seasoning london plane

[nullwood]

Hi everyone,

I recently managed to grab a slab of london plane from the syd botanical gardens as they had to fell the tree due to disease, termites etc.

It was from a 100+ year old tree. The ranger said they sent out invites to wood turners and furniture makers to help them take the timber (anyone got this invite from here?).

Anyway, after a few days and still the main trunk was still lying there, as I think it was too big for anyone to take. They chain-saw it down to make park benches. I happen to be there and asked if I can grab a piece to make a chopping block. They said OK, and now I got the slab.

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The slab is roughly 450mm x 350mm x 120 mm.

I would like to know:

1. Would this wood be OK to use as a chopping board/block?

2. If so, how long should I dry it for?

3. How and when should I apply seasoning liquid on it. And any recommendation as to which should I use. I would like to use only natural product only if possible.

My plan is if the wood is still ok after drying, to build a 4 legged wooden trolley so this block can rest on top.

This will be my first significant project as a beginner. Am planning to see if there is any salvage timbers around to make legs.

Thanks in advance.

[dr4g0nfly]

London Plane is a Sycamore hybrid.

Sycamore is widely used as kitchen utensil wood so chopping boards are acceptable.

However,

Quarter sawn it is known a Lacewood in cabinetry and it can be slightly pink in it's colour.So you might want to thing about how you slab it, accept some loss and use it to make things with the wonderful grain pattern.