Mahoney's walnut oil

[Bill Jobe]

I'm looking for opinions from those who have used Mahony's walnut oil.
I have quite a bit of kiln dried walnut and I want to make a couple of food safe bowls with it.
What are your opinions of it and did you use the walnut/wax product they sell specifically for it? Can it be used to wet sand to a soother finish?
Also, I want as smooth a finish as I can make. If the piece is sanded down to a very smooth finish will the oil penetrate as well?

Or, does applying it a couple of times, then smooth sand it and applying more coats prefered.

One more thing...on Klingspor's site I'm ordering supplies and they sell Micro Gloss Liquid Abrasive. Do any of you use this? I understand it's for bare wood and as I said, I'm making food safe bowls and I want the finish as smooth as I can make it because these bowls are going to be given as gifts to very special people and I want them to be especially nice. What do you use to remove any residue prior to applying the walnut oil?
Thank you

[Bill Jobe]

Was hoping for some feedback on the walnut oil.
Anyone use it on walnut? How many coats? To be food safe I'd imagine the final coat would be wax. What kind of wax is best? Thanks

[Ted Calver]

Bill,
I don't turn a lot of walnut, but for the few user bowls I have turned I use Mahoney's Utility Finish and have been happy with it. I usually sand to 300/400, blow the dust off with compressed air and wipe with a clean dust rag. Then slather the oil on and rub it in with my fingers, applying extra to end grain and areas that absorb the oil faster. Let it sit for a few hours and add another coat. Let it sit for a few days and apply a top coat of an oil/wax paste (one part beeswax to four parts oil warmed gently in the microwave 30 seconds at a time). Hand buff and it's ready to go. The finish is food safe...even without the coat of wax. User bowls don't stay perfect forever, but a fresh coat of oil/wax paste will revitalize the piece and a small jar of it goes with each bowl.

[Bill Jobe]

Thank you, Ted.
No buffing between the coats?

[Ted Calver]

Thank you, Ted.
No buffing between the coats?

Really no need as far as I can tell. The best you are going to get is a nice soft lustrous glow....not a really shiny finish.
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[roger wiegand]

I've used walnut oil on my maple island top, I just got it from the grocery store. It was OK as an oil finish. My perception is that I could go longer between refreshing the finish when I switched over to tung oil (plain tung oil, not one of the varnish products). The walnut oil went rancid after a few years in the kitchen cupboard, which put me off using it on the countertop (I never had a problem with it on the island, presumably once it polymerizes in the wood it's no longer reactive). BLO would probably work as well or better and both smell better and be cheaper than walnut or tung.

[Bill Jobe]

Do you know if any of the big box stores carry it or does it have to be ordered?

[Bill Jobe]

Does pure Tung oil go rancid and is it food safe.

[roger wiegand]

Here are some options: http://www.finewoodworking.com/2006/...-safe-finishes

Are you asking about tung oil? I've never seen pure tung oil anywhere other than a woodworking store or online. Tons of stuff at the big box stores labeled "tung oil finish" or some such that is just dilute varnish, not what you're looking for. It does not go rancid.

I go with the consensus that all polymerizing finishes are basically food safe once they've dried. If you want to be fastidious about it stick with beeswax, mineral oil, or shellac. I doubt anyone has ever done serious toxicology testing on something like walnut oil-- proving "safety" is a really long, hard, expensive process. Lots of things we eat every day would flunk.

[Bill Jobe]

I have on hand some yellow/Amber wipeon shellac. Does it require sanding after each coat. I'm uncertain about the phrase "wipe on". What does that mean compared with brush or sprayon ?

[Bill Jobe]

If you were finishing a bowl as a gift to a daughter and wanted a very lusterous, food safe finish, would you go with several coats of Mahoney's topped with their walnut oil/ wax product on top, or what would you use instead. I have plenty of time but a top quality finish is my main goal. Not nessescerily gloss, but luster (my apologies...my spell check is an idiot)
I should add that the walnut i'm using has incredible figuring. When viewed from various angles the figuring changes considerably.
It would be nice to find a one product to accentuate that figuring.
I'm looking back to an earlier thread where John Jordan broke it down to 2 choices...accentuating the figuring and creating higher contrast, both having their strong points.
Where would this product land between the 2?