Chopping Blocks 101

Have you ever wondered why every time you pull out an end grain chopping block at a friend's house or maybe at your parents get together that it never sits flat or it has a crack in it?

There are two main factors that cause this to happen and the largest driving factor is something that is inherent to the design of the chopping block. First let's start off with how the chopping blocks are made in order to make a rectangular and grain chopping block, by the way most of these are decorative nowadays with all sorts of cool patterns, the Woodstock needs to be cut into the small rectangular or square pieces that you see in the pattern. Next all of these blocks are assembled and aligned in a specific pattern and glued together they're held together with carpenters clamps which pressed them tightly together and squeeze out the glue. After this stop and after the glue is dried the chopping block is cleaned and sanded off level before finishing with oil.

This creates a beautiful and grain chopping block however it has a fatal flaw some of you I've heard the term “coefficient of expansion”. This term refers through that rate of which a certain material expands or retracts depending on the temperature. When different species of wood are glued together in a pattern they will eventually have different coefficients of expansion depending on their density. Even if the same species of wood is used the wood will want to expand in different directions typically the wood wants to expand in order to curve along with the grain. Therefore every peace that is in a chopping block is wanting to be its own element and expand in a different direction. Overtime this creates opposing forces and although the glue is very strong these forces over time will win over the glue bond. These forces are increased if the material is cooled and heated more often which includes wetting of the wood during the cleaning process.

The second factor in the separation of these types of cutting boards is the kiln drying process. If the wood itself is not properly killing dried, meaning if the drawing process is skipped or not properly regulated because people like to cut corners then the wood will not be stable. Any piece of wood will want to stabilize to the moisture content of the surrounding environment. Just like above this creates additional forces that play upon one another in the expansion and contraction of the wood and will accelerate the cracking process. Furniture manufacturers properly dry all interfacing pieces and use hardware to attach pieces together to prevent any small movement. Since there can be no metal hardware used in a butcher block, all of these interfaces need to be glue. This creates a situation where these stresses have no choice but to press against one another causing separation over time.

At Saintlywood we have taken the challenge back into the wood supply chain. We procure singular wood pieces that lend themselves to functionality as well as beauty. Rather than multiple piece boards that fall apart over time, Mother nature has aligned every single fiber and grain in a tree to naturally bond to itself. This means that after the wood is kiln-dried through the correct processing methods, the result is a butcher block on your countertop that will last virtually forever. The reason you do not see these pieces everywhere is because few have solved the challenges of finding the right varieties, with the right beauty, in the right size to bring the customer this value.

If you have any additional questions on this topic, we are more than happy to talk with you!

Thanks!

-Saintlywood Team