Wow! He made that? Impressive. Happy birthday.

OMG, it's beautiful! Happy Birthday, indeed. Enjoy.

Are you going to actually CUT on that beautiful piece of handiwork?! :-) Very nice.

Oh yea my friends... that will be a working piece! He won't let me use it until he seasons it with mineral oil a few times.

I know it will be a joy to work on, but that first slice.... I would cringe just a little. But I'd sure get over it and chop away. Enjoy!

Well... this is my first end grain and my understanding is that the end grain doesn't cut through like the others. Hopefully... it'll hold out to be true. I hope it gets worn and loved over many many years of usage.

It's very nice indeed.

The board will get a scuffed up look, but not the cut marks like edge grain and standard ones do.

Happy Birthday, BTW!

wow, gorgeous. You should start an ebay business selling those. plenty of shoppers on this forum looking for that kind of work.

That's beautiful . . . I was about to say what pharaoh said -- he could market those on ebay or through a local arts/crafts place.

I can see this beautiful board being passed down through your family as an heirloom . . .

Happy birthday!

WOW! That's fantastic!

Thanks all for the birthday wishes. Now pharaoh... he's been inspired by you to make our kitchen cabinets. He wants to know if you think it's a realistic goal. Actually, red birch is one of two main pics for the wood. The other is teak but I don't yet know how durable or expensive teak is.

Lovely cutting board and stunning workmanship. Happy Birthday!

What a beautiful cutting board. Your husband must be very talented.

You have received a wonderful gift. I am sure you and your family will cherish it for a very, very long time.

Remodelfla,

Oh my, me, an inspiration,.. ok keep it coming :)

Please email me and I would be happy to share my experiences with you. I am so glad we made our own. Havent found ANY line of custom cabinetry with the details we wanted and liked.
Red birch is a gorgeous material.

Teak - expensive but VERY durable. You can leave it out soaking and it will last a long time...

I can imagine your entire island made from the butcher block! wow...

Happy Birthday RemodelFla! You have a very talented DH! It looks like he spent a lot of loving care & time on it...so cherish it! Oh, and don't put it away out of sight when not in use...find a way to proudly display it!

++++++

Now, Nicole....how did you post that animated pic?????

Best birthday wishes!!!! Beautiful piece of art!!!

It's beautiful! A whole lot of people would love one - I'm certainly envious. Probably it was a one time labor of love, but if DH has a way of producing these efficiently, you could have a cottage industry.

Happy Birthday! Hubby did real good! Beautiful.

I'm telling him your messages and his chest is starting to puff out! He was actually about to make me another one in case I didn't like this one. He hadn't made a cutting board since H.S. and that was a basic edge grain one. This was his first project using his new router, fence system, planner, and a host of other tools I can't remember name of. All in preparation of making our cabinets. I know he'll be able to do it. In fact, I think his expectations of the difficulty will be greater then the actual experience. Pharaoh... we'll be contacting you as we get closer to actually beginning the project. I'm excited because I just read on some thread today that Blum makes 27" and 30" drawer glides which means the areas that have the deeper cabs will be 100% functional and not just pulled out from the walls. Plus... custom height made just for shrimps like me. It's going to be awesome!

Happy birthday and, yes, that is a beautiful and functional gift! Teak is used in boat making, very hard and resistant to water so it should wear well.

Remodelfla, what a great gift! I love it when our DH/SO's *get* that something like a beautiful handmade cutting board is so much more valued than much of the other stuff we end up getting (and not using) on these occasions. How very special for your new kitchen.

Happy birthday and many many more,
Eliz

Remodel,
I am getting excited just hearing of your new cabinets :)
make sure you buy him the necessary power tools for his b'day (i.e. the kitchen).
Here is a list that is absolutely needed - table saw, router + table, planer, drill press, router bits, burgess bits, clamps (many), working table, sander, dust collector, measuring tapes, straight edge, circular saw, dozuki.

Wow! That's awesome! I'd be happy if my DH made me the coffee for my b-day:)

The cutting board definitely bodes well for your upcoming cabinetry project! Happy b-day to you! Mine's tomorrow & sadly my b-day kitchen is not done for my birthday-- one day (sigh of longing).

Enjoy that beautiful cutting board!

He's got everything and more except the dozuki. I just googled it and it can be had for less then $35. Did you use it to smooth out the dovetail joints? He does need some new 1/2" dovetail bits.

Happy b-day tomorrow bdaykitchen! Mine was Monday and the cutting board wasn't quite finished till today. I'm so thrilled and it actually was what I requested. I had thought I would be ordering one from Grothouse... till he told me he could make one...:-)

I used the freud dovetail bits along with the incra positioner for making the dovetails.
Dozuki comes in handy for making quick,accurate cuts where power tools are clumsy or overkill.
Wish i could make dovetails by hand but i dont do dovetails anymore.

pocket screws are excellent (and fast). if you saw my floating vanity in the bling bath thread, i used all pocket screw joinery for it.

Pharaoh ... I'm going to email you.

