Bread board and Charcuterie board
At Artisan Wood Crafts we specialise in handcrafted decorative products made from a wide variety of hardwoods. We buy a range of reclaimed hardwoods from many sources, such as old brown furniture, old flooring, unwanted kitchen cabinets and factory wood waste.
We can also make commissioned pieces. Please contact Trevor on 07702 332221 to discuss your requirements.
We strive to use every scrap of wood we can lay our hands on and we do not waste anything. Often we find old screw holes, but even then we do not reject the wood. Instead, we fill the hole and never try to hide the repair as we believe that this is part of the provenance of the wood and is also a positive contribution to the environment.
Evidence of previous use
Artisan Wood Crafts often attends Craft Fairs and Car Boot Sales. Artisan Wood Crafts also have a small private shop in Hedge End which can be visited by appointment. Here you can browse our wide range of products without obligation. Call Trevor on 07702 332221 to arrange a mutually suitable time..
All sizes given are approximate. All trays and boards intended for use for food are finished in a food-safe treatment of butcher's block oil and beeswax. Bring your board back in six months and I will replenish the finish for free or you can purchase a jar of my special formulation to replenish the board yourself.
Please note that none of our products are microwave or dishwasher-safe. Just clean with hot soapy water but do not immerse the board in water.
A note about our boards. You will see that boards are available as chopping blocks, cutting boards and serving boards or serving trays. A chopping block has the end-grain of the wood facing uppermost, as end-grain has the ability to close up and repair any deep cut marks. These are the most difficult boards to make, as producing a flat board with end grain is difficult and time-consuming. However, an end-grain chopping block will last a lifetime.
Cutting boards have the face-grain or edge-grain facing uppermost, as cutting is much less destructive than chopping. It is the face and edge-grain of the wood that is the most attractive, often with a beautiful natural figure. Mostly made from hardwoods although some of the more durable softwoods are also used, for example, Southern Yellow Pine.
End-grain chopping block
Face-grain cutting board
HARDWOODS AND SOFTWOODS
Simply put hardwoods are deciduous meaning that their leaves fall off in the winter, Softwoods are evergreen and keep their leaves or needles all year round. So hardwoods have less time to grow so their structure is denser than softwoods which grow in all seasons. You may think that hardwoods are hard, and softwoods are soft, but that is not the whole story. Some hardwoods are soft and some softwoods are hard. For example, balsa wood is the softest wood ever measured but it is a hardwood by definition. Some softwoods such as Southern Yellow Pine, Red Cedar, Juniper and Yew are as hard as many of the hardwoods.