Recently finished cladding a bench in vertical grain bamboo flooring. It’s 1.5″ thick made up of literally thousands of little strips of bamboo glued up in a parquet (sp?) pattern. What you see is all end grain. There are several offcuts that would make attractive cutting boards but I am not sure if they would be safe for any thing except dry use only.
Anyone have any idea if they would be too porous for wet (i.e. meat) use which could result in bacterial cross-contamination?
Paul
Replies
You can buy bamboo cutting boards, although they're not end grain. (Well, they're end grain on the ends...) I haven't looked that closely at the commercial ones, but I suspect they're sealed with some kind of finish.
-Steve
I've seen an all endgrain bamboo cutting board at a farmers market in a small village between
Dali and Lijiang (both towns in Yunnan Province in South-Western China).
This board was circular, approx. 30 cm in diameter (divide this by 2.54 and convert to fractions if you so desire), held together by a thin metal ring.
As customary in traditional Chinese woodworking it is unlikely that much (if any) glue was used.
Will post a photography when I am back in the office not before early June.
Chris
Chris Scholz
Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
Galoot-Tools
Paul,
End grain left untreated is highly porous and therefore wouldn't serve well as a flooring material unless it was sealed very well. So if the flooring is prefinished it should be nonporous already.
If the flooring isn't prefinished then you can seal it with a salad bowl finish or Tried and True linseed oil, which is what I use in my own kitchen, it holds up very well.
John White
Shop Manager for Fine Woodworking Magazine 1998-2007
Sir... just my comment.. The Chinese have many things for thousands of years! And I would guess most lived to a very old age using a end grain cutting board!
I could be wrong!
Edited 5/16/2009 4:34 am by WillGeorge
Bamboo is excellent for cutting boards although I am not sure about the end grain ones. Bamboo swells less than most hardwoods when wet. Bamboo is 16% harder than maple and has some anti-bacterial properties. They do not have a finish on them and it is recommended that you season them for a week with cutting board oil. Bamboo can have some small splinters so when I get a new one I sand it with a palm sander. I have not seen any splinters after sanding and oiling.
http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Advantages-Of-Bamboo-Cutting-Boards&id=771120
Life is what happens to you when you're making other plans.
When your ship comes in... make sure you are not at the airport.
Edited 5/14/2009 8:08 am ET by JerryPacMan
I have seen end grain bamboo cutting boards at Wild Oats (now Whole Foods) in Boulder. Thought about buying one, because I don't really like the whilt plastic one I have now, but they wanted $50+ for the size I wanted, and I couldn't bring myself to do it.
Why not make one? There was a great article about end grain in the latest FWW. I've got several in the works, one of which will be a tabletop.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
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