Shot glass finish

[Prashun Patel]

Say what you will, I made a coffee mug that I epoxied. Over time the finish disappeared. I don’t know if that was from cleaning or erosion from the liquid.

Where did it go? Down the drain? Down my throat? Regardless, I concluded that wood vessels for liquid would be unfinished inside, and periodically Re burnished if someone else besides me was going to be looking inside it.

[Harold Balzonia]

Say what you will, I made a coffee mug that I epoxied. Over time the finish disappeared. I don’t know if that was from cleaning or erosion from the liquid.

Where did it go? Down the drain? Down my throat? Regardless, I concluded that wood vessels for liquid would be unfinished inside, and periodically Re burnished if someone else besides me was going to be looking inside it.

Cured epoxy softens with heat. It’s a terrible choice for a coffee cup or chili bowl or hot oatmeal dish etc.... room temperature drinks or cold drinks or cold cereal have no effect on the epoxy. It’s also a mistake to put epoxied items in the dishwasher....

as the epoxy softened, you probably drank it little by little and washed it down the drain. No big deal....

[John K Jordan]

Read through the links. Provided you mix the right ratio and allow to fully cure you should be fine. So obviously my previous opinions were wrong.

Mine were too. Until I started digging around I wouldn't have thought that epoxy would be good for a drinking glass. I knew that resins in general were in wide use but I had no idea there were so many types of resin.

[Bert Delisle]

I am thinking that epoxy would be the only suitable finish for a turned wood shot glass. Thoughts anyone?

There is a product called OSMO top oil clear, it is tested food safe, and even displays that on the label Canada). The product is impervious to water and alcohol and is very hard satin finish when cured.
OSMO also has a PolyX product which has been certified safe for children's toys.
Application methods are different than conventional finishes, very easy and a LITTLE goes a long long way.
Not cheap but performs excellent. My "go to" product for anything going near food or kids.

[David DeCristoforo]

If you go over on WoW, Jim Rinde has several posts on finishing wooden vessels with beeswax and CA. Seems to be working for him.

[Steve Doerr]

Check out the Dec 2018 issue of Woodturning. There is an article in there about making espresso cups. He has two finishes that he uses--two to three coats of Danish oil or three coats of two-part food safe cold cure lacquer. I would think if it can handle a hot drink, then it should work for a shot glass.