Walnut Oil

[Trevor Mills]

I've been buying walnut oil from Lee Valley but its costs over $35 per litre so I'm wondering why I can't just buy food grade walnut oil in bulk and save some cash.
I've heard that the walnut oil I'd get from food suppliers won't cure properly, but I'd like to know if this is true and how it would have to be processed to make it suitable for bowls.
Any chemists out there?

[Roger Chandler]

I have used both Mahoney's and Doctors Woodshop Walnut oil which both are fine products. They both run less than $20 for a bottle, atleast through our club purchase. They also have the nut allergen protien removed in the making of them and both penetrate the wood and then polymerize to leave a finish that dries.

Doctors Woodshop is located in the Northwest USA, so it might not cost much on shipping. Both are a much better choice than regular walnut oil.

[kevin nee]

I use Walnut oil on most of my turnings. I get it at Whole Foods for $5.99 foot 16 oz.
i usually buy it but the case for 10% discount. The brand is Spectrum. I am not a chemist.
Good luck

[Ralph Lindberg]

Food grade takes a much longer time to cure, forever if you get one of the walnut oil based salad oils that is treated to never cure.

[Reed Gray]

Mike Meridith of the Doctor's Woodshop is a chemist. His 'micro agregated' carnuba wax in his oil is really nice, and he has a number of different blends for bowls to pens and boxes. The 'salad' oil type walnut oil is not the same as that intended for use on wood. One turner from the Willamette Valley Woodturners in Salem regularly goes down to California and buys gallons of walnut oil from a processing place at cheaper than market prices. It is supposed to be the same stuff that is used for wood finishes, but don't know the source.

robo hippy

[Wes Ramsey]

I use Mahoney's WO and have been very happy with it. I bought some food-grade walnut oil several years ago to make cutting board butter (25% beeswax, 75% WO). It soured after a year or so. The stuff I've mixed with Mahoney's WO hasn't soured, and I think it is because he takes out the protein. Yes, it is expensive, but around here some of that stuff might sit for a year or two before being used and if it turns rancid it isn't fit to use. And really it isn't that much more than the food-grade stuff I bought.

[Dane Riley]

I've used the Spectrum Natural walnut oil for salad bowls without problems. Wes, what do you mean by soured? I do not notice an odor and have not gotten sick from eating salads mixed in one.

I only use it for salad bowls, and have not made that many. My 10 year old bottle cures more quickly than it did when new. It still smells good to me.

[Stan Calow]

Mineral oil doesn't cure quickly either. I use WO from the grocery store on cutting boards and kitchen tools knowing I'll have to periodically add another coat.

[Aaron Craven]

Mineral oil doesn't cure quickly either....

Mineral oil doesn't cure at all. Only the so-called "drying" oils (linseed, walnut, and tung) have the ability to polymerize ("dry"). Mineral oil doesn't react or go rancid; it just kind of... exists. That's not to say it's a bad finish, of course. It's an especially good choice for things like cutting boards.

I have always heard that grocery aisle WO will work, but takes longer to cure. Mahoney's (what I use) and the like have been processed a little to decrease cure time and reduce nut protein. Of course, that doesn't mean it cures quickly. Depending on the wood, I sometimes wait many weeks for a bowl to be dry to the touch. You can speed up the curing by putting the bowl in the sun (be careful of woods that change color under UV exposure) or in a very warm location (in the summer, I put them on a shelf in the attic).

[Brad Harding]

Food grade oils are treated to slow drying, wood finish oils are treated to speed drying; there is a difference.
If cost is a factor try Hemp oil. A number of people at my turning club have started using it. They claim is is as good as walnut oil and much less expensive. Not many people sell Hemp oil and that is why I haven't tried it yet.

[Wes Ramsey]

I've used the Spectrum Natural walnut oil for salad bowls without problems. Wes, what do you mean by soured? I do not notice an odor and have not gotten sick from eating salads mixed in one.

I only use it for salad bowls, and have not made that many. My 10 year old bottle cures more quickly than it did when new. It still smells good to me.

Meaning it turned rancid, like cooking oils (olive, corn, veggie, etc) do over time. I don't know that it will make you sick, but it doesn't smell 'fresh'.

[Steve Nix]

I get mine from Paul Crabtree @ Crabtree wood turnings and tools. 5hmtools@gmail.com

[Glenn Lefley]

I've been buying walnut oil from Lee Valley but its costs over $35 per litre so I'm wondering why I can't just buy food grade walnut oil in bulk and save some cash.
I've heard that the walnut oil I'd get from food suppliers won't cure properly, but I'd like to know if this is true and how it would have to be processed to make it suitable for bowls.
Any chemists out there?

The stuff at grocery store is not polymerized, so will go rancid after a while. Not something you want on a cutting board. The heat process or polymerization removes this protein and the new product will cure and not go rancid over time.

[Brice Rogers]

I've used Mahoney's WO and attended a demonstration from him. I think that he heats the WO to some temperature and that gives it the ability to polymerize. But I don't know the temperature or any of the details....

[William C Rogers]

I use Mahoney’s WO. I explain that his WO is treated to remove the allergic component. I wouldn’t want someone to have a reaction. It does cure. A bit of caution on putting the item out in the sun. I did that and it got too hot and created a small rim crack. I re-turned the rim to remove the crack.