Thread: Cheese Knife Handle - most suitable finish

Oven-baked, vegetable oil of your choice. This uses Charles' Law in simple gas physics for a finish that you cannot wash off.

Preheat your kitchen oven to 325F.
Slather the wooden parts with the vegetable oil of your choice. I use good olive oil.
To claim that the oil will go rancid is a myth.

On a rack, over a pan, into the oven for 3'30" by the clock.
Out of the oven, you will notice air bubbling out of the wood.
Charles' Law predicts that hot air expands, cooling air contracts.
Now, as the wood cools, the wood air contracts, sucking the oil down into the wood.
And that is something that you cannot wash off or move again at less than 325F

I carved 70 spoons and 30 forks in birch for sale. All done as described.
The ones that I kept for myself, in my kitchen see almost daily use and cleaning.
They look like they were made yesterday.

I would use ubeaut Shellawax applied by buffing with a swansdown mop mounted in either a lathe or a drill press. It comes up as nicely as anything else you'll find, it is super durable, and it's as easy as you could ever imagine. Check it out.

Cheers,
Luke

No machinery required. Everybody has a stove in the kitchen. 3 minutes and 30 seconds and you are done forever.
By definition, wash-proof. Suited me as I was carving and finishing utensils 12 at a time.
I was trying to carve as fast as I could go for sales. Guessing maybe 90 minutes each from blank to out of the oven/cooling.

Now mind you, I wash my carved kitchen tools with pots and pans in the sink.
I've never done them in the dish washing machine as I believe that the detergents are maybe too corrosive.
Don't know for certain and have no desire to do the experiment.

and label them "hand wash only"

Thanks
I will try some test samples first .... will try Merbau, Ash, and a few others..

This sounds far easier than what I was thinking ....

I don't think many things last in the dishwasher unless they are glass or metal.

Randal

I made a few wooden spatulas for my wife more than 10 years ago, they got a coat of Olive oil after I made them and nothing since, her favourite, which is made from Khaya (African Mahogany) gets put in the dishwasher at least twice a week. It is still sound, but has lost most of its colour.

I might try Robson Valleys trick on it and see if it gives it a new lease of life.

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

Oven-baked, vegetable oil of your choice. This uses Charles' Law in simple gas physics for a finish that you cannot wash off.

Preheat your kitchen oven to 325F.
Slather the wooden parts with the vegetable oil of your choice. I use good olive oil.
To claim that the oil will go rancid is a myth.

On a rack, over a pan, into the oven for 3'30" by the clock.
Out of the oven, you will notice air bubbling out of the wood.
Charles' Law predicts that hot air expands, cooling air contracts.
Now, as the wood cools, the wood air contracts, sucking the oil down into the wood.
And that is something that you cannot wash off or move again at less than 325F

I carved 70 spoons and 30 forks in birch for sale. All done as described.
The ones that I kept for myself, in my kitchen see almost daily use and cleaning.
They look like they were made yesterday.

I'm interested in this as I have some chopping boards that need re-oiling. Will it work with mineral oil, and 3'30" is 3mins 30 seconds, right ?

Cheers
Arron

Arron: I'm not certain that it works for an object as large as a chopping board. Have to heat for so long because of the mass.

Back story:

I wanted a carved wooden dish to sit at the back of my kitchen sinks. The intent was to hold sink stoppers, scrub pads and so on _and_ be
waterproof. It is 5" x 14" x 1.5" thick. I painted it with beeswax and did the oven trick. Back into the oven total 3X to get the wood hot
enough to see bubbles.

The dish is carved like an extended frog, it is as waterproof as it was when I made it, a couple of years ago.

Here's what I suggest:
Pick the one, single chopping board that you can risk, preheat the oven, paint it with oil and pull it out of the oven every 3 mins 30 sec.
When you see good bubbles from the end grain, stop. Be prepared to paint the end grain, it could be kind of thirsty for oil as it cools.

I have a gut sense that one of these days, this method will split some processed object.
Until then, I won't fall in love with any wooden thing that I cook.

Ought to answer your specific questions.
1. Mineral oil is fine. The process depends on air movement caused by heating and cooling. The oil follows.
2. Yes, 3' 30" is 3 mins 30 seconds. When figuring out the timing, I left a couple of spoons in the oven for 4 minutes.
They were beginning to brown in places, like a batch of potato fries. Not what I wanted.

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

Oven-baked, vegetable oil of your choice. This uses Charles' Law in simple gas physics for a finish that you cannot wash off.

Preheat your kitchen oven to 325F.
Slather the wooden parts with the vegetable oil of your choice. I use good olive oil.
To claim that the oil will go rancid is a myth.

On a rack, over a pan, into the oven for 3'30" by the clock.
Out of the oven, you will notice air bubbling out of the wood.
Charles' Law predicts that hot air expands, cooling air contracts.
Now, as the wood cools, the wood air contracts, sucking the oil down into the wood.
And that is something that you cannot wash off or move again at less than 325F

I carved 70 spoons and 30 forks in birch for sale. All done as described.
The ones that I kept for myself, in my kitchen see almost daily use and cleaning.
They look like they were made yesterday.

Well well RV. Look at you. This is great info. Plus I had no idea you can use oil on wood and make it waterproof. I'm shocked this can go in a dishwasher

Careful. Never said use the dishwasher. I believe that's risky/corrosive. (#4)

Bee's wax melts at about 60C/150F so it's good and runny by the time the wood gets to 325F.
It soaks in just fine before the wood cools enough for it to go solid.

The original job of painting that frog dish with melted bees wax (pre-oven) made the most unbelievable HELLO of a mess of spatter in my kitchen.
Dipping would have taken too much wax that I didn't have and would have put on far too thick a coat for the technique (was my guess).
I didn't think that I was ever going to get it cleaned up. Not again, I promise.

No but Ironwood said he has a spatula for his wife and they've had it for 10 years and it only got finished with olive oil and gets put in the dishwasher maybe twice a week.
THAT part was surprising and very cool to know.

After the 160°C over for 3'30" do you let it cool by plunging it in more oil? (to suck it in?)

Originally Posted by Spiritwolfe

No but Ironwood said he has a spatula for his wife and they've had it for 10 years and it only got finished with olive oil and gets put in the dishwasher maybe twice a week.
THAT part was surprising and very cool to know.

That spatula has held up surprisingly well, I think not due to the Olive Oil which I rubbed onto the surface once which would have been washed off after 2-3 washes, but more thanks to the durability of the timber used.
I think a spatula made from a less durable timber would not have lasted 10 years of dishwasher treatment. Even if it was only washed once a week, thats 500 washes in the dishwasher, but most weeks it would be washed a few times.

Here is a pic of said spatula, as you can see, the colour has faded quite dramatically, but the timber is still sound. It was originally a rich Mahogany colour with ribbon figure.

DSC_2513.jpg