Material Sourceability

Dimensional lumber is a commodity. This means the the materials that go into making our products will fluctuate based on geographic location. All of the exotic species we use in our cutting boards are not grown in the continental United States. However, it is not uncommon for hardwood stores to carry exotic dimensional lumber. Also, since dimensional lumber is an organic product quality also plays a big factor in sourcing materials for our products. For example, some purple heart is very purple and some can be very brown.

Below we have created what we are calling our “Sourceability Scores” for how hard it is for us to get quality dimensional lumber for particular wood species.

Common – Common hardwoods can be found at any hardwood store for a reasonable price. Some wood species that we have labeled as common are Cherry, Maple, and Walnut.

Uncommon – Most of the exotic hardwoods we use will be classified as uncommon. While it isn’t uncommon for hardwood stores to carry exotic hardwoods, quality and price can vary significantly. For example, in our “Maximum Warp” line of products we always use Bloodwood that is a deep crimson color that can be harder to find. Some wood species that we have labeled as uncommon are Bloodwood, Paduk, Zebrawood, and Purple Heart.

Rare – Hardwoods that we classify as rare are not easy for us to source. Either they are very expensive for us to source locally, or we have to travel outside of the southwest Missouri area to get it. Some wood species that we have labeled as uncommon are Red Heart and Yellow Heart.

Very Rare –  It’s unlikely that you will see this label used on any of our products as truly “very rare” hardwood would be so expensive it wouldn’t justify us putting it in a cutting board. But, regardless, we’ve created this category just in case.