toward the downspout. That would be great. It reminds of Peter Luger in NYC when they bring the meat plate they prop up one side so the juices pool on the plate.

The biggest limitations will be my learning the software. I am sure varied depths are possible. Just need to learn how. So far, I am a slow learner in my opinion. I like to try different methods before I decide what works best for me.

I like the idea of seeing how much liquid can be held in different groove and well sizes.
Most likely I will be doing some test projects with plain wood and then ask what all of you think before using fancier woods.
 
are you going to be offering plain wood boards as well?

I will probably make some.
You should also check out Bork Woods. Looks like he makes some nice cutting and serving boards.

I will try a bunch of different projects and see what I am able to do best.
If it is a project I enjoy making and you guys like them I will make more.
 
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