What finish for hotplates?

[jonathan snyder]

Hi Folks,

I need to pick your collective brain again. My Wife and her Mother asked for some hotplates to use on the table and counter tops for hot pans/dishes. I glued up some paduk, yellowheart, and maple and pattern routed it into hearts. I applied some BLO, which really brought out the grain of the yellowheart, and turned the paduk a dark blood red color. I'm thinking a few coats of wipe-on poly for durability and stain resistance, but hate the plastic look of poly. Anything else that would hold up to the heat?

Thanks
Jonathan

[Steve Schoene]

No, and poly won't either if you are talking about pots and pans that are actually hot--ie. just off the boiling point of water. Unfinished will generally be better--though you still would expect a scorch or two if hot frying pans get set on them. (They can easily come off the heat at 450° or even higher.)

You might inlet some stainless rods to make a sort of grill that would raise the pan off the wood by a small amount. Or use the wood to frame some granite tiles.

[Dennis Peacock]

Jonathan,

Steve is right on the money. Applying any finish to what will serve as a "hot pad" for pots and pans right off the stove and you could be asking for a disaster. Oil and Poly do not have heat resistance enough to do what you are looking for. It's best to do as Steve suggested, leave the wood natural and it will discolor from use over time. I know, I made a few for the LOML and she uses them all the time. After a few uses, the wood will get marked with black markings from the hot metal pans. If you want to preserve the look of the wood, then you'll need to do as Steve suggested and inlay some stainless rods in the "hot plates" to hold the hot pans off the wood. Also take note that the glue won't hold up to that type of heat either. The ones I made for the LOML and others, were all a solid piece of wood turned on the lathe and so far, they've all held up to about 4 years of use. They aren't are pretty as they were when they were first made, but they are holding up just fine.

[jonathan snyder]

Thanks for the info guys. I made some a year or so ago for my wife, and put poly on them. That was one of my first projects. They seem to have held up fine, but I guess she dosn't put hot pans on them, just serving dishes. Perhaps I'll just leave these as they are.

Jonathan