Thread: American timber advice

Originally Posted by scubadriver

Hi, looking for bit of help and advice. I found an American site that shows a nice chopping board I’d like to copy, however, they are all American timbers and classed as exotic here. Does anyone know a local alternative to the following timbers that would give good color contrast:

Hard maple
Walnut
Jatoba
Red heart

https://www.thenavagepatch.com/end-g...oard-tutorial/

Thanks

Honestly, if you like those colours/timbers you may as well just get those timbers. All would be available here and the price for American hardwoods is about the same as for Aussie equivalents in my experience - eg. Blackwood and celery top pine cost the same as walnut and more expensive than maple which is relatively cheap.

Cheers, Dom

If it's just for one chopping board, you're better off asking around for anyone with offcuts to pass on; if you were to buy a whole board of each from a timber yard you'd easily be up for a few hundred bucks and that's a darn expensive chopping board...

Also, as I never tire of pointing out, the black walnut will fade to brown, and the redheart will fade to brown, and the maple will go brownish when the oil gets into the end grain. What you are seeing there is freshly surfaced timber.

A protective coating with some degree of UV resistance will slow the process down, but you don’t want that on a chopping board.

If you want to see some classy Aussie examples of cutting boards using Aussie timbers then visit Vern's site Flat stuff Gallery

I had the privilege of viewing some of them at the Maleny Wood Expo, on Outback Aussie Timber Salvage's site.

If you find the right blackwood it can actually act as a substitute for the maple, jatoba and red heart. Below are 2 bits of blackwood with totally different colour. On another note I do have some Jatoba but I'm not sure how suitable it is for what you want. I also have lots of blackwood but it's all rough sawn and some have bug holes and I don't know what the rules are about sending timber in the post.
IMG_20190428_131907.jpg

I would be looking at Red Gum, Blackwood and Celery Top or a pale Eucalypt as readily available and reasonably priced options.

Hi,

You could try here. https://americanhardwoods.com.au/contact-us/, or here.www.brittontimbers.com.au/_literature_126133/BT_Specifications_Brochure.

when you call Brittons, ask if they have a reasonable substitute for what you want. You will probably have to buy a minimum amount wherever you go.

Rob