Turning Bloodwood (Satine)


Michael Ginsberg

Recommended Posts

  • 1 month later...
On 9/17/2017 at 10:17 AM, Eric. said:

Also note that Waterlox IS a "wipe-on poly."  It's diluted varnish, just like Minwax and ARS.  It only looks like plastic if you build a thick film or use gloss or semi-gloss.  A few coats of satin will not look like plastic, especially if you buff it down after curing with 1000 grit pad.  That said, film-forming finishes are not my favorite for turnings.  I prefer to sand them to high grits then use oil/wax.  Turnings are rarely high-abuse items and they don't require much protection, if any.  I like close-to-the-wood finishes whenever possible.

Exactly right on all counts (but you knew that already didn't you? :P)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 9 months later...

Pardon the intrusion, but, I don't use anything on items that may contact food except mineral oil and reapplied when the wood shows drying. I have read numerous articles on finishes and had no better idea of safe finishes, it seems to be personal choices.

I do grain and endgrain cutting boards and use mineral oil.

On items that don't meet food, I use Old Masters gel stain and nothing else. It even works great on mesquite and Texas ebony.

Opinions appreciated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pardon the intrusion, but, I don't use anything on items that may contact food except mineral oil and reapplied when the wood shows drying. I have read numerous articles on finishes and had no better idea of safe finishes, it seems to be personal choices.

I do grain and endgrain cutting boards and use mineral oil.

On items that don't meet food, I use Old Masters gel stain and nothing else. It even works great on mesquite and Texas ebony.

Opinions appreciated.

Oop's. Old Masters gel stain is a neutral color stain that makes the natural colors of the wood really pop.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They say once a finish has cured it's food safe. Different finishes will cure at different rates but around a month is pretty common for a lot of them (cure time). 

With that said, I use GF's salad bowl finish, it's suppose to be food safe. I almost use mineral oil and beeswax as well as walnut oil since it doesn't go rancid, but it will darken your wood. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, thatCharlieDude said:

once a finish has cured it's food safe

That is exactly what Bob Flexner says (Understanding Wood Finishing).  Furthermore he notes that the FDA does not regulate or evaluate finishes, nor does any other entity.  He then goes on to point out that the appellation "Food Safe Finish" had its origins as a marketing tactic, I forget which company started it.

My own observation is that I have not seen any other author who supports the notion of a narrow class of food safe finishes also offer any opposing explanations.  They usually just say use a food safe finish, or this finish is food safe.  If you invented a finish how would you have it classified as food safe, other than by so labelling the can.

My view is that all fully curing sufrace coatings are food safe once fully cured.  Also some non curing finishes such as wax in mineral spirits are food safe.  Durability and repairability are different matters.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/14/2018 at 4:52 PM, 1stsarge said:

Does bee's wax work on end grain cutting boards after mineral oil soak, I have never used it on end grain thinking it would build up and look waxie ( if there is such a word ,).

Bees wax works well on end grain, or any other grain orientation. The "Howard's Cutting Board" products at my lical retailer are simply beeswax and mineral oil blends, heavy on the oil. With a simple double boiler on your kitchen stove, it is easy to melt beeswax and blend in mineral oil to any consistency you like. Some folks also blend it with linseed oil, but I would recommend using raw linseed (flaxseed oil) and heating it the old fashion way to help it cure. Commercial "boiled linseed oil" contains metal / mineral dries to make it cure.

Personally, I tend to agree that cured finishes are safe for food contact. But perception goes a long way, so any item I make for another person, that is perceived as being intended for food preperation, will get a finish that NO ONE can argue is unsafe.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Who's Online   3 Members, 0 Anonymous, 29 Guests (See full list)

  • Forum Statistics

    31.2k
    Total Topics
    421.8k
    Total Posts
  • Member Statistics

    23,759
    Total Members
    3,644
    Most Online
    R Parekh
    Newest Member
    R Parekh
    Joined