OK to use pine for cutting board?
Davis Bennett
Hello folks,
I'm a novice when it comes to woodworking. I'd like to make a fairly
inexpensive cutting board & was wondering whether pine would be too
soft for this. I have an old board that was made out of plywood so I
thought that perhaps pine would do.
Any comments would be really helpful!
Thanks,
Davis
Phil Rose
In article <3436408...@news1.sympatico.ca>, buf...@ns.sympatico.ca
(Davis Bennett) wrote:
That's a dangerous invitation! ;-)
It's hard to make a cutting board that's _not_ "fairly inexpensive", unless
you get carried away with using exotic wood(s) such as teak, padauk, etc.
If you've been using a plywood (gasp! really?) cutting board 'till now, I
suppose you mightn't find pine to be an unworthy option. Wouldn't last very
long in my house, though. Way too soft for actual cuttin' 'n choppin'.
The best choice IMO for a board that will actually be used for cutting and
gettin' wet is a close-grain hardwood. Lots of choices fill this bill: the
most common are maple (hard or soft) and cherry. Maple is probably about as
cheap as pine, and it'll be a lot more interesting to work with and will
stand up well to kitchen abuse. Both maple and cherry are frequently
available in fairly wide boards, if it is your intention to make your
cutting board from a single piece of stock. Beware of warpage, though, if
this is how you intend to make it. Laminated (edge-glued) strips are
commonly used in order to minimize warp. You also can get an interesting
design if you alternate different wood species.
Phil
--
Phil Rose
Phil Rose
In article <3437B2...@capitalnet.com>, rid...@capitalnet.com wrote:
> Davis Bennett wrote:
> >
> > Hello folks,
> >
> > I'm a novice when it comes to woodworking. I'd like to make a fairly
> > inexpensive cutting board & was wondering whether pine would be too
> > soft for this. I have an old board that was made out of plywood so I
> > thought that perhaps pine would do.
> >
> > Any comments would be really helpful!
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Davis
>
> Hi Davis,
> Pine is a very soft wood and not recommended for food cutting boards.
> Maple would probably be a better choice. In the last few years wood has
> been banned in commercial operations for use as a cutting board. It was
> suggested that the wood absorbed bacteria that could be present in raw
> meat. Cleaning the wood properly means soaking in a bacterial agent
> which doesn't do the wood a lot of good.
> Based on recommendations from different health organizations I don't use
> wood as a food cutting board. The "plastic" cutting boards and man made
> substances are easier to clean and can be soaked. They tend not to
> absorb the raw meat juices.
> It may be worth considering. Hope this helps.
> Regards,
> Danny
Here we go again!
Danny, et al, *please* have a look at dejanews and read up on the many
dozens of postings in this newsgroup which detail the reliable, published
research data of the past several years that show wooden boards prove to be
_less_ (less!) of a bacterial contamination hazard than plastic
work-surfaces!!
As to pine, I agree, it is too soft and not recommended.
--
Phil Rose
Joe
Danny,
I think there has been a change to the theory that wood pores were a haven
for bacteria. A study was done on both plastic and wood cutting boards and
it was found that the wood was safer. They claimed that the wood would
absorb the moisture and eventually the bacteria would die. The plastic on
the other hand allowed the bacteria to proliferate.
I guess the bottom line is to clean both types on a regular basis.
Joe
Danny Proulx wrote in article <3437B2...@capitalnet.com>...
>Davis Bennett wrote:
>>
>> Hello folks,
>>
>> I'm a novice when it comes to woodworking. I'd like to make a fairly
>> inexpensive cutting board & was wondering whether pine would be too
>> soft for this. I have an old board that was made out of plywood so I
>> thought that perhaps pine would do.
>>
>> Any comments would be really helpful!
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Davis
>
>Hi Davis,
>Pine is a very soft wood and not recommended for food cutting boards.
>Maple would probably be a better choice. In the last few years wood has
>been banned in commercial operations for use as a cutting board. It was
>suggested that the wood absorbed bacteria that could be present in raw
>meat. Cleaning the wood properly means soaking in a bacterial agent
>which doesn't do the wood a lot of good.
>Based on recommendations from different health organizations I don't use
>wood as a food cutting board. The "plastic" cutting boards and man made
>substances are easier to clean and can be soaked. They tend not to
>absorb the raw meat juices.
>It may be worth considering. Hope this helps.
