Suggestions for cuting board finish?

[mac davis]

I got a call from a friend with a restaurant today, asking if I could sand and refinish his 2 cutting boards..

They're "several" inches thick and used to have "some shiny stuff" on them..lol

I'll look at them Friday night but thought I'd get some opinions here on what to use for a coating/finish on 'em..

I e-did one in our house in the states using a commercial "cutting board finish"but can't remember what it was, only that it had an evil lemon smell that my wife hated.. lol

Any suggestions?

(I'm in Mexico, so if it works, that's fine, no EPA here)

Thanks,

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[woodman]

Mineral oil. You could buy "salad bowl finish" but mineral oil works best. Don't use vegetable oils.

Woody

[Frank Boettcher]

I use cold pressed walnut oil I buy at the health food store. Until it won't take it any more. Then melt down some beeswax, mix it with walnut oil about fifty-fifty and rub it down, buff it out.

There was some discussion about nut allergy issues, but I think it was resolved that the walnut was not a problem.

Frank

[dadiOH]

Boiled linseed oil. After it dries in a couple of days it is totally safe. Shiny stuff won't last and mineral oil never dries. BLO won't last forever either but is sopa de pato to renew.

[Leon]

Is this to be for display and look pretty or will he be using it? If you want it to look pretty, mineral oil works. If he is going to use it, in a restaurant, it will not look nice and shiny long at all. Better to resurface, sand and return it to him.

I made a maple cutting board/block in 1969 in Jr. High shop class. To this day my wife uses it every day and it is still just fine, no oil or finish at all. I did run it through the planer to flatten it back out about 3 years ago.

[George]

Disagree. Oil that won't cure catches dust, doghair, greasy dirty fingerprints and food odors. Not to mention sheltering bacteria from your detergent.

If he's going to use it in a restaraunt he'll conform with local health regulations. We used to salt our tallow and lard-laden boards every night back in the days.

Bare is best, cured oil second.

[Frank Drackman]

Mineral Oil

[Leon]

I was suggesting Mineral Oil for looking pretty not for use. Hopefully in a restaurant this would be dusted once in a while and hopefully would not be getting any DOG HAIR on it. ;~)

[Lee Michaels]

"Leon" wrote

I wish I had some of my shop projects from that era. That is a long time ago.

Just a suggestion, maybe the wife would appreciate a NEW cutting board.

[woodman]

Unless it was a Chinese restaurant...

[SonomaProducts.com]

If these are being used as cutting boards in the kitchen where they chop food directly on the surface, then

1. They should not have any "shiny finish" or any finish at all.
2. The local authorities will likely have a pescribed cleaning and application requirment.

I think you should be safe buying the mineral oil mixture (with other ingredients) from Boos company. They are one of the few companies with the NFS certification which is required for wood surface materials with direct food contact and their stuff is surely approved.

If they are cutt> I got a call from a friend with a restaurant today, asking if I could sand and

[Andy Dingley]

Poor choice. Firstly it's a flm-forming oil, so it won't last for a cutting board.

Secondly it tastes disgusting. It _will_ taint citrus fruit.

Thirdly it's too toxic to use for food. Linseed driers just aren't a good addition to the diet. Even the alternatives to lead, like cobalt, are far from advisable for consumption.

I'd use a vegetable oil that doesn't go rancid, such as real Chinese camellia (not the Japanese fake), otherwise walnut or grapeseed. Don;t use olive, it goes rancid. Mineral oil ("Liquid paraffin" from a UK pharmacist) is also safe.

[Leon]

I was going to add that but then I was trying to play nice. ;~)

[Leon]

I still have a wrought iron magazine rack that I designed and made out of

1/8" thick x 1" wide band iron, rivited with 3/8" wide rivits pounded with a ball peen hammer. I made that the same year.

Actually, just before we bought our first house 26 years ago I built her a roll around Maple butcher block trimmed with Padauk. She prefers the one I made in school. It is easer to rinse off/clean under the faucet.

[SonomaProducts.com]

[Owen Lawrence]

I've been using olive oil. How long before it goes rancid?

- Owen -

[J T]

Mon, Oct 15, 2007, 9:13pm (EDT+4) [e-mail] (Leon) doth remember: I made a maple cutting board/block in 1969 in Jr. High shop class. To this day my wife uses it every day and it is still just fine

Heh. Gotcha beat. Still got a solid cherry bookcase I had to design, draft a plan of, then build, in shop, era '55-56.

JOAT "I'm an Igor, thur. We don't athk quethtionth." "Really? Why not?" "I don't know, thur. I didn't athk."

[J T]

Mon, Oct 15, 2007, 8:30pm (EDT-3) [e-mail] (SonomaProducts.com) doth claimeth: All the informed literature says not to use any food oils, especially nut oils. They will go rancid. That's what food oils. do.

And what "informed literature" would that be? I've experimented with cooking oils as finishes for years. None of them got rancid. In fact I once contacted a food science professor, and he told me that cooking oils go rancid if they've been exposd to high heat, as in cooking. As I type this, I'm sitting beside a rocking chair I made, then finished with cooking oil, probably around 10 years ago, it's still doing fine, still not rancid. I'd be interested in reading some of this "informed literature".

JOAT "I'm an Igor, thur. We don't athk quethtionth." "Really? Why not?" "I don't know, thur. I didn't athk."

[J. Clarke]

Wok your puppy?

[Andy Dingley]

Depends on the quality of your oil, the climate and the use the board gets. If it's a well-scrubbed chopping board (rather than a salad bowl) then the wear and replenishment rate of the oil might be enough to never have it happen. I'd still avoid it, in favour of walnut -- it's just a question of picking the other bottle up from the shelf in the kitchen.