# Cutting board - repair or toss?



## agp (Feb 18, 2019)

I got this as a... let's call it a gift... It's never been used, but never been treated either. The wood has a few big cracks and many small cracks from being stored in the dry winter. Can anyone tell me more about this board? What is the type of wood, if it's worth repairing (and if so, how to repair), or if it's not worth the effort?

Big cracks






Many small cracks


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## HRC_64 (Feb 18, 2019)

its impossible to understand really what's going on without a pic of the whole board,
but you're not going to realistically repair 100s of micro cracks across the grain.

so unless its something really good, I would either discard it (practical) or re-purpose
(sentimental value/gift, etc) some way other than food prep.

Make nice hardwood (warm tone) room accents or decorative use of the wood, etc.


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## gotmail1414 (Feb 18, 2019)

I concur. Unless you have access to a wood shop, I can't imagine this being worth the time and stress to repair it to a satisfactory level. With it being a round board, that further complicates some repair options. And if you did have a wood shop, I don't think you would need to be asking the forum


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## agp (Feb 18, 2019)

Here's the whole board, 14in in diameter.


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## OldJoeClarke (Feb 18, 2019)

That's a nice piece of wood, you could get a few decent sized cuts out of it to make some strops. As already stated, the amount of cracks does mean it's days as a usable chopping board are over.


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## orangehero (Feb 18, 2019)

Curious what exactly would be the issue chopping on it? Oil it up and use it what would happen to it? Once it gets some moisture the cracks will close up a bit. Maybe reserve it for raw protein type work? Hard to identify the wood maybe maple or hickory?


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## HRC_64 (Feb 18, 2019)

orangehero said:


> Curious what exactly would be the issue chopping on it? Oil it up and use it what would happen to it? Once it gets some moisture the cracks will close up a bit. Maybe reserve it for raw protein type work? Hard to identify the wood maybe maple or hickory?



Even if that board was plastic you would throw it out 
because those cracks cannot be sanded away or cleaned properly.


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## McMan (Feb 18, 2019)

Send it to the garage where you can bang stuff on it...


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## Michi (Feb 19, 2019)

I wouldn't throw it out. It'll still make a fine surface in a home workshop for all sorts of jobs that require hammering, cutting, etc. For food, probably not so great. You'd be breeding some nice bacterial and fungal colonies in those cracks.


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## Luftmensch (Feb 19, 2019)

agp said:


> Can anyone tell me more about this board?



This is a chinese style butcher block.



agp said:


> What is the type of wood



I am no expert... the grain looks quite porous. Maybe a Birch.... maybe maple. If nobody here knows and the knowledge is important to you, a wood working forum would identify it quickly. If you know where it was purchased/made, that would probably narrow it down.



agp said:


> if it's worth repairing (and if so, how to repair), or if it's not worth the effort?



Well... the first part of this question is subjective. Let say it is worth repairing....

You will not be able to close up the cracks but you could seal them with an oil/wax mix. Perhaps you could make your own board butter biased towards wax - melt some bees wax in a sauce pan to a liquid state, mix in a bit of mineral oil (or 100% linseed/flax/tung) and fill the cracks. You might need to tape up the sides and bottom of the chopping block to prevent the solution from leaking out of the wood (I bet it would still be messy. Perhaps you could work the wax into the surface using a hair drier or paint stripper. Once satisfied that you have filled the cracks, you could add more oil to your solution and prepare the cutting surface. 

It is worth the effort? That is up to you. It would take a bit of work. Not long, particularly if you enjoy that sort of thing. The interface between the wood and the wax would be prone to separating - so it would need maintenance over time.



The state of California state would say using it is probably a mild carcinogen.... Jokes aside, it would be fair to argue that the cracks increase the risk of bacterial contamination. Under this argument, the most conservative answer is to recommend you use it for another purpose. That said, if you have an attachment to it, i think sealing it, maintaining it and using it for washed vegetables would be very low risk. Just make sure the surface is maintained with board butter and that you let the surface fully dry after use. That is an assessment using my risk preference - that might not fit in with your approach to sanitation & risk.


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## HRC_64 (Feb 19, 2019)

Think of it this way, there are ways to sanitize and then there are ways to defeat sanitization.

Physical makeup of what you are trying to sanitize can defeat even very reliable sanitation methods. For exapmple, in water purification, its well known that suspended dirt will defeat many types of water purification (or, alternatively, require much more agressive water treatment at a minium). That is because the bad guys cling to the dirt, and you don't just have to disperse cleaning agent thru the liquid, but also into the crack and creavases of the dirt particles...which take the cleaning agent alot more effort to clean...but invariably ther is stuff stuck in the cracks between the bad guys and the surface that blocks the cleaning agents...that you cannot pyshically wipe away...so after the cleaning agent is done and rinsed, there are physically isolated bad guys in those cracks trapped beneath "cleaned" dirt and debris...and this stuff will sprout more bad guys like grass in a sidewalk...impossible to stop in other words.

This isn't some kind of shade of grey between say plastic and wood and which one is better, even with respectr to sanitization...this is a clear cut case of the surface being unusable no matter the substrate....

Just my $0.02 

hope this makes some sene


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## crockerculinary (Feb 19, 2019)

forgive me if i am wrong, but is it not typical for these style of round boards, if cracks appear, to be soaked in water before use in order to swell the wood and seal the cracks? 

is the screw setup on the side a metal band around the board?


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## DamageInc (Feb 19, 2019)

Firewood


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## Luftmensch (Feb 19, 2019)

HRC_64 said:


> surface being unusable no matter the substrate....



Perhaps so. Full disclosure: I have never sealed up a thick plank of wood and prepared food off it. So perhaps risk of contamination is more likely than I imagine. 

