Easiest Chopping Board Finish

[Luke Maddux]

I've ended up with a lot of narrow stock, short lengths, offcuts, etc. It's also been a while since I sold a piece of furniture.

But I know something that I CAN sell. It's the easiest thing to sell and, as if to spit right in my face, it's also the easiest thing to make. Therefore, it is with great reluctance that I must accept the facts and submit to doing something practical, simple, straightforward, efficient, and which I truly hate...

I'm going to make chopping boards.

When I make these, it's all about smashing them out and putting forth the least amount of time and effort I possibly can in order to turn otherwise purposeless wood into something people will buy (and, yeah, I guess that whole "something for people to appreciate" thing is cool too...).

So I'm looking for advice on a finish. I want something that:

-is cheap
-is easily applied
-has minimal drying time
-is food safe
-preferably is available at Mitre 10, as there is one close to me

I don't really care how it looks, as long as it looks like it has SOME kind of finish on it. I find people don't really like high gloss finishes on cutting boards and it wears off in time anyway. So maybe some kind of wax blend? Or maybe just straight carnauba?

Interested in any feedback.

Thanks a lot,
Luke

[Kuffy]

Liquid paraffin (mineral oil). Makes the timber look wet. Flood surface, let it soak for a few minutes. Wipe off the rest. Jobs done!

Available at chemists. Used as a mild laxative

[Luke Maddux]

Sounds like the one!

[Acco]

Cheap as chips and a little bit goes along way.

FoodSafe Plus (http://www.ubeaut.com.au/FS+.htm)

[Simplicity]

Why not ,not finish them .
What I mean is ,not put a finish on them .
Market them as naturally finished ,sell them in pairs, one for meat ,one for vegetables.
Explaining that the natural oils will finish them ..
Or tell them to use olive oil on them when they get home ?
People love free advice
Now this advice, all comes from bloke who will possible, never ever make a chopping board .
So make sure to post pics

Matt

[Sawdust Maker]

I use ubeauts stuff (see DJ's response) on the one's I give away and olive oil on the ones here at home
and I tell the recipients to give them an oil every so often with whatever cooking oil they use

[Kidbee]

Chopping boards are good 'bread and butter' items that use up the offcuts and help pay the bills while you establish your name in the furniture making world.

Don't know what style you intend to make but I particularly like these ones with an organic looking handle. I grabbed this photo from the internet; the wood is Walnut.

----and don't forget to promote their germ killing properties over the plastic ones.

[Kidbee]

Also Luke you can see in the photo I posted earlier that they have their brand on them, probably rastered with a laser. It adds a nice touch.

[Justin]

+1 for Paraffin Oil on cutting boards. Often easier to find at a Chemist than at a Hardware store.

[China]

We have a product made in Australia by an Australian company "U-Beaut food safe oil" it is a excellent product made for the purpose
WHY WOULD YOU USE ANY THING ELSE?????

[Justin]

And just who exactly do you think you're shouting at, chief?

[Ubernoob]

We have a product made in Australia by an Australian company "U-Beaut food safe oil" it is a excellent product made for the purpose
WHY WOULD YOU USE ANY THING ELSE?????

Because the OP wanted something easy to get and cheap, if Mitre 10 don't stock U-Beaut that stops it being easy to get and postage will double the price of a small bottle. Mitre 10 will have Linseed Oil and orange oil, both are probably made in Australia Orange oil is a bit expensive though from memory.

Diggers 1L bottle of Liquid Paraffin is $12.15 at Numpties' Warehouse.

[Justin]

And because according to the MSDS, the U-Beaut product is 100% pharmaceutical grade Paraffin Oil? :doh:

[Luke Maddux]

Yeah, I mean don't get me wrong, I have three or four bottles of ubeaut products in my shop right now, but, as mentioned a couple of posts ago, I'm looking for convenient and cheap, and there's a chemist about 200m from my house.

I'm going to give the pharmaceutical grade paraffin/mineral oil a try.

Thanks a lot for all the info and suggestions, everyone.

Cheers,
Luke

[Xanthorrhoeas]

Hi Luke,

Sorry, I didn't keep the recipe or instructions but they will be on the forums here. I have never used this idea but it sounded good to me and I will use it one day. A formerly frequent poster from Canada - Robson Valley was the monika I think - posted instructions on how to use a cheap oil - mineral from memory - and bake it into the wood for a permanent food safe finish, but heating in the oven to a particular heat to get the oil to soak deeply into the timber and produce a permanent food safe finish for cutting boards.

If I can find it I'll post a link but you can probably find it as easily as I can.

Good luck

David

[Xanthorrhoeas]

OK, here is the quote from the last Robson Valley posting I can find on this subject - though there were earlier ones on just using mineral oils.

"I carved a "wet dish" for my kitchen. Birch, maybe 5" x 12" x 2". Holder for wet scrub pads, sink stoppers and so on.
Melted beeswax & painted it on. Into a 325 oven for 5 minutes. Wood air heats up, wax remelts. As wood air cools, sucks the
wax (or the oil of your choice) down into the wood. Did 70 spoons and 30 forks with olive oil that way for 3mins 30 sec by the clock.
If you reheat one of my spoons beyond 325, you could get the oil to move. Won't and can't move in boiling soup.
No hocus-pocus, just Charles' Law from gas physics."

So, to be absolutely clear, I have never done this so this is a straight quoute from his post and I presume that RV was using degrees Farenheit not Celcius.

Good luck!

[Albert]

Why not just put vegetable/cooking oil on it?

[Xanthorrhoeas]

I am not the originator of the idea and I'm not a chemist, nor a physicist but the idea is that the heat drives the air out of the pores in the wood, then when you take the wood out, coated with oil or wax it is drawn much deeper into the wood than just applying it to the surface can ever do. Also, many vegetable oils can go rancid so that is why UBeaut and others recommend and use paraffin oil and others recommend mineral oil.

However, as I said, I am not an expert on this, I use UBeaut's hard Shellac on my platters and coaters (mainly for appearance), but it is not meant for, and does not give anywhere near the protection that Robson Valley is talking about. He is saying his treatment can withstand boiling soup!