Stop 12: Barnaby’s Workshop

Season 2 · Stop 12 · Barnaby’s Workshop · the riverside workshop · Gerzsi’s day off

Painted illustration of Barnaby the badger checking a wooden cutting board with a small bite mark on the corner while Gerzsi the beaver grins with a pencil and a tape measure in an autumn workshop

The big wooden board in Chef Tamás’s kitchen has a bite out of one corner. I’m not saying whose teeth. I’m saying Chef Tamás handed me the board on my day off, pointed upriver and said one word. “Barnaby.”

Barnaby’s workshop sits where the river bends past the old willow. It smells like sawdust and coffee. Barnaby is a badger, and he looked at the bite for a long time. Then he looked at me. “Spike made this board,” he said. “Spike will cry.”

Gear in this story: jump to the picks →

The plan was simple. Trim off the bitten corner and square the board up again. Barnaby gave me a tape measure and a pencil. “Measure twice, cut once.” I measured once, because I’m fast. The hook slipped off the edge, the tape slid back an inch, and I marked the wrong spot with great confidence.

Barnaby measured again. Then once more. “You measured once,” he said. “That’s half of measuring.” He showed me the hook on his own tape, the part that grabs the edge so the number stays honest. We cut in the right place, and only one inch of board went to waste. Barnaby says that inch is on my tab.

Then came the part beavers are born for. Making wood smooth. I sanded until the corner felt like a river stone. Then I oiled it, and I poured a puddle the size of a small pond. Barnaby gave the long badger sigh. “Thin coat. Let it soak in. Wipe off what’s left.” We stood the board on its edge overnight, like a book on a shelf.

In the morning Barnaby tested it with a little paring knife and an apple. The knife slid, the board stayed put, and the slices came off thin as leaves. I leaned in to check the edge with my teeth, just professionally. Barnaby put a paw on my shoulder and pointed at the wall. There was a new sign. NO TASTING THE WORK.

Chef Tamás got his board back that afternoon, one inch shorter and very shiny. He put a damp towel under it, set his knife on it and said nothing. In his kitchen, that’s a good review.

🪵 What I learned at Barnaby’s workshop

Keep wood out of the dishwasher. America’s Test Kitchen says to wash a wooden board by hand, stand it on its edge to dry and rub it with mineral oil regularly so it stays water-resistant.
Board butter is easy to make. ATK’s spoon butter is 3 parts mineral oil to 1 part beeswax, melted together. Rub it on, let it sit for 24 hours, then buff off the extra.
Board oils are more alike than the labels say. Consumer Reports tried four on John Boos boards and found them similar overall. Its favorite was the John Boos oil and cream kit, “the only one you’ll ever need.”
A tape measure is only as good as its hook. In Reviewed’s tests the Lufkin Black Widow’s hook gripped edges well, while the Stanley FatMax’s hook didn’t always hold.

Chef Tamás’s real lesson: This part isn’t made up. His rules for a cutting board, in this order: it must not slip, it must be kind to your knife, and it must be big, bigger than you think you need. If you only have room for one board at home, he says get one big wooden board. And put a damp towel under it so it can’t slide.

Read the guide: Best cutting boards →

Read the guide: Best paring knives →

Sources: America’s Test Kitchen (wood cutting boards and care), America’s Test Kitchen (spoon butter), America’s Test Kitchen (plastic boards), America’s Test Kitchen (paring knives), Reviewed (paring knives), Consumer Reports (cutting board oils, Nov. 2025), Reviewed (tape measures), WeAreTeachers (pencils). Prices checked October 2026; tap a button for today’s price. Affiliate links: how we make money.

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