Cutting Board Finish - Updated with Pictures

[ck1999]

I am working on my first cutting boards for Christmas presents. I have completed three. I put about 4 - 5 coats of mineral oil on each side, about 2 coats per day. Then I put on two coats of 1:6 beeswax/mineral oil. I hand rubbed them in for about 3 - 4 minutes per board per coat. I allowed it to sit for 30 minutes and then wiped off.

I was expecting more of a shine on the boards. Is their something else I should do. How "shiny" should the boards be? Maybe my expectations are too high. I am hoping these will be used but wanted more of a shine for when they open them.

Thanks for your help.

Chris

 

[mlzettl]

Re: Cutting Board Finish

Chris,

What kind of wood are the cutting boards made of and what grit was your final sanding? At this point you have already applied a lot of oil and wax, so it is unlikely that you can achieve much of shine beyond what you currently have. The good thing is that it really doesn't matter, because if the boards are used, which is what you intend, the oil and wax that you applied will be rather quickly depleted anyway. I have been making cutting boards for over thirty years, and have used all manner of things to finish them. Now I use just mineral oil, and I think it is quite sufficient by itself. John Boos cutting boards, the ones sold in gourmet shops and through high end catalogs, are finished with mineral oil, if that tells you anything.

If you want to achieve the highest possible gloss for presentation purposes, then you might want to try rubbing them out with 0000 steel wool or ultra-fine 3M abrasive pads, but that is about all you could do at this point. Bee's wax by its nature does not take a high shine, nor does mineral oil, but the very fine abrasive may get you a little closer to what you want. Fine sandpaper will clog immediately, so it would not be much help.

Whatever you do, the recipients will be very happy, and unconcerned about any perceived "lack of shine", believe me.

Hope this helps.

Matt

 

[Bas]

Re: Cutting Board Finish

What Matt said. Even if you got the board shiny, after a couple of days of use (and several washes) any kind of gloss will disappear (or worse, look uneven). You can use varnish instead of mineral oil, see http://thewoodwhisperer.com/cutting-board-finish/ for some details. Even so, you don't want to build a film since knives will be cutting into the surface.

 

[ck1999]

Re: Cutting Board Finish

The woods are mostly maple, walnut, and cherry one has some purpleheart and jatoba. I only sanded to 220 grits with a ROS. I then wiped down with water and then resanded with 220 twice.

Thanks for the replies.

Chris

 

[DWSmith]

Re: Cutting Board Finish

Mineral oil is the best bet, food safe, easy to find and easy to apply. However, no matter how much you slap on, all you will ever have is one coat. The next applications combine with the previous applications. And you can apply to much. I have seen oil drip out of the bottom of a board after to much had been applied and I've seen it weep from the top surface if left in the sun. You can combine bees wax with mineral oil for additional water repelency, but it will never be shiny.

I would recommend to stay away from film finishes since they lay on the surface for the most part and will chip off during use. Film finishes contain heavy metal driers for the most part and they are toxic.

Your maple, walnut and cherry choices are good. I wouldn't use any of the exotics for any reason, no matter how good they look. Some can contain toxic oils. The rule of thumb for woods to use for a cutting board is any wood from a tree witrh running sap or an edible nut/fruit. The same applys to your choice of finish. If you won't drink it, why apply it to a cutting surface where food will be prepared?

 

[timf67]

Re: Cutting Board Finish

I get a decent shine on my end grain cutting boards by sanding to 400 or 600 grit to burnish the surface then I apply a home-made beeswax and mineral oil blend. I also second the comments about avoiding exotics. I only use maple, birch, and beech.

 

[Glennbear]

Re: Cutting Board Finish

The limited number of cutting boards I have finished I sanded to 320 and used walnut oil I purchased from a health food store. :wsmile:

 

[Bigdog72]

Re: Cutting Board Finish

 

[stave]

Re: Cutting Board Finish

Sanding to a finer grit is the only way to achieve a luster. The finer the grit of paper the more you begin to polish the wood. By going to 600 plus grit you will see the wood begin to have a luster. Adding the mineral oil will accent the polish.

The down side to a finer grit is that on dense wood the wood actually begins to lose "tooth" and the oil will not penetrate as well. I learned the hard way about over applying oil. If the wood gets really warm the oil will actually begin to pool seeping out of the pores. The best sheen I have seen the boards were sanded to 300 to 400 grit and then oiled and allowed to dry overnight. A mixture of oil and beeswax was then applied and buffed. Maintaining that finish requires effort though.

Best of luck, I am sure the boards will be well received regardless of the shine.

Stave

 

[ck1999]

Re: Cutting Board Finish

Maple and Walnut

View image in gallery​

Maple, Cherry, Jatoba, Purple Heart

View image in gallery​

This was the 1st one and I messed it up a little :BangHead: . I got in to bit of a hurry.
Maple, Cherry, Walnut

View image in gallery​

Thank you for looking. All the boards are about 10 x 15 x 1 1/8


I was not thinking about putting on a film finish just thought with the wax there would be more of a shine. I have not tried a finer sandpaper but will. I let a few people who are not receiving these see them and so now they want me to make them one. So I will be making a few more next week.

Chris

 

[MarkE]

Re: Cutting Board Finish

I would not use a film finish. Although it is non-toxic once it is thoroughly cured, it will flake off once the board is put into service. Knife cuts and film finish is not a good combination.

BTW, I think the cutting boards look great as is. Very nice job.

 

[mlzettl]

Re: Cutting Board Finish

Chris,

Those look great. No wonder others want them. I bet nobody commented that the finish wasn't shiny enough, either. :icon_thum:wwink:

Matt

 

[bluedawg76]

Great job! Lustrous is a more appropriate description imo, rather than shine, and yours are clearly lustrous! And better still, just in time to carve up a turkey!

Sam

 

[Jeff]

Nice job. I think that they look really nice. I'd guess that a cutting board is a utilitarian piece intended for everyday use and hard wear is to be expected. Mineral oil is quite sufficient and food safe so you've done it right. :icon_cheers

 

[SubGuy]

I prefer Walnut Oil and Bees Wax. I finished a prep table with it and it did great. Trick is to apply a lot of walnut oil to the prep surface and use a 220 grit sandpaper on it in between coats. The dust collects in the oil and fills in any small cracks or seams. After the oil has soaked and "dried" rub a mixture of walnut oil and bees wax on the top. Polish to a shine. Keep around the bees wax and oil paste and sand lightly and reapply if you get so grain raising from water on the surface. That's my recommendation.:icon_thum Oh yeah, I would use more bees wax than 1:6. I used 1:4 and it gleamed. Just IMHO. I'm not a fan of mineral oil. But it looks awsome and GREAT JOB!

 

[Sealeveler]

Those turned out awesome.Gotta go with the maple and walnut tho,that combo seems to compliment each other.
Tony