John Boos is the largest American Company making butcher block. Paula Deen and other celebrity chefs just put their name on mostly generic products made in China. You almost always get better value buying direct from a company that makes things as opposed to a marketing company. Paula Deen Signature Pie Board is made in random Asian factories, the current model being made in Thailand.

Thank you all. Just sharing ideas to amuse you. It was said, "Necessity is the mother of invention" I say, "Parsimony is the father of inventiveness" Making my own black garlic so that I don't have to pay $6.00 a bulb. Making my own $50.00 sous vide cooker. And now making a $300.00 cutting board from scrap firewood And also Turning $30.00 of steel into $2,000 worth of knives. John, There are many metals which can make high quality knives. I decided to use 1095 high carbon steel because it can give me "scary" razor sharpness. After hardening and tempering, I may be able to get close to Rockwell 62 hardness, which is about the same hardness as many knives as Watanabe Blade you mentioned. Watanabe is very reasonable, but a 12" blade will still set you back $500.00. Ann, thanks. A well appreciated compliment coming from a well establish cutting board designer and maker. FOAS is correct, The woods are oak, maple and an old stump of sweet gum. I will be cutting FOOD ON A STUMP. :-) jasdip, thanks. The board is 18" x 12" x 2.5". Very heavy. Not too big to use as a serving/carving board on the dinning table. punamytsike and Alexa, thanks. To make an end-grain cutting board is easy if you have the tools: 1. A couple of bar clamps. 2. A table saw (mine is a 10" saw). 3. A belt sander. 4. A wood worker's scraper. After the wood has been dried and cut into blocks as in the photo, using the bar clamps and waterproof wood glue, and glue the blocks one row at a time. Just make sure that you have two surfaces of the blocks in alignment using the saw's rip fence. It takes about one day for the clue to dry. After that you can use the table saw's rip fence to have all four surfaces of the wood block sized and squared. Make as many rows of wood blocks as you need depending on the size of the cutting board you want. Glue the rows of blocks together and cut the uneven lengths of blocks off and there you have your cutting board ready to be smoothed out. Using the belt sander to flatten the surfaces and the scraper to give the surfaces a very shinny smoothness. Now the final step is to saturate the finished end-grain cutting board with mineral oil. FOAS, Thanks. Those few cracks were filled in solid using a paste made with fine saw dust and waterproof glue. Otherwise the surface is mirror-smooth. I will need to harden and temper the blades. If you remember my "leaf blower BBQ", actually that was a test to see if I would be able to get to hardening temperature for 1095 high carbon steel using a BBQ. I intend to do a differential hardening to get the edge to close to Rockwell 60 to 62. I have some wood in the microwave now for the handles. "-----(A lot more interesting than your sawzall blade project, if I may!)----" That's a very cutting (hehee, can't resist a chance for a pun!) remark, FOAS. Then how is this for a saw blade cleaver I made sometime ago? Dcarch

I don't like a round cutting board because anything you are chopping falls off of it so easily. Since you said you already have cutting boards, and this one is cracking, and brown stuff is coming off of it, I would "de-clutter" and dispose of it. If your husband would be upset at this, surprise him with a lovely new (rectangular) cutting board. I'll link to an article from America's Test Kitchen in which they recommend the Proteak 18 x 24 Edge Grain Teak Cutting Board (though I haven't tried it myself; I keep using my ancient no-name one). Here is a link that might be useful: Article Called The Best Cutting Board We've Tested

I agree with above that if you want dishwasher-safe, you have to have the plastic ones. I would not recommend the glass ones at all, as they will dull your knives quickly. Plus, I cannot take the "feel" of the knife against the glass; gives me the chills. Are you OK with a heavy weight board? People like the Boos boards as the "best" but they are very heavy. I believe that many people just leave their Boos board in one place on the counter, and wash them in place, rather than trying to lift them to the sink. Cooks Illustrated Magazine likes the teak "Proteak" boards. They felt that the best size was a minimum 15x20 or larger. It looks like the company changed its name to "Teakhaus" since the review. You can find them on Amazon. I don't have a Teakhaus myself, so don't know how they are personally; just sharing that the magazine liked them. If you decide on a wood board, you do need to condition it on occasion. I use Clapham's Beeswax Wood Finish, and it is not a chore at all. My hands are velvet soft afterwards - a bonus :)