Thread: Butchers block, What Timber to use.

Hi

I made some as Christmas presents a couple of years back and made them out of Jarrah and Rock Maple.

If I did them again, not sure what timber I would use actually as I would like to do something different.

I finished them with parrifin oil (mineral oil) that I bought at my local chemist.

I should have re-coated them but I haven't.

This thread might encourage me to do so )

Cheers

have also wondered about this. im guessing a dense/ tight grained timber timber would be better?
or can soft woods be used?

There are a couple of primary issues with tmber for butcher's blocks. One is suitability and the other is availability.

Some of the denser timbers while on the face of it would appear suitable are too abrasive on cutting edges and blunt knives and chopping tools. Ironbark would be a good example of this.

Traditionally, rough barked apple is a preferred species for butcher's blocks, but there the issue is availability as it is not a commercial species.

I have listed in one book, Forest Red Gum and Tallowwood as suitable timbers. Again these timbers are not neccessarily immediately available from your local hardware store or timber merchant. If you have difficulty sourcing them one suggestion is to post a thread on the timber milling forum as many of the portable millers have access to this material from time to time.

The other option is to use anything that seems moderately tough and be prepared to sharpen more often. A further word of caution is that some hardwoods exude a stain (tanins) when wet so some preliminary testing might be adviseable.

Regards
Paul

The blocks in our butchers shop were jarrah. We scraped them each night and dusted with flour.
I was told that jarrah has a natural bactericide and was preferable to the newer poly sheets the health dept forced us to use later in my career.

According to my brother the big butcher blocks where he worked in a country butchershop in Central Queensland were bloodwood.

I just finished a block for my wife, I'm halfway through making a stand for it because its so heavy, but I used jarrah and American beech.

I am looking at the Kennedy's website - do they look after small buyers like us woodies?

QLD KAURI, the rolls royce of butchers blocks.

My brother-in-law makes his butcher blocks from Apple which grows extensively here in the New England Tablelands. He just cuts a log about 800mm round and about 900 high and just plonks it on the floor of his butcher shop. It grows all over the place on his property where I live.