About Mason.

Mason was built around an experiment. I'd been using African padauk for the deep reds, but padauk bleeds — the pigment migrates and tints the maple around it over time. On this board I swapped in bloodwood instead. Same warmth, same intensity, none of the bleed. The maple stays bright for the life of the piece.

The surface is laid in a staggered brick pattern, with birdseye maple pulling the character through. On the side profile, that figure runs vertical and shows off every grain detail — the maple's "eyes" sit alongside the bloodwood stripes like something you'd see in a mason's wall. That's where the name landed.

I shaped the edges with a 65° chamfer in place of carved handles. It's a new design I'm going to keep using. The whole perimeter becomes a 360° handle — you can lift and carry from any side — without breaking the clean lines of the board. More elegant, more functional, less cliché than side cutouts.

Finished with food-grade mineral oil and a beeswax blend. Brass medallion inset on one edge, brass feet on the base. One of roughly twelve boards I'll make this year.