>Regards,
>Danny
>--
>Danny Proulx
>Rideau Cabinets
>P.O. Box 331
>Russell, Ontario. Canada K4R 1E1
>e-mail: rid...@capitalnet.com
>home page: http://www.capitalnet.com/~rideau/
>Phone: 1-613-445-3722
>Fax: 1-613-445-1740
Danny Proulx
Joe
Danny,
I think there has been a change to the theory that wood pores were a haven
for bacteria. A study was done on both plastic and wood cutting boards and
it was found that the wood was safer. They claimed that the wood would
absorb the moisture and eventually the bacteria would die. The plastic on
the other hand allowed the bacteria to proliferate.
I guess the bottom line is to clean both types on a regular basis.
Joe
Danny Proulx wrote in article <3437B2...@capitalnet.com>...
>Davis Bennett wrote:
Danny Proulx
Joe wrote:
>
> Danny,
>
> I think there has been a change to the theory that wood pores were a haven
> for bacteria. A study was done on both plastic and wood cutting boards and
> it was found that the wood was safer. They claimed that the wood would
> absorb the moisture and eventually the bacteria would die. The plastic on
> the other hand allowed the bacteria to proliferate.
>
> I guess the bottom line is to clean both types on a regular basis.
>
> Joe
>
Thanks for the heads up, I'll follow up on your comments. However, my
information is based on a revised report from the US Department of
Agriculture see http://www.usda.gov/fsis/cutboard.htm
I try to keep up on this issue as it is of importance in my business.
This revised report suggests plastic as the preferred material and any
commercial operations I deal with still follow guidelines that have
directed them to use plastic and wash often.
But, I will agree there is a lot of comments on both sides of the issue.
Regards,
Danny
Dawn Stockbridge Epstein
Pine would be too soft to make a good cutting board. Maple would be a
good choice, but avoid spalted maple. Check the following sources for
information on wood toxicity:
http://www.cs.rochester.edu/u/roche/rec.wood.misc/wood.toxic . This
table was published in _American Woodturner_ in 1980. Padauk, for
example, may cause allergic reactions in some people, so would not be a
real good cutting board wood. The other source is the Woods of the
World CD (http://www.woodweb.com/~treetalk/home.html), which will allow
you search for woods by intended use.
(Please, enough on the wood vs. plastic cutting board issue, OK? This
has already been done to death on both sides!)
Peter Tobias
We have a pine cutting board that my wife made in high school shop maybe
40 years ago. It isn't the best cutting board I've ever seen, but it
certainly works - and it now has that nice antique "used" look to it.
Peter Tobias
Gary's news
test reply...ignore me..
bjharms...@gmail.com
Barry.
Dr. Deb
> Hello folks,
>
> I'm a novice when it comes to woodworking. I'd like to make a fairly
> inexpensive cutting board & was wondering whether pine would be too
> soft for this. I have an old board that was made out of plywood so I
> thought that perhaps pine would do.
>
>
> Thanks,
> Davis
If you want a very good, but inexpensive cutting board, go to a local sawmill, get some white oak (NOT red oak) and make an end grain cutting board.
DerbyDad03
In any case, a good answer to the cutting board question is "bamboo". We have 2 bamboo cutting boards, one of which is over 10 YO and still looks as good as the one we bought 2 years ago.
Granted, I'm not sure these fit the DIY category, but they sure are safe and work extremely well.
http://www.cuttingboard.com/blog/top-five-benefits-of-a-bamboo-cutting-board/
-MIKE-
>
> http://www.cuttingboard.com/blog/top-five-benefits-of-a-bamboo-cutting-board/
>
Funny how they keep referring to it as wood, when it is a grass.
In any case, it does make for some great cutting boards.
--
-MIKE-
"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com
mi...@mikedrumsDOT.com
---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply
John Grossbohlin
news:4d2faf1b-9e02-4f5b...@googlegroups.com...
>Since the OP asked his question in 1997, he's either passed away from food
>poisoning or survived his pine cutting board experiences.
associates (that go back 25 years and more in some cases) to put me on the
notify list if they are ill or pass away. We have met in person at one time
or another but it's mostly common interests and on-line communications that
have kept us in touch.
Ed Pawlowski
> On 8/5/15 8:53 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
>>
>> http://www.cuttingboard.com/blog/top-five-benefits-of-a-bamboo-cutting-board/
>>
>>
>
> Funny how they keep referring to it as wood, when it is a grass.
> In any case, it does make for some great cutting boards.
>
>
Sure takes a long time to do the glue up though.
-MIKE-
Wood comes from trees.
Bamboo is a grass.
hub...@ccanoemail.com
>> Funny how they keep referring to it as wood, when it is a grass.
>> In any case, it does make for some great cutting boards.
>>
>
>Following your logic I decided to make a cutting board out of grass.
