Maple platform question

Boos (http://www.johnboos.com/) is good quality, widely available. Knownothing and Olimpico also make good points. I cut down butcherblock countertop produced locally (St. Louis); more work and lower quality than Boos. John

Knownothing, did you notice the post by Jdoris suggesting Johnboos.com? That's the same board sold at Williams-Sonoma here in Dallas. A friend bought a 2" thick 18X24 for about $80.00. That compares favorably with many other brands not nearly as well made as Boos.

The ones at Target are about a half inch thinner than Boos and sell for $69.95. Sure, they have some at $14.95 too but they are paper thin.

You are wrong to assume because I suggested W&S that they have only overpriced goods. Re-read my post, I suggested Jimmymac call before driving.

If you want the very best deal on butcher block I can give you the name, it's McMaster Carr. Be prepared to buy in LARGE quantity. I bought 6 or 8 commercial food grade maple table tops, 2.25" thick by 72 X 36 (3600 pound capacity) and had a cabinet shop custom cut all of them for my equipment.

However, not everyone needs that much material and that's the purpose of these forums, to make suggestions that might help the other person.

Check out Michigan Maple Block - great deals there. I got 21x15x3 inch butcher block cutting boards for around $80 each. They appear to be very good quality.

Points well taken.

I just lucked out and bought a very large (21x15x2) European Beechwood board at Home Depot on clearance for $18.95. If you have HD in your area, you may want to see if they are clearing them out. I have a maple board in my system too, and while both boards make a big difference in sound for my CDP and TT, I can't tell the difference between materials.

It is true that commercial kitchen supply places beat WS for some things (I got a stainless steel food prep table for about a third the WS price), but I doubt that is true for Boos Block. Boos quotes $86 for the block Albert mentions, in the neighborhood of the WS price. (As I recall, a 2.25" Boos in that size is around $100 or so) Buying countertop might be cheaper, but you typically have to buy more, as Albert notes, and then there's the labor. I also suspect that the Boos quality is pretty hard to best, at anywhere near the price point. Unless you need a lot of block and very particular sizes, Boos or similar looks a good way to go.

On a related note, Boiled Walnut Oil is an excellent and easy finish for the blocks: dries hard and non-sticky, and brings up the wood nicely. John