About Wren Tail Boards
Made from locally and ethically sourced hardwoods in the Pacific Northwest, a Wren Tail Board is a unique, one of a kind cheese board, charcuterie board, cutting board, or serving tray. Each piece is finished to a very fine polish, revealing as much of the intrinsic beauty of the wood as possible.
Wren Tail Boards are wet-sanded to a high gloss finish, meaning that when they get wet, they will lose as little of their finish smoothness as possible. When highly polished woods get wet, it makes the pores perk up, and the glass-like smoothness of the wood becomes diminished. By repeatedly wet-sanding these boards at their highest level of refinement, the amount of change in the surface of the board, noticeable by touch, is reduced as much as it can be.
After they have been worked like this, they are oiled with a food safe mineral oil that enters the pores, protecting the wood and revealing its glorious hues. After as many applications as the particular board requires (some are more thirsty than others), a final coat of conditioner is applied. This is a mixture of food grade mineral oil and natural waxes. It serves to further protect the wood, and partially seals the pores so that the boards become more resistant to discoloration or alteration.
Despite these processes, a Wren Tail Board is a natural wood product, and must be treated accordingly to maintain its beauty over time. Only hand wash a Wren Tail Board with dish soap and water, then dry immediately after washing. Never put a Wren Tail Board in a washing machine. It is recommended that these boards be re-oiled every now and then. Once or twice a year is plenty. Doing so will further protect the wood and revive the beauty of the board. Most hardware stores will carry some kind of food grade cutting board oil that will be appropriate for this.
A note on use and scarring from knives and kitchen tools: Sometimes a customer will comment that their Wren Tail Board is too beautiful to use, and they only display it in the kitchen, but never use it. Though it is up to the individual owner of the board how it is used, we encourage you to let the natural scars and scratches that will inevitably be created by use of the board happen. These boards are intended for use, and their scars become a part of their character.
About the Craftsman
Peter Nosler is a woodcrafter, a cheesemonger, and an artist. He found the perfect media through which to express his love of nature, specialty foods, and the creative process in the hand-crafting of hardwood cheese boards, charcuterie boards, serving trays, cutting boards, and platters. In his studio in a forest near Portland, Oregon, Peter works to “find the board in the wood”. As a teacher of traditional Chinese martial arts, he honed his woodcrafting skills making kung-fu training dummies and various traditional weapons and longbows. His interest in cheeses of the world compelled him to become an expert in the field, and he worked as a cheesemonger in Portland. Peter still finds the time to discover new cheeses and continues to expand his knowledge of the specialty foods world. Bringing all of these elements together in the creation of unique boards that will display beautiful food is how he melds his talents and interests into something tangible and concrete.
