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Salad Bowl Finish Technique

Steven Park

Steven Park

Joined
Apr 25, 2017
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Location
Southern California
This is a noobie question so be gentle....

I made a bowl out of Jacaranda and sanded it down to 600, used bees was and danish oil for the finish. Yesterday used it for some potato salad and after giving it a quick rinse i noticed the grain came back up and its rough in some areas.

Is there a different finish i should be using? How do i make the bowl "water proof"? Does buffing the wax make a difference?

Thanks for the advice and assistance.
 
Welcome to the AAW forum, Steven. Danish oil.is a mixture of linseed oil and varnish and a solvent such as Stoddard solvent. It should ideally be allowed to cure for at least three weeks before applying the wax. If you apply the wax right away it will slow down the curing of the Danish oil.

If the wood wasn't thoroughly dry that can also affect the results. Some tropical wood species take a long time to dry.
 
No finish is truly waterproof; some are more water resistant than others. Epoxy finishes are probably the most waterproof. Although danish oil contains varnish, the amount of film buildup from applying danish oil is probably a lot smaller than applying a primarily film finish, such as the various polyurethanes, epoxies, etc.--so the amount of water resistance is less.

I'm not convinced it was the quick rinse of your bowl that raised the grain; I'm thinking it might have been the longer time exposure to the potato salad.

Your finish could be minimal (use vegetable oil, walnut or edible linseed oil, or mineral oil). I've seen many people do that with wooden salad bowls that are exposed to (lettuce) salad and dressings.

One last comment: I've occassionally done an alcohol, or alcohol/water wipe before my last sanding. The theory is you intentionally raise the grain a bit, then, sand it down. I don't know what the water resistance of this would be, compared to just sanding through the various grits.

Just my opinions :)
 
Yeah, what everybody else said.

You said that you "used bees was and danish oil for the finish". Did you use them in that order, and, how many coats of Danish oil?
 
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