I've used hard maple, padauk, walnut, and cherry with success for cutting boards.
I made an 'end-grain' board out of cherry that turned out very dark on the cutting surfaces, and lightly colored on the sides - kind of nice. But, don't run an end-grain board through a planer - could be bad, better to sand it smooth.
I've read that padauk dust can be a respirtory irritant. So, I keep my padauk use to a minimum.
I've had difficulty using hard maple, I get a lot of chip-out no matter how small of a bite I take with the planer (1/64 or less). Some of the chips are big and, rather than planing the board to nothing, I usually give up planing and belt-sand the board to remove the divots. It's worse with 'birds-eye' than clear maple. I've tried wetting before planing with no success. Anyone else had this problem? Ryobi AP1300 planer - moderately sharp blades.
As for finish - mineral oil is the only thing I use. Readily available at the pharmacy, and really makes maple sparkle.
Here's a pic of a board I made for a co-worker this Christmas. 17.5" x 22", birds-eye maple with padauk accent stripe. All sides are slightly curved. Weighs 15 lbs. The birds-eye shimmers when you tilt it in the light. Lots of belt sanding on this one - but its surface ended up smooth as glass. Worth the extra effort.
I made an 'end-grain' board out of cherry that turned out very dark on the cutting surfaces, and lightly colored on the sides - kind of nice. But, don't run an end-grain board through a planer - could be bad, better to sand it smooth.
I've read that padauk dust can be a respirtory irritant. So, I keep my padauk use to a minimum.
I've had difficulty using hard maple, I get a lot of chip-out no matter how small of a bite I take with the planer (1/64 or less). Some of the chips are big and, rather than planing the board to nothing, I usually give up planing and belt-sand the board to remove the divots. It's worse with 'birds-eye' than clear maple. I've tried wetting before planing with no success. Anyone else had this problem? Ryobi AP1300 planer - moderately sharp blades.
As for finish - mineral oil is the only thing I use. Readily available at the pharmacy, and really makes maple sparkle.
Here's a pic of a board I made for a co-worker this Christmas. 17.5" x 22", birds-eye maple with padauk accent stripe. All sides are slightly curved. Weighs 15 lbs. The birds-eye shimmers when you tilt it in the light. Lots of belt sanding on this one - but its surface ended up smooth as glass. Worth the extra effort.
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