Walnut Oil

[Ted Calver]

I used grocery store walnut oil for a while when I first started turning. I gifted a good friend a bowl treated with it and after a year she brought it back because the oil had turned rancid and smelled bad. Since then I've only used Mahoney's or Doctors...both excellent products. Why take a chance on ruining your work with cheap alternatives?

[Forrest Forschmiedt]

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.

I make soap also and used to use hemp seed oil in my soap. I quit using it because it had a shorter shelf life. I could smell the oil starting to go rancid after a relatively few months on the shelf. I also had a higher rate of soap going bad with hemp oil. https://www.soapguild.org/how-to/ing...fe-of-oils.php

Interestingly, walnut oil is shown on the following link as having a very short shelf life as well. I would guess that whatever process is used to sell it as a wood finishing oil also gives it a longer shelf life. http://www.eatbydate.com/other/condi...does-oil-last/

[Reed Gray]

I believe all walnut oils that are sold, either for wood finish, or salads, are heat treated. The heat treatment breaks down the proteins that can cause allergic reactions. I think the salad oils are made from the nut meats, and the bowl finish ones are pressed from the husks, but not positive on that one. Supposedly the husks have far less of those proteins in them. Some people do use the walnut oils for salads on their bowls and have no problems. Some do seem to go sour. No clue as to why, but I would guess that not all of them are processed the same way.

robo hippy

[Brian Deakin]

Mahoneys walnut oil has this msd.

https://www.highlandwoodworking.com/...t-Oil-msds.pdf

Page one of the msd states the composition to be Juglans regia cas 8024-09-7 but does not give the percentage
If you search Juglans regia 8024-09-7 it is possible to find this link

https://www.parchem.com/chemical-sup...ed-001667.aspx

Stated in the notes section for this link

Origin and production:
Walnut Oil is obtained from the unshelled kernels (nuts) of the walnut tree (Juglans Regia) by mechanical pressing. Subsequent refining (deacidifcation, bleaching, winterization, deoderization) leaves an oil of pale-yellow colour and slight nutty taste.