>Sure takes a long time to do the glue up though.
... on the stove ... hard to get any work done !
--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ne...@netfront.net ---
Mike Marlow
krw
>>>
>>> Funny how they keep referring to it as wood, when it is a grass.
>>> In any case, it does make for some great cutting boards.
>>>
>>
>>Following your logic I decided to make a cutting board out of grass.
>>Sure takes a long time to do the glue up though.
>
>
> Yeah .. I keep "accidently" leaving my grass cutting board
> ... on the stove ... hard to get any work done !
>
krw
wrote:
>On 8/5/15 5:30 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>> On 8/5/2015 1:12 PM, -MIKE- wrote:
>>> On 8/5/15 8:53 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
>>>>
>>>> http://www.cuttingboard.com/blog/top-five-benefits-of-a-bamboo-cutting-board/
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> Funny how they keep referring to it as wood, when it is a grass.
>>> In any case, it does make for some great cutting boards.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Following your logic I decided to make a cutting board out of grass.
>> Sure takes a long time to do the glue up though.
>
>You mean the logic that involves using a dictionary.
>Wood comes from trees.
>Bamboo is a grass.
being a bit pedantic.
Mike Marlow
Ed Pawlowski
-MIKE-
We don't call bamboo grass, either, even though it IS grass.
So WTF would we call it wood.
-MIKE-
Hat's off to you. Or helmet. Or wig.
DerbyDad03
> On 8/5/15 8:53 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
> >
> > http://www.cuttingboard.com/blog/top-five-benefits-of-a-bamboo-cutting-board/
> >
>
> Funny how they keep referring to it as wood, when it is a grass.
> In any case, it does make for some great cutting boards.
>
>
Dr. Deb's suggestion of an oak end grain cutting board.
I'm going to make an bamboo end grain cutting board.
I've started the design on paper but I need to transfer it to SketchUp to
make sure it's accurate. Here's what I have so far:
OOOOOO
OOOOOO
OOOOOO
OOOOOO
krw
>On 8/5/15 7:21 PM, krw wrote:
>> On Wed, 5 Aug 2015 18:34:59 -0500, -MIKE- <mi...@mikedrumsDOT.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On 8/5/15 5:30 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>>>> On 8/5/2015 1:12 PM, -MIKE- wrote:
>>>>> On 8/5/15 8:53 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> http://www.cuttingboard.com/blog/top-five-benefits-of-a-bamboo-cutting-board/
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Funny how they keep referring to it as wood, when it is a grass.
>>>>> In any case, it does make for some great cutting boards.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Following your logic I decided to make a cutting board out of grass.
>>>> Sure takes a long time to do the glue up though.
>>>
>>> You mean the logic that involves using a dictionary.
>>> Wood comes from trees.
>>> Bamboo is a grass.
>>
>> Corn is a grass, too, but we don't call it grass. Me thinks you're
>> being a bit pedantic.
>>
>
>Do you call corn wood? I didn't think so.
>We don't call bamboo grass, either, even though it IS grass.
>So WTF would we call it wood.
krw
DerbyDad03
Mike Marlow
-MIKE-
krw
-MIKE-
Go ahead, have the last word if it makes you feel superior.
krw
demonstrated such.
>Go ahead, have the last word if it makes you feel superior.
Martin Eastburn
Or is this a crab cake press ?
Martin
ScottWW
Leon
While it is indicated that bamboo is dense the typical bamboo cutting
board does not use end grain for the cutting surface.
Common end grain butting boards are not without their problems. While
self healing they are much more likely to absorb moisture, swell, and
split. Been there done that.
Just something to think about. Bamboo may not be as well suited in that
orientation.
DerbyDad03
cutting board - constructed with the design that I posted - would work very
well.
All those holes could be problematic.
DerbyDad03
As far as I can tell, this bamboo board production facility appears to meet all current OSHA standards:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goUfYBYsabc
Leon
something to think about because end grain boards have advantages and
disadvantages.
Might be an expensive experiment.
DerbyDad03
To actually make one from end grain, the slats would have to be cut really, really narrow so that the curve would be eliminated when all of the slats were glued/clamped together.
In addition, you'd be working with hundreds (thousands?) of little pieces, all standing on end. I guess you could use longer pieces and then resaw it to the proper thickness, but it would take a decent sized band saw, depending on how big the cutting board will be.
Am I missing something?
Leon
cutting boards. And yes it would be a lot of work and certainly
hundreds of pieces but... it does come in larger pieces.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jL90VbeHuk0
DerbyDad03
In order to end up with flat slats to glue together wouldn't you have to process every slat with the drying technique mentioned in the video and then press them flat before gluing the faces and sides together?
