good wood for a mug?

[Stephen Hibbs]

My go-to mug for tea is starting to die, and I'm contemplating making a wooden one. What wood would be good for this? I'm thinking dark, dense and thick, like teak or oak, but i really don't know. I'm thinking I also probably shouldn't varnish it, what do you guys think? I don't want to use a metal insert or anything, I'm looking for more of a squat, fat type.

[Christopher Zona]

Interesting question, I pondered this myself. Teak to me seems like a reasonable choice because of its natural oils, but would it leach into the tea and change the flavor? The tea would most likely stain the wood. This could work to your advantage as a means of finish.

My guess is that the thermal expansion cycle for this purpose might create a short lived mug, though it would be a neat exercise in physics.

[Rich Souchek]

Sorry you are not getting many replies on this, but it is a hard question.
I asked about wood for a cup or glass, to drink from, and was told by an experienced turner that it would be best to use something that does not absorb any fluids and retain the smell or taste, like plastic, glass, or steel.
After reflecting on it for a bit, I believe he was right.
I really don't want to drink out of a cup that retains old tastes or smells.
I can turn it easy enough, but actually use it on a continious basis? Na.

Why don't you try a couple of woods and report back to us your results?
Thank.
Rich S.

[Dan Gill]

White oak, maybe? I'm not a turner, but wooden drinking vessels have been used for many, many centuries. I know they use white oak for wine casks, and for whisky. I can imagine that oak would perhaps impart a bit of flavor to tea, but I would suspect that it would balance out in a while. And as tea is a little bitter, it might just taste better.

[George Tokarev]

Yellow birch or hard maple would be good choices. Or, if it's a gift to someone you despise, red oak. That way it'd dribble through the pores. White closes its tyloses, but barrel staves are face grain, so the dispersal of water relies on the stomata there, a slow, but inexorable process.

Your choices are no finish and drink fairly rapidly, accepting the discoloration, or occlusive finishes which will look like Shinola if you get some wetness under them.

[Paul Engle]

I agree, any oily wood is not so good maybe ? oak being porous would not be my first choice , maybe the white but for sure not the red. I'd use the maple or cherry and using a salad bowl finish (not minerial oil) would be my choice ,my guess is anything one would use for a cutting board would be good. I have one cup I did out of Oregon Yew and finished with urethane ,I use/d it for pop , no hot stuff and seems fine so far but my XYL took it back :o sooooooooooooo . The salad bowl finish like what Bernie uses on his bowls , I just picked some up at WC over the weekend and will be trying it shortly.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Stephen, I have some Live Oak that fills all the criteria you mentioned. It also has some very unique grain and polishes up very nice. If you are actively using the cup for hot liquid it probably would be a good idea to have a good cured finish to make it more durable. Let me say that Live Oak I am referring to is not an easy wood to work with; however it is well worth the difficulty. If you are interested in some of the Live Oak, PM me and we'll go from there.:)

[Jonathon Spafford]

I have one cup I did out of Oregon Yew and finished with urethane ,I use/d it for pop , no hot stuff and seems fine so far but my XYL took it back :o sooooooooooooo .

I don't know about Oregon yew, but English yew is poisnonous. I know there are records of people dying from drinking out of yew casks. :eek:

About the original question: I imagine that hard maple, birch, beech, cherry, ash, and white oak wood work. These are often used for kitchen utensils. I would probably say don't use a finish, because it won't last with hot tea. I imagine it would sort of build up its own finish after a while! Give it a shot, I would be curious to know how it turns out!

[John Taylor]

HI

I made some drinking mugs for an historical re enactment group a couple of years ago out of close grained english white oak. They did not have a finish of any type on them.

When I had finished turning and sanding them I wet them to raise the grain and let them dry then sanded them again.

They are still in use and work beutifully without any left over tastes or anything.

john

[Stephen Hibbs]

Thanks guys, I think I'll make one out of cherry, and maby one with hard maple too and get back to you on it. I think I'll leave it unfinished since tea likes to build up even on ceramics, so it'll probably do the same on wood.

[Bill Wyko]

I'm curious to see how it would do with coffee. No one seems to make a good coffee cup bigger than 16 oz. I'm good for at least 32 oz's or more when it comes to my cup o joe in the a.m. I'd sure like to turn a cup that would hold the volume and fit in my cup holder in my Dodge.

[Brodie Brickey]

Try one of these...

http://www.smoothturning.com/images/1169162753493-1418659050.jpeg

...then it doesn't matter what wood you use.

They're available at WoodCraft and elsewhere

16 oz. Stainless Steel insert with Lid.

[Glenn Hodges]

I am sure all the wood mentioned will be OK, but I use sycamore because of the close grain, and it imparts no flavor.

[Matt Wachter]

Could you line the inside of the cup with something to act as your barrier?