Finish advice - beech ply kitchen benchtop

[WortGames]

Hi all, been lurking a bit for a couple of weeks but this is my first post

The mrs and I have just moved into a new place, and I'm trying to expand our woefully inadequate kitchen workspace by creating a prep area over some dodgy looking tiles in the kitchen and also making a top for an old sideboard nearby in the dining room.

We're on a very tight budget at the moment, and I've got a couple of sheets of 19mm beech ply which I reckon would do the job nicely (and relatively cheaply).

I'm a bit of a traditionalist and a big fan of bare wood for food prep (these will basically become cutting areas etc, we won't bother with separate chopping boards), so I don't want to go overboard with a finish - but I'd also like to prep/darken/age/soften the appearance of the new boards a bit so that the first food stain doesn't send shivers of terror down the spine of every visitor.

Any suggestions?

[astrid]

You could try raw linseed oil ( not boiled as this has additives)
I think this is foodsafe, (Its fed to cattle) put it on as hot as you can, but dont heat over a stove as it has a low flash point,
Put the bottle in a bucket and pour boiling water into the bucket until the oil gets hot in the bottle.
Keep putting on until the timber wont take any more then wipe off the excess and let it dry.Then buff it up
Do a test piece first, I ve done this on solid timber with good result but not on ply. Its possible that the oil might interfere with the glue in the plywood.

Also it might take a while for the smell of linseed to go, but it is cheap.

Astrid

[Justin]

G'day Wort, welcome to the board

I have some suggestions for you - my personal opinion only and you can make of them what you will :

- Using ply is not the same as using solid timber, so you might have to lower the traditonalist expectations and think seriously about using separate chopping boards, and a finish that's a bit more robust than a natural oil.
- How fine is the grain on the faces of your ply ? I've had trouble with tung oil on ply before, being that the face was fairly open grained, and the oil continued to leech out after application and never really "cure". So I'd strongly warn against "putting on until the timber won't take any more", and suggest that you need to apply sparingly and in proportion to the quality of your ply.
- If you are dead-set keen on oil, I'd recommend paraffin oil. I use this on cutting boards and it's safe for human ingestion (they even sell it at chemists to take for constipation). Parraffin oil seems to stay "wet", so you can re-apply quite easily and keep your material up to scratch. I'm quite a fan of it for solid timber food surfaces.
- If I were you, I'd use some kind reasonably protective finish on the ply. Off the top of my head, and because they are in my shed right now, I'd think about maybe some danish oil (that has a bit of poly in it), Minwax wipe-on, or some of U-Beaut's hard shellac.

Hope this helps, you're probably going to get different answers in every persons reply !


Cheers,


Justin.

[astrid]

Justins probably right re the oil leaching out of ply.
as i said, Ive only used this technique on solid timber.

a danish oil with poly hardener would be best, but your going to have to use chopping boads as its not tough enough to chop on. but neither is plywood really.

see if you can get an old bit of pine furniture (lots on the hard rubbish)
and reuse that.

or go to St Vinnies and buy an old cupboard.
There was so much of this stuff made in the 80's and most is now being chucked out.
Astrid

[WortGames]

Thanks folks, yep I figured I'd probably get a different opinion in every reply, but that's all part of the fun!

The ply seems quite close-grained, I bought a few sheets at a good price and I've already stained one for another project. I was surprised at how it resisted the stain compared to normal (pine) ply. I'd love to go with solid timber but the budget simply won't allow that at this stage. We are currently using separate chopping boards but they just aren't working for us - we are both avid cooks and need some serious prep space, and the kitchen is so tiny we don't even really have space to store or clean the boards! I'm sure the ply would give us a decent surface for at least a couple of years, and I'm happy to wear the experiment anyhow.

I've used both raw linseed oil and Danish oil in the past (I've never had much success with varnishes etc so I tend to stick to 'in' rather than 'on' finishes!)

The items I've used the RLO on haven't really been kitchen items, but I found it tended to be a bit of a dust magnet and adhesive. Perhaps sparing application on an indoor surface that is being regularly wiped down wouldn't be so bad, but I'm a bit worried about any areas around storage jars etc that aren't as easy to get to, they may end up looking a bit funky in the gaps (although I suppose this may be the case with any oil finish).

I love Danish oil, I use it on most things I build. Just not absolutely sure about it's use on a food prep area, both from an ingredients point of view and also the fact that it leaves a thin coat of varnish on the surface - would this not get into the food every time you scratch it?

I googled butcher's blocks last night, to see what sort of finish people generally recommend for them, and it seems like mineral oil is the popular choice. It sounds like it is the same stuff as the paraffin oil Justin describes - it's used as a laxative, make-up remover, and baby oil among other things - however, I understood paraffin to be the same as kerosene, so it sounds like I'll have to tread carefully!

Is mineral/paraffin oil any different to raw linseed oil in respect of collecting dirt?

[astrid]

I think the thing with oils is that you have to rub it up really well.
I have one old book that advises you to wrap a house brick in thick absorbent material ond rub really hard.

astrid

[WortGames]

As a bit of an update if anyone's interested, Bunnings sell 'paraffin oil' for around $17 for a litre - it claims suitability for feeding to horses but quite clearly states 'not for human consumption' - presumably just a standard legal disclaimer but for that price I thought I'd keep looking.

Found 'paraffin' at a Chemist's Warehouse for under $3 for 200ml, sold as a laxative (for humans, no less) so at least I know that trace quantities will be harmless.

It's quite thick but it's done a nice job on the boards, and no smell. A bit of a wipe has brought them up nicely, but I'll take Astrid's advice and give them a really good buffing in the hope that will help to seal them against excess dust etc.

Thanks again everyone

[MacS]

Parrifin and Raw Linseed oil do not dry.

Give some thought to 100% Tung Oil AKA China Oil, this is a drying and is food safe, do not add any solvent, wipe it on, allow it to soak in for 10 minutes, then wipe it dry, allow 6 hours then apply any coat. AFter every 3 coats lightly sand with 400 W/D paper. Apply until your happy with the finish.

Good Luck.

MacS