Art’s End Grain Cutting Board with Curved Relief

I got the idea for this cutting board from a project I found online which had a curved handle that was done as a separate piece inserted into a slot. When I built that board I realized that it was a bad design because of the grain mismatch between the handle and the board. It cracked badly with its first exposure to moisture. However, the curved handle, finger hole, and radii really gave the project a nice look and feel.

Wanting to keep the aesthetics, but ditch the flawed construction techniques, I opted for a monolithic board with the handle being by routing out the material around it from the solid blank. This solved the moisture movement issue, and created a very interesting effect with the wood grain as it traverses the relief for the handle and finger hole. I then used Marc’s recommended finishing technique (diluted salad bowl finish), and the result was what you see here.