A sort of side issue, sycamore has natural antibiotic properties and beech is traditionally known to be a 'clean wood' hence used for kitchen utensils, butchers chopping blocks etc. To be honest, anyone who is going to be making things for use should investigate the various properties and also have a look at the history as traditional but not necessarily commerially available woods such as hawthorn, hazel, blackthorn are also good for kitchen and food items. One of the things that concerns me at times is the ignorance that people have towards different woods, plants etc There are some such as the manchineel tree which can be fatal and others that can produce serious allergies yet we hear little about these things. Using local native woods we are reasonably safe but as soon as we start using imported woods we really do need to be aware of the potential dangers of soe of the woods.
Pete