I've just finished sanding a 12" x 12" x 1/2" piece of mesquite that I want to turn into a cutting Board. Would Tung oil be safe to use as a finish. Tung oil would certainly bring out mesquites unique grain pattern.
Ron in Hereford, AZ
Mineral Oil is what you want... Non-toxic and won't go rancid after a while.
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I like to use RAW linseed oil. Must be RAW, cannot be boiled. Hardens the wood a bit, takes longer to cure than mineral, but I think it lasts longer and makes the grain pop a little better.
Cured Tung is non-toxic. So is cured linseed, walnut oil ....
Since tung polymerizes, it will not to collect oil-soluble dirt and become a haven for bacteria like non-curing mineral oil, and is therefore never "rancid," though I personally don't like the smell. Vegetable oils which go rancid do so from incomplete oxidation, a condition easily avoided by providing surfaces free access to the air.
Best thing for the board is nothing, second a curing oil, third, a non-curing oil. Nothing needs no renewal, curing oil only to hide cuts, and non-curing every time the detergent washes away the oil (and what's trapped in it, temporarily protected from detergent).
Mesquite is the hardest or one of the hardest native American hard woods that tend to dull carbide blades rather quickly. Would this be a wise choice for a cutting board?
Yes, tung oil as well as any other common finishing oils and or non curing mineral oil and a vegetable oil would be safe for a cutting board.
Second Mineral Oil - I made some for family last year and they finished up beautifully with mineral oil. You do have to renew from time to time.
"George" wrote in news:416a786c$1 snipped-for-privacy@newspeer2.tds.net:
Be SURE to get PURE tung oil. Most tung oil finishes I've run across have heavy-metal driers added to them, but you don't want heavy-metal driers added to your diet.
Mineral oil.
Or just cut fatty meats on it. The fat soaks in, and if you wash it and let it dry properly the chances of bacterial infection are just about nil, but there is residual fat soaked into the wood, so it looks oiled.
I've made a fair number of cutting boards as presents (as well as one for myself) and I've almost always used mineral oil. It seems to work well from what I've seen. If you can't find a cheaper or more convenient source you can get it from Williams-Sonoma (a cooking store common in fancy malls). What I also like about this is when I give the cutting board to someone I can tell them a place to get more oil for it without sending them to a specialty woodworking store they've never heard of.
Bringing out the grain is in pretty futile in a cutting board because if you actually plan to cut on it you will quickly dull the surface of the board anyway. I've had people "complain" that my cutting boards looked so nice they did not want to cut on them, so bringing out the grain too much can inhibit people from using the board for it's intended function!
Another option, if you want a really pretty finish, would be "Salad Bowl Oil". It's sold mostly for finishing turnings (bowls and suchlike) but it should also work fine on a cutting board. I used it once for that purpose but I decided that it was too glossy to be practical on a cutting board. It is FDA approved for food contact.
Like others, I would be concerned about metallic driers in things like linseed and tung oil.
- Bruce
Mineral Oil is what the butchers used on their old blocks, often after they scrubbed the surface with corse salt and a stiff bristled (steel???) brush. I've been doing that for years. Also lets you get any gunk out of any cuts in the wood from knifes, choppers, etc.
Hereford? HEREFORD? I didn't even know you guys had phones down there much less internet access. ;)
My wife grew up in your neck of the San Pedro. Jeez that's lovely country. We talk of retiring down there somewhere - maybe Wilcox area. Though we live in Oregon, we're both native 'Zonies to the core. Can't beat that azure sky dotted with snow white clouds.
Fly-by-Night CC wrote in news:onlnlowe- snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:
My sister, a fourth generation Californian, has been in Wilcox for 12-14 years now. While she's happy, they are looking to retire FROM Wilcox. I guess it depends on your perspective. And desire for change.
Patriarch
Wouldn't this be the same thing as Flax Seed oil that you get at a health food store to eat? That would be one way of getting the stuff without any risk of hydrocarbons or driers in the mix (as might be the case with hardware store linseed oil). Do they add other stuff to flax seed oil (like other oils that might go rancid more easily)?
Mike
This former meatcutter used what every other meatcutter I know used - tallow and lard from the meat cut on it, salted to lyse bacteria after scraping the big chunks off with what looked like a horse comb, the name of which escapes me at the moment.
Mineral oil would have been superfluous, and would never have penetrated.
That's the stuff. "Lin" as in linen - made from flax. And it's hydrocarbon, with some acid ends.
As to metallic siccatives, you don't have enough stomachs to extract the metallic ions bound in the polymer structure. It's a red herring.
Oh yes, the medic needs to mention that walnut oil at the health food store is cold pressed, and may contain the proteins which can cause allergic reactions in 1 in 10,000 people. Solvent-extracted oil does not, and is safe for ingestion by the sensitive.
Working on it....
I've never purchased it at a health food store, so I'm not sure. To be sure, check the can or contact the manufacturer for exact composition. I definately wouldn't use anything with vegetable oil added because it may go rancid. I re-googled the subject since it's been a while, and found lots of info (search on 'FLAX and LINSEED' and you'll find further edification).
I have finished several cutting boards with RAW linseed oil and have had no ill effects from myself or guests(after many salads). I kinda like the smell (reminds me of grandpas oil paintings), but think I may be in the minority on that one. One thing to keep in mind is this: I usually give out a cutting board or two at xmastime, but try to finish them in June or July to let the linseed fully cure. It's pretty much usable after a few weeks, but I like to make sure when I give one out.
Heavy mineral oil is commonly sold as a laxative. Almost every drugstore will have it.
I was born in Cottonwood/Clarkdale area - after college, lived almost a decade in Flagstaff; my mom lives in Sedona. When I courted my wife and visited her stomping grounds I enjoyed the rural feel along with the scrub oaks, knee-high yellow grass, the ruggedness of the Chiricahuas and the Dragoons and the eerie, desolate ghost towns of deep southern Arizona. I haven't been back for almost 10 years so perhaps the same thing that happened up north has also happened down there.
Thirty-five years ago I'd have stayed in the north but it's been inundated by crystal peddlers, calyfornicators, mcmansions, resorts and outrageous costs of living. Gone are the prospectors: those colorful souls who made their homes from local rock, looked for income where they could find it; strived for the good life - sometimes grasping and living it, sometimes having it slip further out of reach - all the while becoming part of the landscape.
I want to be a hermit: To let the world pass me by and just absorb the sun and heat to the point my skin turns the color and texture of the sandstone; To revel in the awe and wonderment at the snaking flash and deafening clap of advancing thunderstorms that permeate the earth upon which I stand; To cease all activity for each evening's performance as our star slips below the horizon, releasing it's grip on the land and all creatures thereon. There's something about the desert Southwest that lives within. The starkness, the extremes, the abundance of life which appears nonexistent. Arizona has always beckoned me home. Third time will be for good.
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