Butter Dish....

[Keith Westfall]

A while back I asked about the best wood for a butter dish. Lots of suggestions with Maple being the most popular choice.Base is 6.5" across, and the bowl sits at 4.5" high. Maple with walnut 'accents' at the top. Sorry for the poor pictures - it is not my thing...

So far, I have oiled it, (salad bowl finish) and am now wondering if I should put anything else on it? Wax? it would seem that it may need to be reoiled along it's life span and am not sure about putting anything else on it.

Thanks for all the input.




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[John Keeton]

Keith, looks like you did a nice job on this one. I don't do segmented work, but I hope you do not have difficulty with the glue up. There is a lot of opposing grain in that piece.

I love walnut and maple together - nice look.

[Pat Scott]

Here's my opinion: You don't need to put anything on top of Salad Bowl Finish, it will be fine as is. And I doubt you'll ever need to re-oil it. You can put wax on the piece if you want (I don't bother). Wax might make the piece feel smoother, but if you've done a good job sanding and applying the SBF it should be smooth already. The way I apply SBF is to put it on the piece, let it sit for a minute, then wipe it all off again - almost buffing the piece as I wipe it off. What you're wiping off is excess finish from the surface, there will still be a thin film left in the pores. Put on two coats using this method before using 0000 steel wool in-between coats. After several coats you'll have a nice sheen and smooth surface. I typically only apply 3 coats, maybe 4 depending on the wood. With Maple, 2 or 3 coats is fine.

[Keith Westfall]

Thanks guys. I presently have 2 coats of oil on, put on pretty heavy and allowed to soak (guess I should have asked before I started!!!??) and then wiped down. So if I steel wool it, and then continue with light coats, it should be OK??

I like the looks of it so far...

klw

[Michelle Rich]

as a segmenter since the punic wars, I think this is a great project, but I fear your construction will not last. the large walnut piece in the top will expand & contract in an oval fashion and push out the segments..it will open the glue lines. It may not happen for awhile, but my bet is that it will fail eventually. Learning what one can & cannot do in segmenting has a big learning curve. I'll keep my fingers crossed for your butter dish

[Pat Scott]

Thanks guys. I presently have 2 coats of oil on, put on pretty heavy and allowed to soak (guess I should have asked before I started!!!??) and then wiped down. So if I steel wool it, and then continue with light coats, it should be OK??

I like the looks of it so far...

klw

How long did you wait before putting on the 2nd coat? If just overnight, I'd probably give it 2-3 days before using steel wool. Then you can continue with light coats until you're happy with the sheen and build. If you waited several days before putting on the 2nd coat, and if the 2nd coat was put on several days ago, then you should be fine continuing now.

[Keith Westfall]

I'll keep my fingers crossed for your butter dish


Me too I guess. It's a lot of fun, but I haven't done a lot of them (segmented) to be able to know what works and what doesn't!


Appreciate everyone's comments/suggestion and experience.

klw