Index · Journal

The journal.

Notes from the bench — how to choose a board, how to look after one, and the small things that make a piece of wood last for decades. Written by the maker, from the workshop outside Selby.

Latest notes

An older woman and a child sharing bread beside a wooden chopping board at a kitchen table.

23 September 20269 min read

Gifts for grandparents that outlast the occasion. A maker's guide.

A Yorkshire maker on what to give grandparents, what to write on it, when Grandparents' Day actually falls, and the gift that costs nothing new: the board already in their kitchen.

Hands lifting a thick oak and walnut chopping board from a dark stone kitchen worktop.

13 September 202612 min read

Why does a handmade chopping board cost more?

If you have found another wooden chopping board online for a fraction of the price, keep that tab open. The useful question is not simply whether mine is “better”, but what is actually different and whether those differences matter to you.

Two personalised wooden chopping boards engraved with family and new-home messages in a warmly lit kitchen.

1 September 20268 min read

Personalised chopping boards: a maker's guide

Where engraving should go, which woods show it best, what to write and what will actually last, from a maker who used to say no to personalisation.

Handmade end-grain chopping board made from oak and walnut, showing the wood grain standing upright with light shining on it

32 min listen

10 August 202620 min read

End grain chopping boards: what makes them so special?

At first glance, end grain chopping boards may look like just a pattern. But what’s actually important is the building technique. I am going to break down end grain into segments and demonstrate the building technique, talk about the knife marks and board hygiene, and finally how to determine the quality of a board.

An end-grain oak chopping board with a kitchen knife resting on it, a white plastic board and a glass board on the worktop behind.

18 min listen

3 August 202611 min read

Wood, plastic or glass? What I have learnt about chopping boards

Wood, plastic or glass. What each does to a knife edge and how they behave over time. And why no board is hygienic simply because of the material.

Wooden chopping board standing upright to dry evenly after washing.

11 min listen

24 June 20267 min read

How to look after a wooden chopping board

Most boards don't wear out — they dry out. Here's the five-minute habit that keeps a wooden board working for decades, the short list of things that genuinely ruin one, what's actually happening inside the wood — and how to tell when a tired board needs help rather than replacement.