coffee mug

[Wes Ramsey]

Anyone here make or use a wooden coffee mug? I've been thinking about turning one, but I'm curious what finish I should use, if any, how well they hold up and if or how bare wood affects the taste of coffee. I saw some on Etsy that were coated with epoxy or 'plastic', but I'm thinking bare wood would be ideal.

[Mike Ontko]

You could design/build the mug with the intent of using a liner of some sort--paper, plastic, ceramic...

[Sparky Paessler]

Wes if I was going to turn one and use it raw I would look at using a very water resistant wood. Something like cypress possibly?

[Ryan Mooney]

Not exactly the same but overlapping enough that it seems relevant - search for "kuksa carving". The Kuksa is a traditional carved wooden cup from Finland.

http://thefolkschoolfairbanks.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/BurlKuksaTutorialText.pdf suggests "Mahoney’s Heat Treated Walnut Oil", a lot of other folks seems to either boil them and leave them unfinished or just rub on a little vegetable oil. Historically it was probably reindeer grease or something similar :D

[Brian Kent]

I have made a whole lot of mugs - solid and staved - for Renaissance Faire friends. I would never recommend they put coffee in any of them whatsoever. For cold to warm liquids, they are fine. I use white oak with its wonderful closed pores. For a hot coffee mug I always use a travel mug turning kit. It is a metal insert with a rolled over rim, and a sealed lid. I still use white oak and either an all-oil finish like for a salad bowl, or a poly finish inside and out before gluing in the insert.

[Wes Ramsey]

I'm just not sure about using an oil or wax-based finish. I don't have any cypress handy as it is hard to come by in the part of AR. However, I've got a bunch of mulberry, which is light-weight, bug and rot resistant. I will probably give that a shot first and see what happens. May try some red oak at the same time. I'm hoping the wood adds a good flavor!

[Brian Kent]

Not Red Oak!!! The open cells go right through. You would have "lap coffee". White oak is good - closed cells.

[Art Mann]

Cypress is not water resistant. It is rot resistant. If you immerse it in water, it will soak it up and stay wet for some time. I would be worried about the porous material, cypress or otherwise, creating a place for bacteria to grow. I would want to use the most dense and non porous wood I could find. White oak might be a good choice.

[Tom Wilson66]

White oak is actually just as porous as red oak, but it is good for holding liquids because the pores contain tyloses. which act like plugs along the length of the pores. The rest of the pore is open, and can hold material. These tyloses are abrasive, and will dull edged tools quite quickly.