This weekend I completed my third end grain cutting board.

Unlike the first two, this one features a juice groove and finger grips on the sides. These were new techniques for me, so it was a tad stressful making cuts into an otherwise perfectly good cutting board. But I must say, now that it’s done, this board looks and feels like a store bought piece of kitchen equipment. I’m very happy with it.

While it looks like several species of wood, it’s actually only walnut (the dark brown) and cherry (the light, reddish brown). I got lucky with some color variations in the boards I was working with.

I’ve learned a few things from the prior boards. Notably when sanding, after the 220 grit I sprayed it lightly with water to raise the grain before hand sanding it down to 320 grit and finishing it with food grade mineral oil. After the mineral oil I topped it off with food grade wood wax.

They say these things last for years and years with proper care. I guess we’ll start that clock now!