Personalised Wooden Chopping Board
The best-selling personalised gift in the UK, bar none — and a lesson in placement, thick-stock focusing, and why you only ever engrave bare wood.
KitWhat you'll need
- A solid hardwood board: beech, oak, acacia or bamboo — bare or oiled wood only
- Food-safe mineral oil or board butter
SettingsStarting points
| Machine | Speed | Power | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 W diode | 2,000–4,000 mm/min | 60–80% | hardwoods need more energy |
| 60 W CO2 | 300–400 mm/s | 20–30% | — |
| Bamboo (any laser) | as above | minus ~10% | scorches fast — test underside first |
StepsHow to do it
- Choose the zone. Family name centred, or a message/recipe in the lower third, leaving the working surface usable.
- Test on the underside. Free scrap from the exact board you're engraving.
- Handle the thickness. Remove the bed tray or use risers per your machine, and re-focus on the top surface.
- Frame twice. Check clearance around grooves and handles before committing.
- Engrave bold. Deep, bold designs suit boards better than fine detail — this is a workpiece, not a picture.
- Oil it. Light sand if fuzzy, then oil generously with food-safe mineral oil. The engraving darkens and the wood glows.
MistakesWhat everyone gets wrong
- Engraving a varnished face — bubbling finish, bad smell, unknown fumes.
- Placement disasters. Frame twice, engrave once.
- Finishing with olive oil — it goes rancid. Food-safe mineral oil only.
⚠ SafetyThe coating is the hazard, not the wood. Shiny board, unconfirmed finish? Sand back to bare wood or pick another board.
⤴ Level up
Recipe boards — a scanned handwritten family recipe is a five-star bestseller. Serving paddles, cheese boards with engraved labels.