28 Steps
Why are Fifth & Cherry® cutting boards so special? Why will they last forever?
It’s the loving hands that craft them.
The 28 major steps to create your board take 4 to 5 days to complete. The hundreds of intermediary steps in between offer you unparalleled performance and durability.
This video outlines our process and celebrates the people who create these works of art.
Ours is not a mechanical, sterile production like most who try to replicate what we do. You’ll see and feel the love in our work the moment you hold one of our boards in your hands.
It’s this love and attention to detail that makes F&C boards the best cutting surface for the premium knives you invested in.
How much of our special cherry wood is required? It takes about four board feet of our lumber to create the F&C 14 and almost eight board feet to create the F&C 18 cutting board.
Here are the 28 steps it takes to create your one of a kind cutting board.
- Receive our certified responsibly sourced black cherry lumber
- Plane the lumber
- Trim the lumber to the proper length
- Square the edges of each board
- Cut the lumber into strips in order to arrange
- Arrange in preparation of gluing
- Set the clamps in specific increments to ensure proper gluing
- Glue the arrangement & clamp. This is a long-grain board at this point (bad for knives).
- Scrape board when the glue is properly cured
- Rough grit sand to for proper board thickness
- Cut the board into strips
- Arrange and stagger the strips for strength and to expose the end-grain (best cutting surface for knives)
- Simultaneously glue, pin (added strength) and clamp the end-grain strips. Allow curing.
- Rough grit sand the end-grain board
- Repeat rough grit sand with slightly finer grit
- Hand sand with 100 grit sandpaper
- Engrave and serialize each board
- Rout edges into the board
- Hand sand with 120 grit sandpaper
- Hand sand with 150 grit sandpaper
- Hand sand with 180 grit sandpaper
- Apply first linseed oil coating. Allow curing.
- Apply second linseed oil coating. Allow curing.
- Light grit finish sand
- Rub the board down
- Apply the first coat of food-safe finish. Allow curing.
- Rub the board down
- Apply the second coat of food-safe finish. Allow curing.
There are no shortcuts when creating the world’s finest cutting boards. If you’re ever in Reading, PA, let me know. I’d love to show you how our boards are made and introduce you to the people who make them. The obsessive detail in each board we create will astound and inspire you.