Epoxy on chopping board safe?

I am in the process of making a jarrah chopping board for my wife. The end pieces used to hide the end grain of the board are fixed to the board with full length floating tenons ( spline?) and Techniglue 3 which is supposed to be waterproof. It has a few very minor splits and a couple of tiny borer holes in it. Normally I would fill the holes with Araldyte mixed with jarrah sawdust or Techniglue mixed with the sawdust or black Tempura Powder Paint that kids play with. I will be finishing the board with the Ubeaut FoodSafe Plus

Q1. Are the epoxies and the additives mentioned above suitable for use on chopping boards?

Q2. How many coats of oil are needed before using the board?

Q3. The board will be washed in warm soapy water after each use. How do you know when it needs re-oiling?

keep warm everyone

Epoxy is fine for filling the holes

If it was me I would use two pack epoxy instead of Araldyte.
You can use as little or as many coats of oil as you like, same with re-oiling.
You can re-oil after every wash if you are obsessive or not worry about it and when it starts to look too ragged sand it back and re-oil it then.

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Originally Posted by BobL

If it was me I would use two pack epoxy instead of Araldyte.

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Hang on....Araldite IS 2 pack epoxy, in that there's 2 parts you mix together (as are all epoxies?)

Or am I missing something here :?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by elanjacobs

Hang on....Araldite IS 2 pack epoxy, in that there's 2 parts you mix together (as are all epoxies?)

Or am I missing something here :?

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OK I must be thinking of something else.

We had a nutty professor at work who would come out with strange sayings, one of his favorites was : Araldyte - the Greek Goddess of Adhesion.

I have never known Araldite to go rock hard like a “real” 2 pac does, you can’t sand it, it just balls up. I would use a commercial type like west systems, it will sand really well and adhere to the timber properly.

All woods tend to look a little "white" from air trapped in surface wood cells.
That's your indicator for timing to give the board another swipe with oil.

To begin with, slather on the oil. Slop it on to excess. Let it soak, wipe it back.
Just until it won't take anymore = the correct number of coats.

I never want sand in my food. So I never use sandpapers for this.
Either buy or make up some cabinet scrapers which CUT wood cells, not shred them.
I think that you will be a lot happier with the wood surface that you want to finish.

The old saying for oiling cutting boards is 'once a day for a week, once a week for a month, once a month for a year and once a year for life.'

Dengue, when Mum moved into a "seniors accommodation" complex a few years back I re-manufactured some bamboo cutting boards that we sourced from one of the $ Stores to use as a sink insert for her. I simply used Titebond II and "bread board" ends. The boards have been in regular use and get washed normally in the sink with the washing up (we don't use dishwashers) and they are still fine. Brief immersion and a wipe down is OK, just don't let them soak in water for any length of time.

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Originally Posted by Cal

I have never known Araldite to go rock hard like a “real” 2 pac does, you can’t sand it, it just balls up.

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You can sand it, but you have to make sure it doesn't overheat - that's when it goes soft and balls up.

My method is to get the excess off with 60 grit paper on a ROS with the speed turned down (around 2-3 on the Festool speed dial, or 30-50% of max speed), then once it's nearly level with the surface you can crank the speed back up and work through the grits as normal.

It's fine for small cracks/gum pockets and borer holes, for larger fills I second the recommendation for a "proper" resin.

Many thanks to all that helped with their replies. In the end I just used Titebond III as the glue becasue of its food safe certification and water proof, and filled all the tiny gaps, cracks and borer holes with this glue mixed with sawdust. There were only a few minor defects to do, and they are now invisible.
Coated several coats of Ubeaut Foodsafe Plus oil until it would take no more
You can see the finished product here : Jarrah chopping board