Bob Taylor, co-founder and president of Taylor Guitars, has launched Stella Falone Kitchen Woodcrafts. The new brand debuts with a line of reversible cutting boards featuring exotic ebony wood ethically sourced in Cameroon and processed at an ebony sawmill co-owned by Taylor in Cameroon’s Congo Basin in West Africa.
For centuries, instrument makers have used ebony wood for fingerboards on violins, guitars, piano keys and more because of its beautiful dark color, remarkable durability, and favorable tonal characteristics. However, ebony has not always been sourced using ethical and sustainable practices. To help change this, Taylor Guitars became the co-owner of a small ebony sawmill in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Their goal was create a more socially responsible and environmentally sustainable value chain for this ebony wood.
In the process of cutting ebony for musical instrument parts, there are pieces that don’t fit the precise specifications for a guitar or violin, but whose exotic beauty and durability make them wonderfully suited for other types of products. Enter Stella Falone Kitchen Woodcrafts. As a longtime lover of food, cooking and quality kitchen products, Taylor was inspired to use this ebony to develop a line of premium kitchen woodcrafts, starting with cutting boards.
“I’ve devoted my career to the pursuit of my passions—woodworking craftsmanship and guitars,” says Taylor. “After more than four decades of crafting beautiful, high-performance guitars that have inspired generations of musicians all around the world, I’m excited to apply that same craftsmanship expertise to another passion of mine: food! I love quality kitchen tools, and I especially love the idea of blending beauty and function to create exceptional kitchenware products that support a more sustainable future.”
