Maple End Grain Chopping Block 20 x 15 x 3 1/2

This is the only board you'll ever need if you take care of it. It is thick (bigger than most encyclopedias) and heavy (at least 20 pounds). It really is pretty to have in the kitchen and I even leave it out unlike my old busted cutting boards since it is such an eye grabber. The wood is a good quality maple that has had the seems glued and finished properly with only one or two minor anomalies (slight tear or hollowed area) most due to the selection of the wooden pieces chosen. Nothing that affects the longevity or function of the board as they were on the sides. Overall, this is a good quality maple with END GRAIN construction meaning unlike others grain type of wood this is semi-healing (I can attest to it after use) and it is easier on the knives too AKA they stay sharper longer.See here for difference: http://www.instructables.com/id/Making-an-end-grain-cutting-board-I-made-it-at-T/step2/Why-end-grain/Since I have had it for a couple months now I have learned why some people have had difficultly with the board namely in terms of construction. To put it bluntly, if this board were thirsty it would be an understatement because it NEEDS OIL! When I first got it out I thought the wood looked a bit dry (imagine seeing a piece of wood that has been in the sun out in the garden area of Home Depot for a while). These boards are almost supposed to look like a nice piece of furniture so keep that in mind when you get your board. Heck, the manufacturer even recommends to oil it when you get it because the boards may have been in the warehouse a while. Try this stuff since it was pretty cheap when I got it (about $28). UltraSource 501333 Food Grade Mineral Oil, NSF, 1 gal Moving on, after making sure the board was free of water and on an elevated surface (this helps dry it, I grabbed some food grade mineral oil and brushed it all over a few times till it wouldn't really soak up any more and looked shiny (this was probably a 1/4 cup. I let it cure for about 6 hours or over night and she was ready to go...or so I thought.We used it over the next couple days and used just some water and vinegar to wash it. Very soon after we noticed it looked dry again, so we reoiled it. A couple days later the same thing! Like I said a very thirsty board. By the third time I just basically made it a project to get it fully oiled and spent a couple hours oiling each side one day, rotating it every so often to get it everywhere. After about 2 cups of oil (total since the beginning) I can say it is FINALLY ready for regular use without oiling it every other day. These boards should be oiled lightly once every 1-2 months or when it looks dry so keep that in mind when you use it. If you don't, the board will break, crack, tear, or some other horrible thing and you'll be out of $100.All in all I definitely give this board 5 stars for construction, beauty, functionality, vale for the money (definitely could be sold for $300 plus), and for that nice faint maple smell it gives off.

First, I will start off with how solid this chopping block is. Really nice and will serve me probably a lifetime of use. For under $100 not too many items will hold up that long.The only issues I will warn people about is that some of the pieces of wood, not many, have small gaps in them... very small, but will create issues with food getting caught in them from time to time. Small enough "holes" or "gauges" that I can see if something tiny gets in there a sponge might not get it out if it's wedged in, and yet large enough that if I sand it down I will be taking too much thickness from the board to make it worthwhile. Oh, yeah, on that note I will also add that the sides and especially the corners do need to be sanded down some before using.The other issue is with the packaging. This block is wrapped in thin plastic and placed in a cardboard packing box and has no bubble wrap of any kind. Perhaps if it did, when it was apparently dropped on one of the corners, the wood might not have caved in a bit. I will have to sand it down when I get a chance and re-apply the butcher block oil and it should be fine, but a little bubble wrap at least on the corners would have insured a safer arrival through the UPS journey.All that said, I am sure to be happy with the stability and extra height this chopping block will give me. I didn't think 3 1/2 inches of height on the counter would make such a difference in my posture while doing my prep work, but it really does. I have been sufferring backaches within minutes of prepping meals for some time now and I am hopeful this thick block will help with that. I will update in a few weeks to let you know on that.UPDATE: I so love this chopping block. I use it multiple times a day, seven days a week. I have found prepping veggies is much easier on my back due to the added height, so I'm standing up straighter. It's large enough that I can make my pasta on the board, as well as knead, roll out and cut my biscuits on the board. Kneading my pizza dough is easier now as well. I make a no-knead bread loaf daily so you wouldn't think it would help with that, but funny enough, when I let my dough rest on the granite counter the granite is so cold in the wintertime that the dough doesn't rise as well as when I sit the bowl on the chopping block. The wood insulates the metal bowl from the cold of the counter and I get a much quicker rise to my dough. Did I mention I'm in love with this chopping block???