Finish question

[Scott Lynn]

I have arm r seal gloss oil based urethane and making a cake stand and want to know if it would be safe I have read the article were bob says all finishes are food safe when dried 30 days or more but didnt see anything on urethane just polyurethane and other so does this apply to urethane also. I know it might scratch but we dont use a knife to cut them we use a blunt icing spreader and we dont force it threw like a chissle cause cakes are soft so would this work or should I go the butchers block way or some other.

 

[Russell Nugent]

Well, if you want to use poly or something for a gloss finish and have any worries anot food safe, a layer of wax paper under the cake will keep food off the finish. You could also just go with shellac as finish. That's definitely food safe, does wear over time, but is fairly easy to repair unlike poly.
The food safe finish thing has been and will be a debate that goes on forever because finishing companies won't want to spend the money on the certification required to be declared food safe.

 

[Scott Lynn]

Yea I use shallac alot but the cake being moist is why didn't think it would be good for it and I know theres a diffrence between polyurethane and urathane just never seen alot use it I guess but good news is got a e mail from General finish and they said the same as the artical that all there products are food safe after fully cured 30 plus days. Just curios if anyone else has used urathane for finishes cause I messed up and thought it was a wop but its not even a poly lol what's your thoughts on it kinda curios

 

[Owen Lowe]

Just about all commonly found wood finishes today are urethanes: water-based or oil-based poly included. I don't think the label calling itself urethane has any bearing on it being different from the polys you'll find. Urethanes are composed of plastic resins in solvent whereas varnishes use more organically derived resins. This site seems accurate and well-written: https://www.diffen.com/difference/Polyurethane_vs_Varnish

For your cake stand, you want a moisture resistant finish that can stand up to some knife edges. I think a urethane is just fine (shellac and "salad oil" finishes could be problematic). If it's a light wood that you don't want to end up with a yellow/amber tint that oil-based finishes leave then go with water-based poly. Post a followup with which products you are considering and I'm sure you'll get valuable opinionated feedback.

 

[Bill Boehme]

If you want a moisture barrier then shellac is probably the best, but it isn't as durable as a urethane finish. As mentioned by Russell, shellac is easy to rrepair

 

[Mike Brazeau]

I was watching How it is Made the other night and one of the topics was a small company in Quebec making wooden tableware. Found them with a quick Google search and a link on their site lead to the FDA listing of food safe finishes for any matter of need. It is a mind boggling list , so I think the general consensus that any properly cured finish is food safe seems to be valid. An interesting part is quite far down in the document detailing metallic driers. I majored in Chemistry and found it quite daunting. Check it out at https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=175.300

 

[Bill Boehme]

A Dry Subject

My brain went numb before I got to the metallic dryers (driers).

I felt obligated to go to the grammarist.com to resolve the question of drier vs dryer, but didn't get a completely satisfactory answer.

Drier is an adjective (ex: we are having drier weather than usual this year).
Dryer is a noun and refers to something that is used to dry things

Once upon a time there was only "drier", but the advent of newfangled appliances led to the noun "dryer" (clothes dryer and hair dryer for example). This led to confusion ... did metallic driers become metallic dryers. The answer appears to be that there is no clear cut answer and either one would be correct in that situation. However, some uses of drier and dryer are more clearly defined, for example, "my clothes come out drier in the new dryer".

In the case of metallic dryers in a finish, nothing is actually being dried. The dryers/driers are actually just a catalyst to accelerate the crosslinking process in the finish.

 

[Dean Center]

I was watching How it is Made the other night and one of the topics was a small company in Quebec making wooden tableware. Found them with a quick Google search and a link on their site lead to the FDA listing of food safe finishes for any matter of need. It is a mind boggling list , so I think the general consensus that any properly cured finish is food safe seems to be valid. An interesting part is quite far down in the document detailing metallic driers. I majored in Chemistry and found it quite daunting. Check it out at https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=175.300

Mike, is there a Canadian equivalent of the FDA? Since the tableware company is Canadian, they should be using a locally approved finish. I'd be interested to hear what the Government has to say, as it might have less politics involved and therefore be more reliable. Or not. I'd be interested in hearing that, too, if you know.

 

[Doug Freeman]

ARS is a poly. Havent found any noticeable difference between it and other brands. As noted by others, the US fed regs cover just about all wood finishes and they are safe once cured.

A poly will probably hold up to a blunt icing spreader - may scratch a little. If you want an easily repairable finish thin the poly 1:1 and apply like danish oil - flood it on, keep wet for at least 10 min (longer is better 1st coat), wipe off. 3-4 coats. Can wet sand to fill pores. To repair wet sand and wipe off.

 

[Don Wattenhofer]

Google "food-safe finishes" and look at the article on WoodCentral with Bob Flexner