I don't know...maybe bamboo is flexible enough that you can stand hundreds of slightly curved pieces on end after applying glue to the faces of each and then clamp them together tight enough to flatten them all out and have them remain that way once the glue dries and the clamps are removed. In other words, instead of my original (joke) design of this...
OOO
OOO
...you could create this from the same 6 pieces:
((((
((((
((((
Obviously the narrower you cut the slats, the less curve each one would have, but each cut results in more pieces meaning more faces and more edges to glue up.
It kind of reminds me of walking halfway across a room and then halfway across again and then halfway across again. The theory is that you'll never reach the other side. If you cut a round tube in half and then cut each half in half again and then cut each half-half in half again, will you eventually end up with flat pieces? That would take a long time to glue up. ;-)
Sonny
> But it's a hollow tube. That was the whole point of the joke.
Slats: Use large diameter bamboo, the slats may be thicker, than smaller bamboo; Bevel cut the ends, to increase the end grain surface area, before laminating (at an angle) the slats together?
Sonny
mathyss...@gmail.com
jims...@gmail.com
> In article <3436408...@news1.sympatico.ca>, buf...@ns.sympatico.ca
> (Davis Bennett) wrote:
>
> > Hello folks,
> >
> > I'm a novice when it comes to woodworking. I'd like to make a fairly
> > inexpensive cutting board & was wondering whether pine would be too
> > soft for this. I have an old board that was made out of plywood so I
> > thought that perhaps pine would do.
> >
> > Any comments would be really helpful!
>
> That's a dangerous invitation! ;-)
>
> It's hard to make a cutting board that's _not_ "fairly inexpensive", unless
> you get carried away with using exotic wood(s) such as teak, padauk, etc.
> If you've been using a plywood (gasp! really?) cutting board 'till now, I
> suppose you mightn't find pine to be an unworthy option. Wouldn't last very
> long in my house, though. Way too soft for actual cuttin' 'n choppin'.
>
> The best choice IMO for a board that will actually be used for cutting and
> gettin' wet is a close-grain hardwood. Lots of choices fill this bill: the
> most common are maple (hard or soft) and cherry. Maple is probably about as
> cheap as pine, and it'll be a lot more interesting to work with and will
> stand up well to kitchen abuse. Both maple and cherry are frequently
> available in fairly wide boards, if it is your intention to make your
> cutting board from a single piece of stock. Beware of warpage, though, if
> this is how you intend to make it. Laminated (edge-glued) strips are
> commonly used in order to minimize warp. You also can get an interesting
> design if you alternate different wood species.
>
> Phil
>
> --
> Phil Rose
I agree with what Phil is saying but I have never in my life seen maple for the same price as pine, not even close by a mile. Phil please let me know where you buy your maple lol (are you sure your buying maple?)
Jack
really, really cheap at BORGS. I've never purchased wood to make a
cutting board, but have made them out of "firewood" and specifically
fire wood from trees from my own property if possible. Some
"sentimental value" in making your own out of your own trees I guess.
Other than that, just buy one, they last a lifetime, or at least the
life of the OP (21 years)
--
Jack
If Democrats don't want foreigners involved in our elections,
why do they think it's all right for illegals to vote?
http://jbstein.com
pyotr filipivich
yes. Although the food might pick up hints of "pine" flavors,
depending on the board.
--
pyotr filipivich
Next month's Panel: Graft - Boon or blessing?
Michael
It might work ok if you are making end grain cutting boards from pine.
pyotr filipivich
(PST) typed in rec.woodworking the following:
>> "OK to use pine for cutting board?"
>>
>> yes. Although the food might pick up hints of "pine" flavors,
>> depending on the board.
>> --
>> pyotr filipivich
>> Next month's Panel: Graft - Boon or blessing?
>
>I would say no to pine because it's too soft and the fiber strands will swell when washed and will pull off and get into the food.
other board, but "tastes is tastes". B-)
Ed Pawlowski
>
> I would say no to pine because it's too soft and the fiber strands will swell when washed and will pull off and get into the food.
>
> It might work ok if you are making end grain cutting boards from pine.
>
enough to break the bank.
Also would depend on actual use. I'd use pine for slicing bread, but
not for cutting a roast or steak.
As mentioned, you can buy a board cheap enough, but there is some
satisfaction in using one you made yourself. The one I use most every
day is just a few maple boards about 4" wide and a juice grove that I
botched routing so I use it upside down. It is 14 1/2" wide because I
have a 15" planer.