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butcher block counter top finish

7K views 39 replies 10 participants last post by  kelvancra 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
hey all

I just finished a set of butcher block counter tops for my mini kitchen reno
I've been reading a fair on how to finish it. many point to the Mineral oil option. several coats of it to saturate the wood and you're done. I've also heard people putting on mineral oil and once saturated they would use a salad bowl finish (mineral oil and beeswax) for the final coat
the other one that seems to come up is Waterlox… but not sure on the food safe issue for that one.

what do you guys recommend?

also, when applying mineral oil I presume it will raise the grain… I would scrap off or sand between each coat until there is no more grain coming up?

any tips are appreciated as always!

thanks
 
#2 ·
You ahouldnt have to worry about sanding after oiling, wont raise grain much at all, as you can tell from all the youtube videos of people using them on the cutting boards.

I would stick with the first option, 2nd option might shine a bit more if you want that look, and when the finish starts getting dull, you should reapply what ever choice you went with. You can also use the oil once a week or so because it just helps the grain to push dirt and debre out of the wood.

Im not familiar with the 3rd option of finishing, so I cant give any asvice there.
 
#3 ·
I make cutting boards and wooden kitchen tools. For a finish, I've used Mineral oil, Tung Oil, Walnut oil, an expensive mix of oil and wax, and one other (Watco?) that dried with a hard finish. I really can't say that one is better than the rest, though I mostly use Tung Oil (the pure stuff) these days.

I suppose that Walnut Oil and Tung Oil, being nut oils, could possibly cause problems if someone had a serious nut allergy. No problems so far, however.
 
#4 ·
what would be the big difference between mineral oil and tung oil? I've used Tung oil in the past for furniture and like it but was warned by someone against using it for this purpose as it chip? from my experience the oil just gets absorbed and eventually fades away and you simply apply more.. .no need to scrape anything off

as for raising grain.. I brought it up because last night I used a damp cloth to remove the dust on them and noticed the grain had raised a fair bit this morning. I'll need to sand that off for sure and figured the oil might have a similar effect…
 
#5 ·
Your damp cloth I assume was dampened with water, which would raise the grain, the oil will not. When I finish my cutting boards, I use mineral oil. It's dirt cheap at the pharmacy (look in the laxatives section), and food-safe, and doesn't go bad, and there's nothing to chip off. I do each side, and pour on enough so I can see it sitting on the surface, I let it sit for about 20 minutes, then wipe off the excess. I do that a couple times, and it stops absorbing oil. I have a mixture of mineral oil, which I heated and melted beeswax into, that I use for the last coat. It seems to give the surface a nicer sheen and softer feel. Every so often I will rub in another coat of mineral oil, or the mixture. I made an island with a hard maple butcher block top, and it's held up well. I oil both sides (the underside I just rub it in where I can with a paper towel soaked in the oil).
 
#6 ·
Your damp cloth I assume was dampened with water, which would raise the grain, the oil will not. When I finish my cutting boards, I use mineral oil. It s dirt cheap at the pharmacy (look in the laxatives section), and food-safe, and doesn t go bad, and there s nothing to chip off. I do each side, and pour on enough so I can see it sitting on the surface, I let it sit for about 20 minutes, then wipe off the excess. I do that a couple times, and it stops absorbing oil. I have a mixture of mineral oil, which I heated and melted beeswax into, that I use for the last coat. It seems to give the surface a nicer sheen and softer feel. Every so often I will rub in another coat of mineral oil, or the mixture. I made an island with a hard maple butcher block top, and it s held up well. I oil both sides (the underside I just rub it in where I can with a paper towel soaked in the oil).

- BinghamtonEd
yes, it is dampened with water. is it a good idea to do this a few times to raise and remove the raised grain? then go to town with the oils? or it's not necessary?
when you say you let it sit and wipe off then repeat.. .do you do this in the same day? or is it better to do the coats more spread out ? like once a day or something like that

and your mixture of beeswax and oil… what's the proportions? I've heard of it before but never found a recipe for it

thanks
 
#10 ·
when you say you let it sit and wipe off then repeat.. .do you do this in the same day? or is it better to do the coats more spread out ? like once a day or something like that

and your mixture of beeswax and oil… what s the proportions? I ve heard of it before but never found a recipe for it

thanks

- Pabs
I've done a couple coats in a day, but usually end up just doing one, due to other unrelated things going on.

I heated the mineral oil on a hot plate and just started shaving pieces of beeswax into it. I don't know of what the ratio is, and this was a few years back. If I had to guess, it would probably be a small chunk, maybe 1" cube, into a few cups of mineral oil. I still have a decent amount left, it goes a long way. When it cools, it has a Crisco-like consistency. When I need it, I stick a bit of it in a bowl in the microwave until it's softened (maybe 30 seconds), and apply it warm, then wipe it off and buff it out after a half hour or so.
 
#11 ·
Regarding raising the grain, as someone said, the oil won't raise the grain. That said, as wooden cooking tools and cutting boards get washed, the grain will eventually raise. So, it's a good idea to raise the grain a few times and dewhisker. But, I made a kitchen island for the wife and topped it with a long grain butcher block top in cherry. Since it doesn't get washed in the sink, the grain has never raised.
 
#15 ·
I just went through this identical conversation at another site. I just put in a L-shaped butcher block counter top. I don't use the counter for a cutting board (I have cutting boards for that). So I decided to put down 4 coats of oil based poly. It will be far more durable and require far less maintenance.

