With Mallets Toward None

[Jim Koepke]

Sometimes at the Farmers Market I tell folks it is a Lincoln hammer "with mallets toward none."

Other times I suggest it is for the "mallet adjusted." Candy, my wife, has some sciatica that seems to benefit from a light mallet adjusting.

Still there haven't been to many great interests in the "big bonker."

So today it was decided to turn it into something more commonly found in a kitchen.

I thought a couple of pics would be nice:

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A side rabbet plane comes in handy for cleaning up the end grain columns.

It also works good on the rows:

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One needs to be careful as those spikes can be painful.

A large saw file and a chisel were also used to clean this up.

I applied a coat of flax oil. I am starting to like flax oil. We bought some at a local health food store.

Flax oil is from the same source as linseed oil. Flax oil is usually sold as a food supplement or as a food grade oil. Linseed oil is usually not intended for use with food handling items. (at least that is my understanding. if anyone knows better please speak up.)

Too late to take a finished pic tonight. If it doesn't sell I will try to take one later.

BTW, I have read something about using flax oil to season cast iron cookware. Tried it today on an old cast iron muffin pan to make some blueberry muffins. This is the first time I have been able to get the muffins out of the pan without them breaking to pieces.

jtk

[Jim Matthews]

My Gramma had one that looked like these.

As a yungun', unfamiliar with marital bliss, I asked what it was for.

"It's for persuading your Grampa to come home after poker night."
- she who must be obeyed

"Why is it so smooth?"
- me who had so much to learn

"Your Grampa has a poor memory."

[george wilson]

You need to be careful. Edible flax seed oil will become rancid as it does not dry like regular linseed oil. I suggest you use salad bowl oil on your projects. Keep the flax seed oil in the fridge,and eat it on salads. Wonderful stuff!! But,don't let it get "old" tasting.

I used to simmer it until it turned a deep golden color. Be careful to only simmer,or it can go up in a big fireball (happened several times over the years. Only do it out of doors). Then it was polymerized,and would dry. I used it and resins and turpentine to make violin varnish. Much clearer than hardware store linseed oil. Used to get a pint bottle for $2.50. Now it is $8.00 for a skinny little nothing bottle.

[Jim Koepke]

I used to simmer it until it turned a deep golden color.

Do you recall how long this simmering would need to turn the oil the deep golden color? Minutes, hours... ?

jtk

[Judson Green]

I thought RAW linseed oil was safe for things in the kitchen that would touch wood (spoons, rolling pins, Jim's mallet) and say children's toys, who may put them in her mouth. True?

Cool mallet Jim.

[Michael Ray Smith]

I'm no expert, but I don't think I'd use any oil for spoons, rolling pins, cutting boards, etc. that isn't food grade. "Drying" oils like linseed don't actually dry at all because there's no evaporation involved. They solidify as the result of chemical reactions, including polmerization. Boiled linseed oil has additives (called driers, in a continuation of the misnomer) that promote the polymerization of some of the compounds in the natural oil, and some of those additives could be toxic. As George mentioned, polymerization will also occur at higher temperatures without additives. "Raw" linseed oil, I presume, means flax seed oil with no additives. However, one way to get the oil out of the seeds is to extract it with a solvent. I assume the solvent is then stripped off and recycled, but some of it would likely be left behind. Depending on what the solvent is, the residual could be hazardous to children and other living things. That's why I wouldn't trust anything short of food grade oils. Personally, I use mineral oil that I buy at the drug store for kitchen things. Safe, and it won't go rancid.

[Michael Ray Smith]

Sorry for taking the thread so far afield of your OP, Jim.

[Jim Koepke]

Sorry for taking the thread so far afield of your OP, Jim.

It is not a problem, especially when it adds to the information.

Here is a picture of the finished tenderizer:

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Some were impressed but no one was buying today.

jtk