Just in case you wanted jewlery instead you can send it right to my house LOL! It's beautiful. That is truly a gift from the heart! Happy B Day!

That's a gorgeous chopping block! And it will stay nice for so long, it'll become a family heirloom. My huge end grain maple butcher block hardly shows any wear and I abuse it daily!

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday! What a sweet thing for your husband to do for you. I'd forward this to mine, but I wouldn't want him to feel bad about about the gravel and compost he brought me because I did ask for them...:)

What an amazing talent your DH is! Your kitchen is going to be a stunner. And after all the layout renditions it'll both function and look like a dream. ;-P Happy Birthday!

What a beautiful birthday gift! You have a very talented and sweet DH! Happy Birthday!

Awww! That is so sweet! No gift is better than a gift that comes from the heart :)

Happy Birthday!!!!

Happy Birthday!! That is really beautiful!! And, congratulations on your new custom cabinets.

Happy birthday, Elyse!!

I agree with everyone who said your DH should sell those on eBay. I'd buy one!

Best wishes,

Erika

Awwww..... more birthday wishes... thank you! Erika.. how cool! Thanks for taking the time to do that. Yes... I'm very appreciative of all his work and will love it for a lifetime. Thanks so much all!
Elyse

That's wonderful! A couple of things that I've learnt from my butcher block counter - supposedly we can simply rub some lemon (fresh?) to deodorize (think onions) and disinfect (I haven't tried this yet - maybe try it on an old cutting board first!). Oiling regularly helps (all sides of the board). sometimes oiling raises the grain a bit, but it can be knocked back with a light sanding with a super fine paper. Cutting meats/poultry on a board that can go in the dishwasher (plastic one). And I'm currently using a beeswax mineral oil combo - very cool too. After babying my counter, I realized that I had routinely abused my cutting boards - using scalding water, never oiling, etc. I appolized to one of them :)

And happy belated birthday!

Hey, Happy Birthday!!!!

Wow, talk about something to show off in those "what's your favorite accessory for your new kitchen" threads. I don't know if anyone's going to be able to beat that!!!

Congratulations!!! (On both the birthday *and* the super-talented DH!)

Happy birthday! My wife's birthday is this weekend, so I need to make sure she doesn't see this thread...

Just out of curiosity, does your husband like Tetris?

:-)

Here is a link that might be useful: wikipedia.org/Tetris

That is so pretty. I was thinking of asking my cabinet guy for just a piece of extra wood for a cutting board. Something like that would be too labor intensive for me to afford.

Could you please let your husband know my birthday is June 5th? If he gets started now, he should have enough time. Thanks. ;o)

I love teak. The cabs in our master bath (if we ever get to that project) are either going to be teak or walnut. I can't decide. They're both very sturdy woods. Hubby said he'd do either.

Hubby is also going to do a butcher block counter for the kitchen to great room/bar area (again, if we ever get there). That will probably be edge grain, though, as it will mostly be for looks. My plan is to start visiting the local hardwoods place and gathering cool woods from their "scraps" bin.

Happy Belated Birthday!!!

That is one beautiful board. There is a store in the DC area called Appalachian Spring that would probably be happy to carry his work.

I can only imagine a kitchen made with home made cabinets. Talk about custom!! Teak is great wood - choice of most boat builders for its durability and ability to hold up to sun. We had it on our sail boat and it was great. A little oiling and it looked new. It gets lighter as it bakes in the sun. We had it in the galley and it wore beautifully even though it got really wet at times.

We have a relative who makes cabinets and furniture in his spare time. His kitchen cabinets are about 11 years old now. They are really beautiful and quite sturdy. His are made of a very light oak.

Kudos to the hubby and buy him any tools he needs to encourage that habit!!

Wow! Happy, happy birthday! That is fantastic!

Happy birthday! That is a sweet present! Your DH is very talented! Looking forward to seeing the cutting board in your lovely custom kitchen in the near future...

Wow, that's really gorgeous. You've got a talented and thoughtful husband!

My husband has been delighted by all the positive responses. He laughed out loud with some of the humorous comments. Thanks so much for taking the time to look and comment. He's really motivated now. We keep going back and (he's) examining the joinery in Pharaoh's FABULOUS kitchen and bath.

Happy, if belated, birthday, Elyse!!

What a wonderful board!!!!

(Nothing humourous to add--struck dumb with admiration...)

OMG! That is SOOOO beautiful! Great job DH!

...tools.. don't forget a compound mitre saw..a protractor.. we had 2 drills - one for dirll holes the other for screwing screws.

That is awesome. I've been looking for a cutting board like that for a long, long time. I think it's time for him to open an Etsy shop! I'd buy one.

What a special birthday present (beats an office chair ;o)

That is a wonderful birthday present! One year, I am pretty sure I got a toilet, which I did think was pretty nifty, but THIS-- so very nice!

Happy belated birthday! If I may I ask, what are the dimensions of your block? It looks to be about the size I want.

Tell your hubby he does very fine work!