FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: Can I butter my english muffin with Shark Wax?

A (Jody): Hell yes. Perfectly safe. But be prepared to have the expression of a dog eating peanut butter.

A (Audrey) : Dad translation: Our Shark Wax is completely safe and food grade, so no worries about using it on your board that you cut food on! All of our glue is food safe as well.

Q: What is all this malarkey about endgrain, vs sidegrain vs facegrain?  All seems like a bunch of marketing B.S. to me.  

A: The world is looking desperately for a way to set itself apart.  You are wise to be a skeptic.

The tree trunk is a bundle of tubes feeding water and nutrients to the levels above.  Boards are generally sawn parallel with those tubes.  In that case, the sawn surface we get is what sales people like to call face or edge or side grain.  Running a knife across a board made from these orientations results in cutting across the tubes.  You are cutting across the fibers (tubes) of the wood. These are the same fibers that make wood famous for its strengths: ability to withstand bending, light weight, and replenishable beauty.

Endgrain, on the other hand,refers to the orientation perpendicular to those fiber bundles. If you have ever split firewood, this is the equivalent of chopping into the ends of the logs.

Regarding the nuances distinguishing face vs side vs edge grain- we agree…. Just silly words.   These designations are totally from the perspective of the sawyer of the log and how he or she chose to make the initial cuts. Sawing a log is an art and a science.  Boards from smaller trees will have a wide variety of grain features- best not to get too hung up on descriptive words.  Hemingway distrusted adjectives.

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Here's a website with a great explanation and some examples if you're still not getting it: woodgrainpatterns 

And a helpful youtube video: cuttingboardsexplained

Q: What is the best knife and why is that so complicated?

A: Sharp is good. Things that we love are generally not easy to explain.  If it makes you happy, it can’t be that bad.  For more concreteness watch this video: knifemakerexplaines

Q: My board is getting very worn.  Seems like it needs more than waxing.  What to do?

A: Next time, consider an end grain board.  They last a LONG time.

A: It can almost always be re-sanded.  Progressive hand sanding with several grits works well, we suggest 100 coarse down to 320 fine.  Palm sanders are OK too, just finish by hand sanding with the grain to get rid of swirl marks.  Then apply at least 3 generous coatings of food grade mineral oil and let it soak in 3-4 hours between coats. Then apply Shark Wax and you should be good to go for another 5 years with regular care.

Q: Can I maybe send my board back to you for re-sanding? 

A: Maybe.  Shipping is expensive, so is re-work.  But contact us for a quote if you have become uber attached to your board.  We get it.

Q: My dipshit husband ran our board through the dishwasher.  Now what?

A: Have that conversation from the washing section of our board care information with said dipshit.

A: High heat and detergents from a dishwasher will remove most all the oil and wax from the wood pores. The board shrinks because of that missing moisture, and cracks can develop. Cracks are NOT good, and can be potentially life ending for the board.  Very small cracking at the ends of a dried out board will sometimes heal when plenty of oil soaks back in.  Get some food grade mineral oil and a shallow pan that will let your board lay flat.  Pour in oil to soak your board overnight.  Flotation is satisfying but not required.  There is no reason not to reclaim your soaking oil for similar emergencies- just pour it back in the bottle and label it appropriately.  Flip the board over the next day, add oil and soak overnight again.  Then wipe it off and proceed with Shark Wax.  If the board comes back around, congrats!  If not, see the ElderCare section