It's largely a matter of personal preference, as these are the two most suitable North American hardwoods we've found for durable cutting boards. Maple is a lighter color and has finer pores. White oak (unlike red oak) has naturally sealed, rot-resistant grain that is coarser and of a darker hue, growing as dark as walnut over time with linseed oil treatment. Oak is perhaps a bit more durable and less likely to show stains, although all treated boards resist stains, and stains can be removed. Read our blog for more on maple versus oak.

Our cherry is stunningly beautiful, with classic grain that turns redder over time withe exposure to ambient light. Recent batches including either "gum" cherry that shows dark streaks of natural hardened resin or "curly" grain that shows a wavy pattern with chatoyance.

Cherry isn't as hard as white oak or hard maple, so it may show knife scratches more easily Overall cherry is better either for those with especially keen, hand sharpened knife edges they're seeking to preserve on a softer cutting board, or for jobs where chopping isn't as important—such as serving appetizers or cheese.

Yes

Our boards are all one piece, with the cutting surface on the "edge" of the board. (If you know anything about trees and wood you'll understand that it's impossible to make a large end-grain cutting board that's one piece--the trees aren't big enough and it would split in half with maple, oak and other familiar species.) Because we use hard maple and northern-grown white oak, our boards have similar hardness on the edge as other makers' on the end grain.