End grain cutting board, Mineral Oil and vacuum chamber

[Bill Huber]

I was putting oil on some boards to day and was thing what if.

You made a small vacuum chamber, just large enough for a 12x18 cutting board. Filled it with mineral oil and then put a few inches of vacuum on it and let is set for 2 or 3 hours.

How would this do as far as getting the oil into the wood better than putting it one by hand, and comments?
Would it get to much oil in the wood?

Just thinking....

[Chris Fournier]

I was putting oil on some boards to day and was thing what if.

You made a small vacuum chamber, just large enough for a 12x18 cutting board. Filled it with mineral oil and then put a few inches of vacuum on it and let is set for 2 or 3 hours.

How would this do as far as getting the oil into the wood better than putting it one by hand, and comments?
Would it get to much oil in the wood?

Just thinking....

It wouldn't get too much oil but I think that a topical of mineral oil/wax after a mineral oil application would be easier and be as or more effective. The vacuum chamber thing is pretty time consuming.

[John Downey]

I've actually tried something similar, with various oils. The limiting factor is the viscosity of the oil, thick oils barely penetrate even after a few hours. Thinned oils penetrate quite well, but then you have a bunch of thinner in there too. I was getting pretty much the maximum possible vacuum before the oil boiled at room temp, a bit different for each oil - I was running the pump until the oil boiled and then shut off the pump and cracked the valve a bit to bring it back above boiling (the vapor doesn't do the pump oil any good, if you have an oilless pump its not much of a concern).

[Pat Barry]

How much oil comes though on your board if the board is just sitting on a puddle of oil? On the end grain board I made previously using Ash it wicked all the way through pretty quick.. That was a mineral oil and bees wax mixture. I suppose it would depend on the wood you use but the vacuum wouldn't have made much difference to me..

[johnny means]

What's the theory behind the vacuum chamber? How does low air pressure cause the oil to migrate into the material?

[glenn bradley]

How much oil comes though on your board if the board is just sitting on a puddle of oil? On the end grain board I made previously using Ash it wicked all the way through pretty quick.. That was a mineral oil and bees wax mixture. I suppose it would depend on the wood you use but the vacuum wouldn't have made much difference to me..

I have only made a few but, the ones I just did a heavy topical application on needed more oil after the first cleaning with mild soap and a damp rag, rinsed the same way less the soap. The ones that I submerged in a bath of oil are doing great.


What's the theory behind the vacuum chamber? How does low air pressure cause the oil to migrate into the material?

I assume the same as a vacuum marinade container for meats(?).

[HANK METZ]

I looked into that some time ago Bill, and the stuff that is impregnated sits in a bath, a high vacuum is drawn for a while, then... and here's the trick, A positive pressure is used to drive the product deep into the work. Looked like too much engineering to me so I never followed up on it.

[John Downey]

What's the theory behind the vacuum chamber? How does low air pressure cause the oil to migrate into the material?

The air inside the wood is at your local atmospheric pressure. Pulling a vacuum on it should remove that air and allow the oil to replace it.

[Dick Mahany]

I have stabilized many pen blanks in a vacuum chamber and see no reason why it wouldn't be effective. Especially on end grain. The trick is pull as much vacuum as possible and observe the air being pulled out of the wood, then to release the vacuum and pull the liquid into the wood where the air once was. From my experience, the hardness, density and degree of porosity in the grain can significantly affect the amount of success and face and edge grain will be less effective. A 12x18 surface area will develop one heck of a force, so one needs to carefully take that into consideration.

[Bill Huber]

Thanks all....

This is the info I was looking for, I have all the orders filled right now but when I have another run I just may have to make a vacuum chamber.
The old once a day for a week, once a week for a month and once a month for a year is really had to do when you only have the board for a week.