Thread: Badger hair brush water proofing, what's the best Finnish?

Welcome to the forum.
Sorry I cant help with advice on the finish. I would like to point out that badger hair is sourced from China as most other countries mostly see badgers as protected. I will leave it to you to figure just how humane, sustainable and ethical the harvesting is.
There are other hair options out there.
Regards
John

I understand your concern, but white Tip Badger hair is the best quality.

Preheat your kitchen oven to 325F.
Slather your brush handles with the oil of your choice, I use Greek Kalamata olive oil for almost everything which I process this way.
On a cake rack, over a sheet pan, into the oven for 3 minutes 30 seconds. Take it out to cool.
You should see air bubbling out of the sloppy oil. If not, back in the oven for 1-2 minutes.

Here's what happened:
In the oven the wood was heated, the air in the wood was heated and as a result, it expanded.
Out of the oven, the remaining hot wood air cooled and contracted and sucked the oil down into the wood.
This is a demonstration of Charles' Law of gas physics. Exactly the same as the function of a hot air balloon.

Here's the result:
In 3 minutes and 30 seconds, you got a permanent oil finish which cannot be washed off with hot soapy water.
You need to reheat the wood to 325F++ to get the oil to move.
The oil cannot oxidize or go rancid due to the lack of oxygen in the wood. Rancid is a sign of a badly managed surface treatment.

Me?
I carved 70 kitchen prep spoons and 30 kitchen prep forks in birch (Betula papyrifera.)
They all got the oven baked oil treatment, all maybe 4-5 years old now.
Just as sweet and clean as when they came out of my oven.

My suggeestion?
Test this with scrap wood of the finished size. Those lumps are a mass that will take some time to heat up.
Don't over do the oven baking or you will see some deep-fry chip action as they brown!!

Thanks Robson valley, I'll try that.

I used CA glu on this shave kit for my Father-in-law, 20 coats of thin CA. ready to withstand the coldest of weather that England can throw at him.

I will have to give Robson Valley's method a try as it sounds a good thing

Anything like this I use Rustins Plastic Coating. Easy to apply, doesn't smell and waterproof (plus food safe once cured for other items). It also allows a satin through to full gloss finish.

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

....The oil cannot oxidize or go rancid due to the lack of oxygen in the wood. ...

I don't quite understand this as the surface is in direct contact with the air and unless stabilised the wood is also full of air. Olive Oil doesn't set hard and goes rancid so surely sooner or later it will be a problem

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

Preheat your kitchen oven to 325F.
Slather your brush handles with the oil of your choice, I use Greek Kalamata olive oil for almost everything which I process this way.
On a cake rack, over a sheet pan, into the oven for 3 minutes 30 seconds. Take it out to cool.
You should see air bubbling out of the sloppy oil. If not, back in the oven for 1-2 minutes.

Here's what happened:
In the oven the wood was heated, the air in the wood was heated and as a result, it expanded.
Out of the oven, the remaining hot wood air cooled and contracted and sucked the oil down into the wood.
This is a demonstration of Charles' Law of gas physics. Exactly the same as the function of a hot air balloon.

Here's the result:
In 3 minutes and 30 seconds, you got a permanent oil finish which cannot be washed off with hot soapy water.
You need to reheat the wood to 325F++ to get the oil to move.
The oil cannot oxidize or go rancid due to the lack of oxygen in the wood. Rancid is a sign of a badly managed surface treatment.

Me?
I carved 70 kitchen prep spoons and 30 kitchen prep forks in birch (Betula papyrifera.)
They all got the oven baked oil treatment, all maybe 4-5 years old now.
Just as sweet and clean as when they came out of my oven.

My suggeestion?
Test this with scrap wood of the finished size. Those lumps are a mass that will take some time to heat up.
Don't over do the oven baking or you will see some deep-fry chip action as they brown!!

Robson, would that method work with mineral oil?

Fumbler: I expect that it would work with any oil. It works with bee's wax, too. That melts at approx 60C and the oven is running about 165C.
I think that your CA finish is far and away more elegant. I needed a one-shot quickie finish that would work in the kitchen on spoons and forks.
I was trying to carve fast enough to sell them! In batches of a dozen, I estimated 90 minutes each.

dai sensei: the heated and expanded wood air near the surface of the piece has been replaced by the oil, not simply added. Charles' Law.
When the work comes out of the oven, you can see the bubbling air escaping through the sloppy oil coating.

I use the kitchen tools almost daily in rice, pasta and soups = the oil cannot escape.
The surfaces are really quite dry but nothing ever looks starved for finish after a couple of years.
I do still sniff at the wood from time to time, it's very neutral despite the Kalamata having a distinct olive taste.

I second the Rustins Plastic Coating