wood serving boards.... what to do?

[Dupont666]

Was thinking of getting something poncey and thought of this:

http://www.jamieoliver.com/jme/kitchen/serveware/i...

or this:

http://www.jamieoliver.com/jme/kitchen/serveware/i...

now being a bloke i have no intention of paying for something like that.

I have a friend who needs to cut some trees down and he said he can sort me out with some boards like the above and a circular one too.

What will need doing to the wood and bark to:

a) clean it of everything to allow food on it without contamination?
b) make sure nothing seeps into the wood?
c) make sure the bark stays on?

[Mobile Chicane]

Dupont666 said:

Was thinking of getting something poncey and thought of this:

http://www.jamieoliver.com/jme/kitchen/serveware/i...

or this:

http://www.jamieoliver.com/jme/kitchen/serveware/i...

now being a bloke i have no intention of paying for something like that.

I have a friend who needs to cut some trees down and he said he can sort me out with some boards like the above and a circular one too.

What will need doing to the wood and bark to:

a) clean it of everything to allow food on it without contamination? Just leave it outside for a day or two to allow anything that wants to crawl away to do so, and then sand it

b) make sure nothing seeps into the wood? You can't really, but a wood with a tight grain like oak will resist staining to an extent

c) make sure the bark stays on? If the tree is healthy when cut, the bark will stay on. I have a couple of oak refectory benches which are easily 200 years old and these still have the bark on. They are quite 'warped' with a few cracks where the oak has dried out, so be aware that the board might not exactly stay flat

Great idea though, and I'll happily buy one off you if there are any going spare.

[Dogsey]

Be careful of which type of wood you use, some are nasty to humans.

[mas99]

Or find a decent local sawmill and buy a length of waney edge board. Then you'll get something that is already dried.

If you want to be poncy drop in at any local joiner and ask them to run it through a thicknesser for you (sawmill may well do this for you anyway). Otherwise apply saw to cut to size, sander to smooth. Then a scraper to get it nice (optional). Oil it. Present to the mrs. Look dear theres some oil left over....

[Big Al.]

mas99 said:

Or find a decent local sawmill and buy a length of waney edge board. Then you'll get something that is already dried.

If you want to be poncy drop in at any local joiner and ask them to run it through a thicknesser for you (sawmill may well do this for you anyway). Otherwise apply saw to cut to size, sander to smooth. Then a scraper to get it nice (optional). Oil it. Present to the mrs. Look dear theres some oil left over....

Basically as posted above,

I have been making (BIG) Carving & Bread boards for many years now.

If you can try to use either of the following woods.

Sycamore, Beech and Plane also fruitwoods are also used for treenware Cheery, Apple and Pear are some that I have used, Cherry is probably my favourite wood.

Here is a sample of one of my Walnut Carvers and a Cherry Bread board. finish size is approx 24" X 14", the Bread board is about 12" Dia.

[V8mate]

Alternatively, just head down to TK Maxx whee they have every size and shaped chopping board you can wish for for a fraction of the usual price.

[mas99]

They *do* look nice. I love walnut. Beautiful.

[Dupont666]

V8mate said:

Alternatively, just head down to TK Maxx whee they have every size and shaped chopping board you can wish for for a fraction of the usual price.

but cutting it from a wood is free??

[V8mate]

Dupont666 said:

V8mate said:

Alternatively, just head down to TK Maxx whee they have every size and shaped chopping board you can wish for for a fraction of the usual price.

but cutting it from a wood is free??

The oil to treat it isn't