This chopping block is made from solid wood --the picture goes all the way through the 7/8" thick center of the board. The sky is black walnut --studded with holly and West Indian satinwood stars. The holly moon rises above a ridge of hulaballi mountains, with a sliver of biore hills above a front range of mango.

The whole board is framed in cherry. The 7/8 " thick picture- core thickens to 1 1/4 at the cherry edge, and is joined into the 2 3/8 high coved legs at the ends of the board by glued splines in the center, and a countersunk and plugged bolt near each end, threaded into a buried sliding nut, for unmatched stability and warp resistance. This joint is glued only in the the middle of the board, allowing the 13" width to ebb and swell slightly with the seasons. I've never seen a cutting board use this construction, and this joinery solves the thorny problem of cross-grain movement in a piece of woodworking that is sure to experience plenty of dimensional change. This chopping block is a delight to use; the coved ends form a convenient fingerhold for carrying, the raised legs allow a platter to be slid beneath the board for transferring the choppings, and the widely spaced legs make for an extremely stable work surface. The board's unique construction allows it to be both more stable, (more beautiful, of course), and lighter than typical cutting boards of it's size, and its portability will be appreciated by any cook who's fallen behind in her weightlifting regimen. buy