A cutting board is not just a cutting board
A cutting board has a very simple basic function: it must provide a stable, suitable surface to work on with a kitchen knife.
But as with kitchen knives, there are big differences in construction, choice of material, thickness, details and workmanship.
The market ranges from thin, industrially made boards to solid butcher blocks, end-grain boards and handmade one-offs. Makers such as John Boos, Larch Wood Canada and Sonder LA all make serious wooden cutting boards with end grain, walnut, juice grooves and handles among other features.
So what actually sets a cutting board from Rune-Jakobsen Design apart?
The answer does not lie in one single detail.
It lies in the way wood, construction, function and aesthetics are thought through together.
The cutting board as a tool – and as part of the kitchen
For many makers the starting point is a classic rectangular board, where the variations consist mainly of size, wood type, thickness and possibly a juice groove or handles.
John Boos, for example, offer a very extensive programme in maple, cherry and walnut, both as long-grain and end-grain constructions and with features such as juice grooves, finger grips, handles and feet.
These are proven, functional solutions.
At Rune-Jakobsen Design the design process begins somewhere else.
We do not regard the cutting board as something that necessarily has to be put away when not in use. A large board often lies out for much of the day – in some kitchens permanently – and thereby becomes a visible part of the room.
That is why we work with the cutting board by many of the same principles as a small piece of furniture: proportions, grain, material combinations, details, edges and surface must work as a whole.
Solid wood – not just a cutting surface
RJD's cutting boards are made of solid wood, primarily European oak and American black walnut.
The wood is not chosen only for its technical suitability for a cutting board. Colour, grain and composition are also considered before the individual parts are glued together.
Every board goes through extensive sanding and is finished with a food-safe treatment that brings out the structure and depth of the wood.
That means two boards with the same dimensions in the same wood can still look different.
That is not a deviation from the product.
It is part of the material.
End grain is not unique – but it can be treated very differently
End-grain boards are well known among makers of premium cutting boards.
John Boos make solid end-grain chopping blocks, while Canadian Larch Wood specialise in handmade end-grain boards. Several other makers offer similar constructions.
There is a good functional reason for it.
On an end-grain board the wood fibres face up towards the cutting surface. The knife edge therefore works down between the fibres rather than across them. The construction is known to be relatively gentle on the edge, while minor cut marks are often less visually prominent than on traditional long-grain boards.
The same principle is used in RJD's WOW and Chefs Board.
But with us the end grain is also a visual material.
WOW – when the grain becomes part of the design
An end-grain board can be made as a very regular grid of uniform wooden blocks.
It does not have to be.
For WOW the individual pieces of end grain are selected and assembled with a focus on balance, rhythm, symmetry and the wood's natural figure.
Growth rings, colour differences and structure thereby become an active part of the design.
Every WOW is different.
The pattern cannot be repeated exactly from board to board, because the material is never identical.
Other makers, including Larch Wood Canada, also work deliberately with the natural patterns of end grain. That is precisely the point:
End grain in itself is not the difference. It is the way the material is selected and composed that gives the board its character.
At RJD, WOW is therefore as much a work of symmetry, colour and grain as of the construction itself.
Chefs Board – function and composition
Chefs Board builds on the end-grain principle.
The board combines a solid end-grain construction with a striking visual finish and comes in different combinations of oak, walnut and smoked oak, among others.
Selected models also include details in metal.
The result is a work board where the transition between grain directions, wood types and materials is deliberately allowed to be visible.
It is a recurring principle in many of RJD's designs:
The construction is allowed to show.
A front edge is more than a decorative detail
Most cutting boards simply lie on top of the worktop.
RJD's Forefront is built differently.
The board has an integrated wooden front edge that rests against the front of the worktop. The edge is sized so it stabilises the board while you work without necessarily blocking drawers and doors beneath.
That gives a concrete functional advantage in kneading, chopping and other tasks where the force moves forward towards the edge of the counter.
But the front edge also changes the board's visual character.
When a large Forefront lies permanently on the worktop, it works almost like an extra, loose work surface in solid wood rather than a traditional cutting board that is taken out and put away again.
See Forefront from Rune-Jakobsen Design
When metal becomes part of the construction
On several RJD designs brass, copper or aluminium forms an integrated part of the board's expression.
It can be seen on models where metal profiles or inlays create a contrast to oak or walnut.
The metal is not merely added as decoration.
It forms part of the board's visual architecture and underlines the transition between materials, edges and surfaces.
It is the same thinking found in other RJD products: functional kitchen tools are welcome to have a distinct material and furniture-like expression.
The juice groove has to work in practice
Juice grooves are found at virtually every major maker of premium cutting boards.
John Boos and others offer carving boards with juice grooves, and the principle is well known.
At RJD the point is not merely to add a narrow decorative groove around the board.
