Beautiful. Looks like matza! Lol. Wow. Lots of new toys. I love wood and will be on the lookout for some nifty wood bowls.

You can find a lot of great wooden bowls on eBay - that's where I got most of mine. I found some sad looking teak salad bowls that only needed to have the finish removed and then oiled, and then they were beautiful. They originally had a lacquer finish on them, but that was easy to remove.

Lars

Lars, I love wood and that's one beautiful piece, like all of Ann T's boards.

Lovely enough to use as a display/serving piece too, and if it gets marked up, you can sand and re-finish. Yes, I do love wood.

Annie

Another wonderful piece of Ann & Moe's handiwork! Congrats on your home's anniversary and the gift!

So pretty as well as practical!

A light blonde solid wood cutting board, on new dark solid kitchen counter------------- that will inspire a lot of good cooking.

dcarch

Gorgeous, and a lovely colour!! How big is it?

I love thick wooden boards, mine is 1.5 inches, and I know it when I move it off the counter.

Lars your Quilted Maple board looks beautiful on your dark table. I hope you will enjoy using it for many, many years.

~Ann

Not sure of the exact size, but I think it is 20" x 11" - I will measure it at lunch to make sure. Anyway, the size is ideal for how I want to use it, and after seeing it, I do think I will use it as a serving tray. I think it is 7/8" thick, which is good because it is not too heavy to use as a tray. My last maple board was slightly smaller but weighed more, and I thought it was too heavy. That might be a factor of how it was dried.

I am meeting with the stone installer at 2:00 PM and am exciting to see how the board will look on the new counters. The stone is mostly black and dark green, but it has some golden specks in it that will go well with the maple. I liked the way the stone looked with my maple cabinets, and so I'm sure the board will look great with the stone.

Lars

It is 19" x 12", which is a better size than what I thought. My old board was 16x12, and I like the 19" much better.

This post was edited by publickman on Wed, Apr 23, 14 at 20:40

Beautiful. We just lost a big maple this winter. It split and is resting oddly on two other trees.
Discussing last weekend how to take it down safely. And what do do with all of it.
(NewEngland winters are harsh)

I'm not used to seeing maple trees, and so I have no idea how large they get. The ones I've seen on TV were rather small and spindly, I think. I was really surprised that Ann's board was as big as it is, as I did not think the trees got large enough for a piece of wood that big.

Perhaps you can salvage wood from your tree that fell. It is beautiful wood, and we use it a lot for making furniture, although the lumber we use never seems larger than a 2x4, and so I have had to design around the smaller pieces of wood, allowing for joints.

My brother used to live in Albany NY, but I have no concept of what a harsh winter is like. When I lived in San Francisco, I spent two months of each winter in Mexico to avoid the cold and damp. I am very prone to sinus infections in cold weather. I used to spend Augusts in Vancouver when I lived in SF because August was also cold and foggy. I did it for my health, but I was able to combine it with work.

Lars

It's a beautiful board! I know you will always enjoy it. Someday I am going to order one!

It is enormous. I bet i can't wrap my arms half way around. The only forum my husband frequents is maybe once a month Luthier. Violin makers. This tree may be his first attempt. We make many things. A bit of a zen hobby.
The four trees we tapped for syrup are also large. Just ten taps and all we could handle.
We only had three days over two weekends due to work.

Working with wood is a labor of love and well worth it. Much goes into what seems like a simple board. No two are alike.

George Nakashima's The Soul of a Tree is a beauty of a book.

Lars you would be surprised at how big some Big Leaf (Western Maple) trees grow. 50 to 100 feet tall and 15 feet in circumference . But only a very small percentage of the trees have the rare figures that make this tree one of the world's most exotic woods.

~Ann

Keep it oiled and do not sit like on counter above dishwasher.We have thick granite but damp,heat cracked my board.I got a new one ,moved it.
We too have a huge maple its about 70 yr old the lady here before us planted it.Its coming down we covered roots huge roots ,that were sticking out of ground.We knew you shouldn't do that but some were 10" high.Bare roots.Now its a lot of dead wood

I attended a wood seminar sometime ago given by an exotic wood lumber yard. It was a very well attended seminar. It was free and coffee and pastries were served.

A nice (handsome) fellow was the lecturer, the topic was maple wood.

There were many wood craftsperson, hobbyists, cabinet makers in the audience and lotâÂÂs of participation.

He was explaining how wood veneers were made; the different kinds of maple, how wood were cut, and treated. He was showing various wood grain patterns and explained from what part of the tree they were cut.

At one point he was showing a beautiful burled board. On a counter behind him, there was a large unfinished Y-shaped section from a tree. He explained that the special burl pattern was from the crotch area of the tree.

A young lady in the audience commented to the handsome lecturer, âÂÂWow, you have a very nice crotch thereâÂÂ.

She must not be a native born here, because she was puzzled why everyone else was laughing OUT LOUD.

dcarch

(Sorry, off-topic)

Just lovely Lars...I'm lucky enough to have two of Ann and Moe's boards.

One small one she gave me years and years ago.......actually now that I think of it this wasn't made by Moe . It was made by an artisan at her local market.

It is beyond recognition I use it so much.

The other is quite large and I use it for serving...can't bear to see it cut even though I know that's what it's for.

I know you will enjoy yours as much as I do mine.

Lovely board! Beautiful patterns in the wood. Enjoy!

Maple trees get enormous. We have two 'grandmother' trees at my dad's place. Barely alive, very sweet sap and huge. When my parents bought the place in about 1970 which had been in one family since just after the revolution. One of the original family member asked my mom to keep the maples and a stand of seven sisters roses.....

Nakashima furniture is beautiful! Definitely worth visiting his house if opportunity arises. But beware I skinned my shins on one those slab coffee tables many times. Ouch!

Enjoy your board.

I really had no idea that maple trees got that large, and I was unaware that Nakashima used maple wood, even though I am familiar with his furniture. Most of his designs are very different from mine, but I do like some of his chairs.

Sharon, I also plan to use the large board mainly for serving, although I will use the small one as a cheese board with knives that are not that sharp. We have an electric sander, and so we can easily sand out scratches, if necessary, however.

Lars