AWGB Woodturning Forum

Hello!

I have started to sell bowls and I am applying mineral oil on the inside of the bowls so they are food safe. However I am looking to improve this finish to be more hard wearing, glossy, finger print resistant so they last along time for the buyer.

During my travels of asking people and the internet of wisdom I have found the following:

Pharmaceutical grade mineral oil needs to be reapplied and is only a sheen on the wood and looks dull to the rest of the finishes.

Hampshire sheen high gloss finish has Carnuba wax and microcrystalline which brings out the high gloss, is food safe and resists finger prints. I am assuming the Carnuba gives the gloss a hard wearing finish and has a higher melting point to human temperatures like the microcrystalline or that's what the microcrystalline brings to this combo..

I have been told about a beeswax and mineral oil is a good food safe finish but I think this maybe better than the oil on its own but it's soft so wouldn't resist fingerprints and would coke off easily? There are also various recipes on this on the internet so if this is any good as a finish then any advice on the recipe would be appreciated! Also I keep finding cosmetic grade beeswax and googling suggests this is not food grade but seems to still come up when specifying food grade beeswax so I am a bit confused if it is or isn't safe food grade items!

I then found this thing called wax it all which is from the states and contains food grade mineral oil, Carnuba wax and beeswax and supposedly gives a good hard wearing finish! Has anyone ever used this? Is it any good?

I mean at this point I am thinking could there be any hard in using the mineral oil as a base and a few days later applying the beeswax and then the Hampshire sheen high gloss to cover all bases? Or is that just majorly overkill?

Thanks in advance for any help given! This food safety thing is a minefield and I want to ensure I get it right and that the finish is good and if used in a practical sense the areas food will touch would be well preserved and not cause any issues!

James

The Forest of Dean Woodturners is celebrating its 21st anniversary by hosting a couple of all day demos.

On September 8th Chris Parker is doing a texture/colour demo

On October 12th Rolly Munro is doing a demo

More info and ticket booking on the FOD club website

Thank you for your reply’s. Not sure about the reliability of DVR lathes. I’m looking for something like a woodfast c 1000 with variable speed. If there’s anything like that out there. I know it’s a bit specific but I’m sure you get the idea 🤔🤔🤔🤔

Hi
How much would the record green stand cost. I’m hoping you will sell separately as have a record green large that it matches. It would not be detrimental selling large separately I’d think as is different make. I could collect this weekend - I suspect your father has been a real handyman with the tools he has and I’m looking to be so as I approach retirement.

Let me know
Kindest regards
David

Thanks!  And mulberry wood is bright yellow and I do have some from a tree cut by a family  neighbour, albeit not enough for bananas I think.  And the yellow colour darkens fairly quickly to orange on exposure (which I suppose bananas do too!).