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Questions about Mahoney's Walnut Oil

Tom Albrecht

Tom Albrecht

Joined
Feb 8, 2014
Messages
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Location
Evanston, IL USA
I recently got a nice job (3 maple bowls for grandkids). Ordinarily I use Original Waterlox, but I want to use the Mahoney oil for these because the wait time for putting them to use will be much shorter. My questions have to do with how often they would need to be re-oiled. I understand that there are many variables, but the kids want to use them for their breakfast cereal. I do intend to ship them off with a coating of Mahoney's wax, but should I include some oil as well?
 
I think they will have to see how the bowls do under their particular use circumstances. Walnut oil can be found in many grocery stores, so it might not be necessary to send any along with the bowls.
 
Mahoneys oil.has been treated to be non allergenic. The walnut oil in the store is not. I would Also suggest calling Mike.hes a great guy. I would think it's the oil that will need refreshing. The wax will wear off extremely fast. I use his oil.on some.of my bowls but they are used for candies and nuts and washed infrequently so the oil seems to last for a.while.
 
I'd send them some oil. If nothing else it will be a reminder they need refresh the oil as part of the maintenance to keep them looking nice.

Don't know how often, but I'd guess maybe once a month if they are being used/washed daily.
 
Tom Albrecht said:
I did think of that, and I'm sure he's a fine guy, but I like real world answers from folks who use it.
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I'll take Mike's advice/guidance over "...real world answers from folks who use it" every day. Mike uses his products on his bowls. In my opinion, he's the only reliable source to address your question. - John
 
I use walnut oil all the time. I want to caution you that WO in many cases cures slowly, sometimes on the order of weeks. You could still use the bowl before it fully cures without any issues with food safety. You can accelerate the curing with sunlight or heat from your kitchen oven on "warm." (~150 F). Another option is: nothing. I have been using cereal bowls for years without a finish, they are holding up nicely. The grain is raised a little bit.
 
john lucas said:
Mahoneys oil.has been treated to be non allergenic. The walnut oil in the store is not.
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I could be wrong, but I don't believe Mike's treatment of the oil sufficiently alters the proteins enough to render the oil non-allergenic. The treatment is supposed to speed the curing, and when the oil is cured it is presumed to be no longer allergenic. Your point is a good one, though. Some people will be allergic to walnut oil and the stuff they would buy at the store would most likely not be allowed to cure before use. Maybe Mike's oil used by the end user would be the same.
 
john lucas said:
Mahoneys oil.has been treated to be non allergenic. The walnut oil in the store is not.
Click to expand...

I don't know if you're quoting Mike Mahoney, but that claim isn't necessarily true unless it is pure raw oil. Many brands are "roasted" or cooked and it is essentially the same treatment oas Mahoney's Oil. I suspect that he just buys already commercially prepared walnut oil. I have both Mahoney's Walnut Oil and La Tourangelle Walnut Oil and can't tell any difference other than price (La Tourangelle costs less)

Tom, I would let the Walnut Oil continue to catalyze for at least three weeks before thinking about applying wax. Personally, I don't think that the wax is necessary, but it probably won't hurt anything.
 
Bill Boehme said:
I don't know if you're quoting Mike Mahoney, but that claim isn't necessarily true unless it is pure raw oil. Many brands are "roasted" or cooked and it is essentially the same treatment oas Mahoney's Oil. I suspect that he just buys already commercially prepared walnut oil. I have both Mahoney's Walnut Oil and La Tourangelle Walnut Oil and can't tell any difference other than price (La Tourangelle costs less)

Tom, I would let the Walnut Oil continue to catalyze for at least three weeks before thinking about applying wax. Personally, I don't think that the wax is necessary, but it probably won't hurt anything.
Click to expand...
You probably remember a well-known turner with lots of books and videos. He used exclusively Mineral Oil and Beeswax. I was a complete beginner then, 24 or so years ago. Who am I to argue, plus I was all alone on this rock, or so I thought. I remember seeing the blotchy patches on the KOa bowls as the beeswax wore off unevenly. Mineral oil does nothing, maybe makes it look good for a few days...
 
Bill Boehme said:
Tom, I would let the Walnut Oil continue to catalyze for at least three weeks before thinking about applying wax. Personally, I don't think that the wax is necessary, but it probably won't hurt anything.
Click to expand...

Well it does seem to be taking it's time to dry. It has been on the maple bowls 4 days now, and they still feel oily.
 
I set mine in a window sill in the garage; give them 24 hours; then topcoat them with shine juice. No adhesion problems, and the walnut oil really made the figure and color pop.
 
Emiliano Achaval said:
You probably remember a well-known turner with lots of books and videos. He used exclusively Mineral Oil and Beeswax. I was a complete beginner then, 24 or so years ago. Who am I to argue, plus I was all alone on this rock, or so I thought. I remember seeing the blotchy patches on the KOa bowls as the beeswax wore off unevenly. Mineral oil does nothing, maybe makes it look good for a few days...
Click to expand...

Emiliano, I remember that well-known turner and the oil/bees wax. I had a couple of weekend classes under him 20 years ago or so.
 
Tom Albrecht said:
Well it does seem to be taking it's time to dry. It has been on the maple bowls 4 days now, and they still feel oily.
Click to expand...
In my hands, it takes about 3 weeks for the Mahoney's Walnut oil to cure. I thought it was the cool basement where they sat, but bringing them upstairs hasn't made a huge difference. I stopped putting on a second coat, and that has helped. I have also wiped them down 3-4 days after applying as the oil seems to seep back out at about that stage and wiping off seems to improve the slippery feel, but it's hard to say if they cure any faster.
 
Emiliano Achaval said:
You probably remember a well-known turner with lots of books and videos. He used exclusively Mineral Oil and Beeswax. I was a complete beginner then, 24 or so years ago. Who am I to argue, plus I was all alone on this rock, or so I thought. I remember seeing the blotchy patches on the KOa bowls as the beeswax wore off unevenly. Mineral oil does nothing, maybe makes it look good for a few days...
Click to expand...

Dennis J Gooding said:
Emiliano, I remember that well-known turner and the oil/bees wax. I had a couple of weekend classes under him 20 years ago or so.
Click to expand...

Could you toss a bone to us newbies
 
I wonder if old walnut oil cures more slowly than fresh walnut oil.

I have a bottle of Dr's Workshop walnut oil that is more than 5 years old. I don't use it very often (obviously) but it seems to me that it cured up faster when it was fresh.

The sides of the bottle have caved in, which makes me think that the oil sucked oxygen out of the head space in the bottle. Chemical reaction with oxygen is what makes walnut oil cure (crosslink). So I suspect the oil has lost some of it's reactivity towards curing while still in the bottle.

At some point I plan to buy a fresh bottle to see if it does cure faster. If so, I'll transfer the oil to a StopLoss bag to protect it from oxygen.

Wikipedia has a decent article on Drying Oil if you want to see pictures of molecules.

Dave
 
I'm not familiar with walnut oils in the US, but here in DK, I buy organic walnut oil for finish for two reasons.
With no added anti oxidant allowed, the product has to be carefully refined to avoid getting rancid on the shop shelf - hence little risk of triggering allergy.
The absence of added anti oxidant (vitamin E) lets the oil harden (oxidize!) much faster than the standard product.
Lars
 
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