On Wednesday, August 5, 2015 at 9:15:24 AM UTC-4, Dr. Deb wrote:
On Saturday, October 4, 1997 at 2:00:00 AM UTC-5, Davis Bennett wrote:
Hello folks,

I'm a novice when it comes to woodworking. I'd like to make a fairly
inexpensive cutting board & was wondering whether pine would be too
soft for this. I have an old board that was made out of plywood so I
thought that perhaps pine would do.

Any comments would be really helpful!

Thanks,
Davis


No, for a host of reasons. As many have said, its too soft on side and face grain. End grain is a sponge. The difference in the hardness of the grain and the soft wood between them will give you a very ribbed surface.

If you want a very good, but inexpensive cutting board, go to a local sawmill, get some white oak (NOT red oak) and make an end grain cutting board.

Since the OP asked his question in 1997, he's either passed away from food poisoning or survived his pine cutting board experiences.

In any case, a good answer to the cutting board question is "bamboo". We have 2 bamboo cutting boards, one of which is over 10 YO and still looks as good as the one we bought 2 years ago.

Granted, I'm not sure these fit the DIY category, but they sure are safe and work extremely well.

http://www.cuttingboard.com/blog/top...cutting-board/