Walnut Butcher Blocks

(End Grain, Up to 2″ Thick)

Our end grain custom walnut butcher blocks are beautiful and truly unique down to the grain of each piece. Every butcher block we make is hand-made in the USA from the ground up to ensure state of the art craftsmanship and durability that far exceeds your store-bought boards. Learn about the difference when choosing our products.

About Our Walnut Butcher Blocks

While you’ve most likely seen the walnut tree’s nuts in every grocery store across America, the truth is that it is actually the tree itself that is the most valuable to our economy and to woodworkers and contractors alike.

Walnut wood is a highly versatile and beautiful wood that is durable, easy to stain and transform into any design or shape, and sustainable in nature. The light color and stunning texture of walnut wood makes it one of the most popular woods in America and beyond. From kitchen cabinets and flooring to guitars and of course, cutting boards, walnut is one of the most highly produced and utilized wood materials on the market. Still, the question remains: why?

To better understand just what makes walnut wood one of the best materials out there for any and all projects, let’s take a look at the various strengths and weaknesses of this popular material, what is main characteristics and common uses are, and why we specifically chose this wood to be one of the three wood materials we create our kitchen products from.

How We Build Our Butcher Blocks

The Main Characteristics of Walnut Wood

Walnut wood is the only dark-brown domestic wood species and has a natural lustre that can’t be beat. On top of this, walnut wood is incredibly durable and only strengthens and hardens over time. Walnut wood is also known to become lighter over time ever so slightly unlike cherry wood which has the opposite effect but walnut’s rich color is truly what makes this wood so unique.

The American black walnut tree is the most common walnut tree in the United States and it is most typically used for woodworking and flooring as well. You may also see this wood being used for furniture, gun stocks, guitars, car interiors, kitchen items, cabinets, and veneers. As one of the most versatile woods on the market, walnut is perfect for all kinds of projects and is sure to last for decades.

What are the Most Common Uses for Maple Wood?

Typically, the American black walnut is used for furniture, flooring, veneers, cabinets, counters, construction, gun stocks, guitars, kitchen items, and carving. When it comes to versatility, the American black walnut tree is truly a star.

The main reason that walnut is used for construction, furniture, flooring, counters, and cabinets is because of its rich color, its beautiful natural lustre, and its durability. Walnut wood is known for being able to withstand varying temperatures, harden further over time, and do well with water damage likewise.

As for kitchen items, guitars, gun stocks, and carving, walnut wood is perfect for shaping however you like. It can bend easily without breaking if cut thin enough, it is capable of being carved and designed expertly, and it does well with humidity, water, and cold weather.

In this way, walnut is truly a perfect wood for contractors, designers, creators, companies, and woodworkers alike. However, to understand exactly how this wood is so effective for various industries all at once, let’s take a look at its many strengths and weaknesses in-depth below.

Protect Your Investment

Our board butter is a great way to keep your butcher block in great condition for years; and is also 100% food-safe.

Walnut Wood’s Strengths

Walnut wood has an innumerable amount of pros to name but these are some of the main ones found on forums, in the woodworking industry, and in the production industry alike. By analyzing these pros, we can determine how they affect butcher block production specifically and what makes walnut blocks better than other wooden butcher blocks on the market.

For starters, walnut wood is fairly sustainable in comparison to other woods on the market. For those that care about the environment and want a product that is sure to do more good than harm, walnut wood is perfect for the job.

Walnut wood is produced with the environment in mind. Every tree that is cut down is replaced with a new tree and this constant transfer actually helps the environment significantly. Furthermore, because walnut wood is incredibly durable and becomes even harder over time, it lasts for decades making it sustainable just in its lifespan and lack of waste likewise.

Walnut wood is known for being one of the most easy woods to work with as it is durable, can be carved and manipulated without breaking or cracking, and has a beautiful color that requires little to no treatment before use.

With its natural lustre, walnut wood is perfect for furniture and flooring without any stain or lacquer whatsoever. It is also perfect for guitars and gun stocks as it is smooth and straight grained meaning that it does well with bending and carving and is not likely to crack from humid or cold weather.

Walnut wood is an impeccably stable and sturdy wood to utilize for furniture, kitchen items, and cabinets as it does not break easily and can withstand water damage and changing temperatures. Because it prefers direct sunlight and heat, walnut wood is used to humidity and can also handle cold weather because of its durability.

On top of this, its rating on the Janka scale means that it can handle being dropped accidentally and not break or crack. This is perfect for kitchen items such as cutting boards or butcher blocks as it means that your block can handle being cut on and dropped from time to time.

Walnut wood also happens to be a very resistant wood. This means that it can withstand water, temperature changes, carving, scratches, and other damage that some woods simply cannot. It also means that it won’t simply shear off from falls or knife damage as well.

This is important as walnut wood is great for cutting boards and butcher blocks specifically because it does not create as deep of grooves in it to capture food bacteria and cause illness.

Lastly, walnut wood is also very cost-effective in comparison to other woods on the market such as ash or oak wood. Walnut wood’s production process may take 50 years but this does not mean that the wood goes up much in price despite it. Although walnut wood is far more scarce than it was a decade ago, walnut wood still is relatively cheap and, combined with its durability and lifespan, it makes for a very cost-effective purchase.

How do These Qualities Make for a High-Class Walnut Butcher Block?

The main qualities that matter when it comes to butcher blocks are their durability, longevity, and how they handle consistent cutting and liquids on their surface.

For walnut wood, all of these considerations are covered. Since walnut wood is incredibly durable and cost-effective, this means that it can withstand being dropped, rinsed under water, and cut on repeatedly.

On top of this, walnut wood lasts far longer than other woods or plastic cutting boards which means that it is a good investment. In fact, on average, a walnut wood butcher block can last decades rather than a few years like the ones you might find at your local grocery store.

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