Chestnut Oak for cutting board?

[Weekend_Sawyer]

I was chainsawing the knots off of a large chestnut oak I hope to mill soon. I cut one of the knots in half to use as firewood but noticed it had some pretty neat grain patterns. It was big enough for me to make 3 of these boards out of it. they are around 2" thick.



Is it really a big bozo nono to make a cutting board out of it?

My other thought was to hog it out like a bowl to use as a serving tray for chips, pretzels n such.

Jon

[Brad_bb]

Why would you not want to make a cutting board?  I dunno, will it split?  Most cutting boards I see are glue ups.  I wonder if it makes them stronger somehow?  I've never made one.  You've got to let that wood air dry first.  Looks like it's got a heart check starting.

[scsmith42]

Chestnut oak is open pored (unlike most white oaks).  If you choose to use it for a cutting board, you need to install some type of film finish that will totally seal up the pores.  Otherwise you may have a problem with bacteria growth in the wood.

[Don P]

I looked at the backside of the little red oak cutting board my toast was on this morning, yup, my lowes list. Looks like a cutting board to me although a cutting board here is a board that a knife needs to land on, it might be in the woodstove after dinner 

[low_48]

Chestnut oak is open pored (unlike most white oaks).  If you choose to use it for a cutting board, you need to install some type of film finish that will totally seal up the pores.  Otherwise you may have a problem with bacteria growth in the wood.

Bacterial growth on wood cutting boards has been extensively tested. In this test, they tested 10 species, but don't see the list of species. You're are about twice as likely to have bacterial exposure on plastic boards as compared to wood.
http://faculty.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/faculty/docliver/Research/cuttingboard.htm

[Weekend_Sawyer]

I red the article. Interesting. I tried to contact the author but it's a dead email.

The problem with doing research on the internet is that you  consistently find both sides of an answer to your questions.

[scsmith42]

Chestnut oak is open pored (unlike most white oaks).  If you choose to use it for a cutting board, you need to install some type of film finish that will totally seal up the pores.  Otherwise you may have a problem with bacteria growth in the wood.

Bacterial growth on wood cutting boards has been extensively tested. In this test, they tested 10 species, but don't see the list of species. You're are about twice as likely to have bacterial exposure on plastic boards as compared to wood.
http://faculty.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/faculty/docliver/Research/cuttingboard.htm

Thanks for sharing that article.

I wish that they would have listed the species of wood that they tested.