On models with a prominent juice groove it is sized so it can actually collect liquid when carving meat, fruit or juicy vegetables, for instance.
That is the difference between a detail that mainly looks functional and one that actually is.
Handles should be part of the shape
Handles on cutting boards are not in themselves anything special either.
What is special is how they are integrated.
On RJD's various models we work with routed grips, through openings and profiles that become part of the board's overall form.
A handle must first and foremost make the board easier to lift and move.
But it is welcome to contribute to the visual expression at the same time.
It is a small detail, but exactly that kind of detail is decisive when a cutting board is to be experienced as more than a piece of wood with four straight sides.
Symmetry – and deliberate asymmetry
Many cutting boards are visually neutral.
At RJD we work with symmetry and with its opposite.
On some models the composition is strict and balanced. On others details and materials are placed asymmetrically to create more movement in the expression.
That does not change the basic function as a cutting board.
But it changes the experience of the product.
That is exactly where the line between kitchen tool and cabinetmaking starts to become interesting.
Long grain or end grain?
RJD work with both constructions.
A traditional long-grain board shows the grain of the wood lengthwise and often gives a calmer, more classic expression.
An end-grain board turns the fibre ends up towards the surface and typically creates a far livelier, more graphic structure.
Neither construction is the right one for every purpose.
The choice depends on size, use, desired thickness, weight and the visual expression you prefer, among other things.
That is why RJD's cutting board programme does not exist as one construction in different sizes, but as different products developed for different ways of using and furnishing the kitchen.
From a single board to a permanent workstation
There are also big differences in what customers expect of a cutting board.
Some want a relatively light board that can be taken out and put away after use.
Others want a heavy, stable work surface that practically never leaves the worktop.
That is why RJD work with different thicknesses, sizes and proportions.
The largest models deliberately move away from the idea of the cutting board as a small kitchen tool.
They work instead as real work surfaces.
That can be especially relevant on kitchen islands or larger worktops, where the board becomes a permanent part of the work area.
Standard sizes – but not necessarily standard solutions
Large makers often offer a considerable selection of fixed sizes.
RJD also has a range of standard formats, but because production is order-based there is greater scope to work with the proportions.
Minor deviations from standard sizes can be made on request.
That can be relevant if a board needs to fit a particular area on a kitchen island, between sink and hob, or a specific work zone, for instance.
That does not mean every shape and dimension is possible.
The stability of the wood, the construction and the proportions of each design set natural limits.
But the starting point is that the product is made to the order – not that the customer necessarily has to adapt their kitchen to a finished stock product.
Handmade in Denmark
RJD's cutting boards are today made by Flat Cap Furniture in close collaboration with Rune-Jakobsen Design.
Flat Cap Furniture is run by cabinetmaker Niall Williams from his workshop in Denmark.
The boards are made individually to order with the same designs, material requirements and quality principles that RJD's cutting board programme is built on.
That also means the board is not simply taken from a stock of hundreds of identical copies.
When the individual board is to be made, the wood is selected and composed for that particular product.
That makes it possible to respond to the actual material – not only to the drawing and the dimensions.
There are excellent cutting boards from other makers
John Boos have made butcher blocks and cutting boards for more than a century and offer an extensive professional range.
Larch Wood Canada make handmade end-grain boards with great attention to the wood's natural patterns.
TeakHaus specialise in teak in various constructions.
Sonder LA combine different wood types and constructions with features such as juice grooves, handles and reversible work surfaces.
It would therefore be wrong to claim that Rune-Jakobsen Design is alone in offering good wood, end grain, craft or well-thought-out features.
Our difference lies elsewhere.
Not just a board
Rune-Jakobsen Design's cutting boards range from simple solid work boards to heavy end-grain boards, one-offs, boards with prominent juice grooves, integrated handles, a front edge and details in brass, copper or aluminium.
Some are first and foremost tools.
Others work just as naturally as serving boards.
And some are deliberately developed to lie out permanently and become part of the kitchen itself.
The common principle is that function must not stand alone.
A good cutting board must be pleasant to work on. But when it occupies a large, visible surface in the kitchen, it is welcome to be worth looking at too.
That is why we regard a cutting board as more than a cutting surface.
Crafted – Not produced.
See all cutting and serving boards from Rune-Jakobsen Design
Sources and further reading
- Rune-Jakobsen Design – cutting and serving boards
- John Boos – Cutting Boards
- John Boos – End Grain Cutting Boards
- Larch Wood Canada
- TeakHaus – Edge Grain vs. End Grain
- Sonder LA – Cutting Boards
Read also
- Cutting boards from our workshop – made to order
- End grain vs. long grain – which cutting board should you choose?
- Symmetry in cutting boards – where order meets the natural variation of wood
