Cutting Board Vegan Upgrade

I found this cutting board for free and was like, "what's the spikes and the drainage gullets for? Get that out of here I'm trying to cut an onion". So obviously, this was designed for butchering animal parts, the spikes to anchor them so they don't slide around, and the gullets for not getting blood on your counter top. I figured I'm not really into animal sacrifices these days, so I decided to bring it into the 21st century with a vegan upgrade.

Firstly, taking out the spikes with a vise grip, they weren't held in very tightly or deeply which is good news for when I face off the board. They weren't even stainless steel, just aluminum, so I wouldn't consider using them for archery.

I set it up in the mill by clamping it to the vise support and used some milling cutter to face off the top thickness.

I had to rotate my setup a few times due to the limited table travel of my machine, but I was able to reach all the corners.

The previous cutter didn't reach all the way to the middle, so I used a dovetail cutter since it has a bigger diameter.

Got it clean! I like that wood is so easy to cut, that I can use any of my cutters, even the duller ones. I noticed the depth of cut was just shy of the deepest parts of the holes and gullet around the edge (bottom right in pic). I didn't want to go through the trouble of facing the whole thing again, so I just left it.

Then, using an orbital sander to smooth it out. Remember, Never Ever Black and Decker.

For conditioning, I've been told to use mineral oil since it doesn't rot, but I've used vegetable oil before with success. I just applied some canola oil with a paper towel.