For generations artisans have been working with beautiful Tasmanian timbers. And so tradition continues with Big Chop. Each board has been designed and crafted in Tasmania by the hand of a skilled tradesman using traditional artisan techniques. Timbers have been carefully selected to make each board unique. Aesthetically beautiful, they're durable, kind to knives, and are a feature in kitchens all over the world.

Big Chop timber chopping and presentation boards are handcrafted from Tasmanian Oak, Sassafras, Myrtle, Celery Top and Blackwood. These premium timbers are sourced from sustainably-managed and PEFC certified temperate forests of the north-west region of the state. 

Sassafras: (Atherosperma moschatum)

Sassafras has the most variable and dynamic colouring. Sassafras grows as an under story species in lower altitude wet forests throughout Tasmania. It is not related to the sassafras that grows on mainland Australia. It is an aromatic evergreen tree with quite distinctive qualities: the bark, sap, and associated oils are highly aromatic and smell like cinnamon, while its leaves have a strong sarsaparilla scent.

Myrtle: (Nothofagus cunninghamii)

Myrtle is a striking wood with rich red, brown, and almost orange tones. Craftsmen enjoy working with red myrtle because the fine aesthetic qualities of the wood is matched by its working properties. Myrtle belongs to the same family as the beeches of Europe. It is found in any of the wet forests across Tasmania. Myrtle regenerates continuously in the absence of fire, growing in openings in the stand providing conditions are moist and sheltered.

Celery Top: (Phyllocladus aspleniifolius)

Celery Top is a conifer native to Tasmania. It is best known as a hard and durable timber used, in the early days for railway sleepers and stair treads. The timber is creamy white, darkening to a mellow rosy gold hue overtime and exposure to the sun. The species can be found over much of the forested area of Tasmania, from wet areas in the drier forests of the Northeast to the rain forests of the far Southwest.

Tasmanian Blackwood: (Acacia melanoxylon)

Tasmanian Blackwood is a hardwood that is easily worked; stable and long-lasting; and radiates subtle beauty. It ranges from light golden brown to deep brown, sometimes with a reddish tint and occasionally showing black streaks. Nearly all Tasmanian Blackwood comes from the so-called Blackwood Swamps near Smithton in the Northwest, where almost pure stands of blackwood trees occur. Here, the harvest is strictly controlled and the forest is managed on a 70 year rotation.

Tasmanian Oak: (Eucalyptus delegatensis, Eucalyptus obliqua and Eucalyptus regnans)

Colour varies from straw colour to reddish-brown with intermediate shades of cream to pink. The timber has straight, open and even grain with a texture that is open, uniform and fairly coarse.