Food Safe?

[Greg Just]

I have rough turned a number of maple bowls and want them to be food safe. I'm considering using an oil like mineral oil or walnut oil for my final finish. My question is, if I use my buffing system, then apply the oil, will the buffing compounds make the bowl not safe for food? Thanks for you help.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Greg - the prez of our turning club is a production bowl turner and he uses Mahoney's Walnut Oil for all his work and it is food safe. I haven't used the finish yet but he says you can build the finish if you want more of a glossy look.

As far as buffing - if it were me, I probably wouldn't buff, but if had to would use a clean buffing wheel without any compound on it and just buff the Walnut Oil finish to develop more of a sheen.

[George Guadiane]

Greg - the prez of our turning club is a production bowl turner and he uses Mahoney's Walnut Oil for all his work and it is food safe. I haven't used the finish yet but he says you can build the finish if you want more of a glossy look.

As far as buffing - if it were me, I probably wouldn't buff, but if had to would use a clean buffing wheel without any compound on it and just buff the Walnut Oil finish to develop more of a sheen.

What Steve said!

[Bernie Weishapl]

I use Mahoney's walnut oil and do not buff before or after. When I attended one of Mike's demos he told me to dry his oil to leave it in sunlight. Doesn't have to be direct but ambient sunlight. Don't stick it in a dark corner. I flood it on and let it sit for 15 minutes or longer. Wipe it down and let it sit for 24 hrs then do it again.

[Scott Conners]

Definitely don't buff before oil. The waxes in the buff compound will repel the oil. I buff out oil finishes all the time, it works really well.

[Greg Just]

Definitely don't buff before oil. The waxes in the buff compound will repel the oil. I buff out oil finishes all the time, it works really well.

Scott:

What type of oil are you buffing and what are you using to buff it?

Greg

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I think Carnuba wax is edible, and therefore useable to buff. The other products, white diamond etc, not so safe to eat.

[Scott Conners]

Most commonly I use Watco Danish oil, let it cure a week or more (till there's no smell from the finish) and then I buff it. I've done it on walnut and maple and olive. I hadn't thought about food safety of the buff compounds, I finish with a bare wheel and I don't think there is much compound left. I've stopped using carnuba as it spots and takes finger marks far too easily. Once a bowl is in use I use mineral oil on it, though I've been wanting to try walnut oil.

[Gary Herrmann]

I've had very good luck with General Finishes Salad Bowl Finish. You can get a high gloss finish with 5 coats.

[Greg Haugen]

Greg,

I wouldn't buff before finishing. I use Tried and True's Danish Oil for my bowls. It's a polymerized linseed oil that is food safe wet or dry, and take a day to dry. It's a "thin coats" finish. I like a satin finish on my bowls, usually 2 coats. I'll sand to my final grit, mist the bowl to pop the grain, after it dries sand it again with the final grit. That will take care of any "potential" raised grain when the bowl is washed. I don't like to "buff" my bowls since I don't want to get a bowl shiny, I don't like gloss anyways, and then the first time it's washed it will never get back to that sheen again-potentially a "unhappy" customer. I like a finish and sheen that can be continually achieved. The goal is to have your sanding procedure get you to a sheen you want without buffing. If I work on a bowl off of the lathe or want more of a sheen I'll hand sand with Abralon pads from 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 grit. This will take about a minute or two total and will get to a nice satin sheen on bare wood without any buffing.