Would I use it for raw meat... No... Only chop washed vegetables on it and let it dry - I would still consider this low risk. Dryness is the key... _most_ bacteria cant live without moisture. Maybe part of @agp's routine just has to be putting the board in a kiln each time it is used


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## Devon_Steven (Feb 19, 2019)

I have similar slice of tree (tamarind, from Thailand) and those micro-cracks will appear if the board is left to dry out. An application of pure mineral oil lets my board expand and the micro-cracks close up. My slice of tree can absorb quite a lot of mineral oil if not treated for a while. I also use the beeswax/mineral oil treatment mentioned above but if it gets too dry like yours is I start with several applications of pure oil. Just keep adding until no more is being absorbed. The first applications will be absorbed in minutes and later ones in hours.

Worth a try...


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## Luftmensch (Feb 19, 2019)

crockerculinary said:


> forgive me if i am wrong, but is it not typical for these style of round boards, if cracks appear, to be soaked in water before use in order to swell the wood and seal the cracks?



I'd be interested in learning! Cracking seems like an inherent characteristic of this style of board... 




Devon_Steven said:


> My slice of tree can absorb quite a lot of mineral oil if not treated for a while.



Any thoughts on the food safe drying oils? Like tung? It is slow to cure which is a pain. Mineral oil is definitely the best from the point of view that you can drink it from the bottle.


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## Devon_Steven (Feb 19, 2019)

Luftmensch said:


> Any thoughts on the food safe drying oils? Like tung? It is slow to cure which is a pain. Mineral oil is definitely the best from the point of view that you can drink it from the bottle.



The only food-safe oil I know of (aside from oils made of food, such as olive oil, which people say can leave a rancid fragrance as they age in your chopping board) is pure mineral oil.

There are different grades of mineral oil and 'pure' is the food safe grade.

Interestingly, although mineral oil can be used as a food ingredient and pharmaceutical in the US, it cannot in the EU. If you want shiny chocolate here, you need to polish it.


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## Luftmensch (Feb 19, 2019)

agp said:


> I got this as a... let's call it a gift...



Wait! Stop the press! I feel like we're walking past an easter egg here. That sounds like it could be an interesting anecdote!? What gives?

(... it sounds comically sinister... "oh that under-ground chef triad gave me a... let's call it a gift... so now I am put my affairs in order and telling the kids I love them")


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## crockerculinary (Feb 19, 2019)

if it was me i would soak it in mineral for a week and see what happens. either soak it or keep applying until it cant absorb any more.


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## Luftmensch (Feb 19, 2019)

Devon_Steven said:


> Interestingly, although mineral oil can be used as a food ingredient and pharmaceutical in the US, it cannot in the EU. If you want shiny chocolate here, you need to polish it.



Im guessing you can't buy it in the pharmacies to... err... get things moving along.... either?


I am not sure if 100% linseed or tung oil are safe for consumption when raw. I doubt it. I don't recommend it. But they are FDA approved for use in food packaging.





crockerculinary said:


> if it was me i would soak it in mineral for a week and see what happens. either soak it or keep applying until it cant absorb any more.



And then have a look at tightening that tension band around the outside surface.....


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## podzap (Feb 19, 2019)

Devon_Steven said:


> Interestingly, although mineral oil can be used as a food ingredient and pharmaceutical in the US, it cannot in the EU. If you want shiny chocolate here, you need to polish it.



E905a (food-grade mineral oil) is not approved for a good reason: it is a laxative. Nobody wants to suffer from an assplosion after eating a box of shiny chocolate


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## podzap (Feb 19, 2019)

Luftmensch said:


> Im guessing you can't buy it in the pharmacies to... err... get things moving along.... either?



No need, they sell half-litre bottles of it in every IKEA store for cutting board lubrication.


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## Luftmensch (Feb 19, 2019)

podzap said:


> No need, they sell half-litre bottles of it in every IKEA store for cutting board lubrication.



Cool tip. Thanks!


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## dafox (Feb 19, 2019)

I have a board that is very similar to yours that I bought at an Asian super market for about $35.


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## agp (Feb 20, 2019)

crockerculinary said:


> forgive me if i am wrong, but is it not typical for these style of round boards, if cracks appear, to be soaked in water before use in order to swell the wood and seal the cracks?
> 
> is the screw setup on the side a metal band around the board?



That's what I was told too, but seems counter intuitive to soak a wooden board in water. And yes, the screw set up has a metal ring around the board.



Devon_Steven said:


> I have similar slice of tree (tamarind, from Thailand) and those micro-cracks will appear if the board is left to dry out. An application of pure mineral oil lets my board expand and the micro-cracks close up. My slice of tree can absorb quite a lot of mineral oil if not treated for a while. I also use the beeswax/mineral oil treatment mentioned above but if it gets too dry like yours is I start with several applications of pure oil. Just keep adding until no more is being absorbed. The first applications will be absorbed in minutes and later ones in hours.
> 
> Worth a try...



Will try giving this a mineral oil bath and post the results. Thanks!


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## podzap (Feb 20, 2019)

The reason this board has split (both in a patterned fashion and in so many places) is largely due to it being a partial slice (not a complete trunk slice containing complete centric rings). It looks to me like they were able to divide every trunk slice into four boards - very low - quality production ideology.

Save the tensioning band and toss out the wood. Go visit someone who owns a chainsaw and ask them to cut a complete maple slice for you.


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## wilburh (Feb 21, 2019)

Why would you want to fix this? I'm leaning toward either throwing it in the trash or using it for something not related to food. While Damageinc's post was short, that may be the better choice.


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## PooBear (Mar 3, 2019)

I would full the holes with a colored epoxy, sand it smooth and use it as a neat looking serving board.


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