Anatomy of a cutting board; parts one & two

My first foray into fabricating my own cutting board didn't turn out so well(part one).  The thing with cutting boards is that the end grain of the wood needs to be where one actually cuts, so using a board that wasn't that wide forced me to use a brick pattern to make the board which was much too difficult to accomplish as all the edges need to be completely flush, which they weren't.  Cutting board number one will soon be firewood, sorry little guy. 

 Now part two, here you can see the difference between the first attempt and the second, I suppose the second time really is the charm.

On an interesting note hard or dark maple is most suitable for this sort of thing, pine or oak for example wood never hold up. 

Before staining with salad bowl finish and after, then wait 72 hours for it to dry then start using with food, hopefully it will stay together.

Finally in use, making this mornings breakfast, Bob's Red Mill Steel Cut Oats with chopped zucchini and carrots.  It's like zucchini & carrot bread meet in your breakfast bowl, the result delicious. 

 I can't wait to make my next meal.  Not bad for my first try.