Mineral oil/ beeswax

Re: Mineral oil/ beeswax

William Duffield

I use pint canning jars, but that is because they fit my homemade glue pot that I use to melt the wax in.

An alternate suggestion

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

Presuming these boards will be for use and not display teach the recipients to just slather on what ever cooking oil they have on hand when the boards look dry.

ron what ratio do you use and where do you get the

Re:Yes though

TomD

That is what we do, however, with dry cutting boards, as for bread I would prefer a drying oil. I used to use Watco which was said to be safe after 1 month. There are probably new options for current standards.

The problem with salad oils is that most people today prefer non-drying oils or oils with stuff like Vitamin E in them, for health reasons. This stuff never dries. Drying oils are basically the category that some say are bad for health, which is not a problem for a bowl or board if you can coat it and let it dry. After a while I have had a few bowls back that were a gummy mess, and not so much fun to restore, after they received the daily oil application over time. I prefer to use drying oil as a base though we do refresh it with whatever oil is on hand, as needed.

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As far as the ratio, I don't use a mix. The wax just makes it gummier for me. I do the Raffan thing where I apply oil, and immediately buff in wax. I have a bowl that he made at a seminar where I saw him do the finishing and apply the finish, and it is still good 20 years or more later. Not much wax ends up actually on the piece, it never attracts dust. I tend to end up with a little more wax than he did when I do it myself, you really need to build some heat. If you aren't using a lathe you can buff with a polisher. Don't kid yourself with beeswax, that stuff is a miracle product, very hard to buff down by hand. If you have one of those old lathes with a fixed center, the best lubricant, is beeswax. Spinning away at 2000 rpm, it never breaks down. I once tried a super silicon lubricant, and the wood caught on fire right away. Beeswax is amazing stuff.

For eating bowls, I don't use wax, just oil. I don't think the wax helps. We wash them in the sink, and they get wet. As needed, they get oil. (well, actually I use wax when I make them so I can go "OOH". But I don't re coat.

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For furniture, when I want an English wax job I do this:

https://www.rockler.com/ian-kirby-woodworking-design-wood-finishing-shellac-beeswax

I actually followed an earlier article and one key point there was he recommended grating the wax in a cheese grater. That got around heating it. Not sure he made that point in this article which is more related to off the shelf products.

Re: ron what ratio do you use and where do you get

Ron Pemberton

Howie, I got the mineral oil/beeswax recipe from Doc Green' s Woodturning. Somewhere I read yellow beeswax may leave a yellow colored finish. I purchased white beeswax from who else, Amazon.

You are correct

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

For a salad bowl that never gets a use that "dries" it out, veggie oil will build up and make a gummy mess. Cutting boards that get used get washed and washing strips oil leaving the wood "dry". No risk of gummy build up if oiled as needed.