Poly, when dry, is food safe, so that is no worry. And as long as you never use any wax or spray it with silicone spray it is a simple light sanding and a fresh coat of the same poly to refinish.

But you must wait for the full cure of the finish before putting it into use. With oil base that is about 200 hours.
 
#16 ·
found this regarding beeswax/min oil recipe

http://lumberjocks.com/maugust/blog/21079

- Pabs
That's the same beeswax I got. I got it at A.C. Moore craft store, and used a coupon, it was cheap. I only used a little of it, so I keep the block by the bench and rub a couple swipes on my hand plane sole every once in a while, and it makes them glide so easy.
 
#17 ·
I would use either Tung oil or the Tried and True Danish oil (polymerized linseed oil, not at all the same thing as BLO, and if you use Tung, make sure it's really tung oil and not a mix of BLO and resins). I've never liked mineral oil, as it doesn't dry and offers little protection. The wax is basically what's giving you the waterproofing in this case, which is fine, but will need to be renewed frequently. Then again, lost of people use it and swear by it.

Ikea sells a "waterbased" penetrating oil (seems like an oxymoron to me) for their wood countertops and I've applied it in two kitchens where I was helping with renovations. It seemed to work OK.
 
#18 ·
ok…I'm about to do this.. I may end up using Tung oil as I have a fair amount kicking around.. still undecided.
I did find some local beeswax and am interested in doing the mix of oil and beeswax for the final coat. From what I've read it can be done with ether oil (mineral or tung). my question is if I do go with the extra layer with the wax how easily will it be to reapply the next coat of oil? will I need to remove that layer somehow or will it still remain porous enough to allow oil to penetrate?
 
#19 ·
Oil based poly. Thin 1:1 1st coat and let it soak in for up to an hour or more keeping the surface wet, then wipe off. You can add coats and build a film, or leave it like an oil finish. Tougher than all these oil finishes, and can be touched up easily, unless built up into a thick film. Cheap too. Lockwood dye can be mixed into the poly for coloring if desired.
 
#20 ·
ok…I m about to do this.. I may end up using Tung oil as I have a fair amount kicking around.. still undecided.
I did find some local beeswax and am interested in doing the mix of oil and beeswax for the final coat. From what I ve read it can be done with ether oil (mineral or tung). my question is if I do go with the extra layer with the wax how easily will it be to reapply the next coat of oil? will I need to remove that layer somehow or will it still remain porous enough to allow oil to penetrate?

- Pabs
Don't know about tung oil, but if you go the mineral oil route, you don't need to worry about removing layers to add more oil. When it looks like it needs refreshing, just rub in some oil, or oil/wax blend. If there's any residual wax, it'll just gets mixed in with the new coat. If some wax is in the pores of the wood, well, that spot probably isn't dried out, I imagine. Either way, just slap on a new coat, let it sit for a bit, then wipe off the excess.
 
#21 ·
Oil based poly. Thin 1:1 1st coat and let it soak in for up to an hour or more keeping the surface wet, then wipe off. You can add coats and build a film, or leave it like an oil finish. Tougher than all these oil finishes, and can be touched up easily, unless built up into a thick film. Cheap too. Lockwood dye can be mixed into the poly for coloring if desired.

- OSU55
not a fan of oil for many reasons… i don't like working with it. The fumes get to me and since this will be a food contact area I want to keep as natural as possible…that's why I'm going the route of oil/beeswax
 
#22 ·
Since I've discovered Lee Valley's high gloss tung oil (that you mix with their sealer tung oil to get the sheen you want) I've stopped using wax over tung oil altogether. I would expect that the wax coat could cause a problem if you subsequently tried to apply just tung oil on top of it. On the other hand, you might be able to get away with applying a tung oil-wax blend as a refresher coat.
 
#23 ·
Since I ve discovered Lee Valley s high gloss tung oil (that you mix with their sealer tung oil to get the sheen you want) I ve stopped using wax over tung oil altogether. I would expect that the wax coat could cause a problem if you subsequently tried to apply just tung oil on top of it. On the other hand, you might be able to get away with applying a tung oil-wax blend as a refresher coat.

- jdh122
you must be talking about this?
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=20050&cat=1,190,42942
 
#24 ·
Don t know about tung oil, but if you go the mineral oil route, you don t need to worry about removing layers to add more oil. When it looks like it needs refreshing, just rub in some oil, or oil/wax blend. If there s any residual wax, it ll just gets mixed in with the new coat. If some wax is in the pores of the wood, well, that spot probably isn t dried out, I imagine. Either way, just slap on a new coat, let it sit for a bit, then wipe off the excess.
- BinghamtonEd
I can't see why there would be a difference between the oils in regards to the wax thing… you never know but I would suspect they behave in the same manner
 
#25 ·
Don t know about tung oil, but if you go the mineral oil route, you don t need to worry about removing layers to add more oil. When it looks like it needs refreshing, just rub in some oil, or oil/wax blend. If there s any residual wax, it ll just gets mixed in with the new coat. If some wax is in the pores of the wood, well, that spot probably isn t dried out, I imagine. Either way, just slap on a new coat, let it sit for a bit, then wipe off the excess.
- BinghamtonEd

I can t see why there would be a difference between the oils in regards to the wax thing… you never know but I would suspect they behave in the same manner

- Pabs
One is polymerized and the other is not. The polymerization changes the physical properties.
 
#26 ·
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