Black Walnut is a beautiful wood to begin with and this cutting board showcases that beauty. The first thing I did was to give it two good coats of butcher block oil and a coat of conditioner (I use Howard's, but there are a lot of choices). I figured I'd start off caring for this properly from the beginning. The instructions that come with it provide some good tips that will help this board to last years. Keeping it clean, dry, and properly oiled/conditioned will go a long way to that end.
Cutting on it. With the limited use it has had so far, it isn't showing a blemish. (Rock the knife rather than saw.) As far as serving its purpose as a cutting board, it is doing great - although this is better judged over time.
Moving it around. A lot of cutting boards have a cut-away so you can carry it like a handle. That's ok, but you lose surface area and you still have to pinch it to get it off of a flat surface. This has detents on the short edges. No loss of surface area and a really nice way to grasp it to move. Lift straight up. No sliding around trying to get your fingers underneath.
As for being stunningly beautiful, full marks.
Finding a place to store it in the kitchen.... Working on that. I don't want to just throw it in a drawer until needed, but it is quite large to just sit on the counter top. I'll have to get creative. Too pretty to hide.
