There are probably countless different finishing products available for all manner of timber projects. Having tried quite a few different ones, I find I come back to only a couple for pretty much everything; depending on the application. Each type has pros and cons but for this piece I’d like to share a finish recipe for food contact projects. It’s a simple, two ingredient blend that cooks up easily and works well for use on cutting boards, spoons etc. Some available off-the-shelf finishes will actually be this or a very similar blend. Using a double boiler this method takes about an hour from go to whoa and makes between 600-700 millilitres (≈20-23 fl oz).
This recipe requires two ingredients; bees wax & mineral oil, and some form of double boiler. I have found it best if the inner pot of the boiler is tempered glass and has a pouring lip. If you have one great, if not, just have a crack with whatever is on hand.
The secret ingredients ‘they’ don’t want you to know about.
As a wipe on finish, I have tried a couple of variations on the quantities but think the best all round result comes from a 4:1 by volume, mineral oil:beeswax mix. I’ve tried going leaner & heavier on the oil ratio. 3:1 makes the brew harder to get out and work onto the piece and 5:1 makes it a bit thin and doesn’t get as nice a finished surface lustre.
4:1 seems to be the goldilocks ratio. These proportions however, are a little on the bucket chemistry end of the tolerance spectrum. Don’t get too worked up about being super-precise for those playing along at home. It’s pretty simple so let’s get cooking with gas.
Literally and figurately with my bogan DoubleB
Start by getting the water to the boil and the wax measured out. For this 1 litre jug I use a ½ cup beeswax : 2 cups mineral oil (4x ½ cups). The thickness of the wax slab is pretty much the depth of the cup so just trace around it for the wax measure. I’ve tried a few different ways to part the wax; score and snapping, grating off the block with cheese grater, pre-softening the block in the microwave for easier cuts. The best thing I have found is to mark the piece to be cut off with a knife then dip that knife in the boiling water and pass it through the wax. It will take a couple, to half a dozen goes to fully separate, depending on how big the piece is. Hot tip; once cut, use the now boiling water to clean the excess wax off the knife. Thank me later.
Like a hot knife through wax I guess
Plonk this cube into the boiler and wait. Have a timber or other disposable/cleanable implement to move and stir it periodically. With a double boiler this part will take a while so be patient; the point of the double boiler is to keep the wax from accidently reaching the flashpoint. Have something else productive to do that’s not too distracting like getting the containers ready and cleaning the area. Using the cheese grater to separate the wax can help speed things up here as there is a lot more surface area compared to thermal mass with the flakes; making for a quicker melt time. I have found though, that making them with the grater is just a pain as the wax tends to stick the grater surface. There’s always plenty to do around the kitchen so I don’t mind some other busywork while tending to the melting wax block and topping up the bath as needed.
Nothing but the highest quality GIF for your wax melting experience.
Once the block is fully melted, measure the mineral oil into the liquid wax. Ensure the inner pot of the double boiler is suitable to accept the volume of all the mix including some space for stirring. Although it’s a bit late now if it doesn’t; learnt that from a friend. The oil will mix with, and cool some wax down to partially solid; so you’ll end up with cloudy tendrils throughout. Just keep the mix cooking and everything will come back up to liquid temperature. Once it reaches transparency again, get your claw in an oven mitt and decant into the waiting containers. Have these open & ready and have more than you need prepared. It’s a pain looking for something else to lose the mix in if you out of containers.
Dr Z was here
These will take a little while to cool so just leave them until the brew is solid, then put the lids on. The small tins are cosmetic containers I get off the interweb. These I supply or give to people to refinish boards I have made for them previously. The large containers are ex-baby cream containers that I recycle. These I keep for my own use and are a convenient size for my supply on hand. They also work really well for small parts bins around the shop. Each batch of this finish I aim for 2-3 larger containers and use the smaller containers to soak up the rest. It’s really easy to spread the batch across the smaller ones without having any half full containers, leftovers or wastage.
The liquid will turn an opaque light cream once set.
This 4:1 mix seems to work pretty well as an all-around, food safe finish. It wipes on easily and burnishes well; even by hand if you have enough elbow grease in stock. I have also mixed this recipe at a 1:1 ratio then set it into in silicone muffin cups. This makes handy little finishing pucks that I like to use at the lathe as opposed to neat beeswax. The oil penetrates the timber for better protection than wax alone, while the wax content still creates an attractive and smooth to touch finish once burnished.
Muffin pucks for a silky-smooth finish
So why not toss a few pans and ingredients together and have a bit of a cookup. It’s interesting and rewarding to make something completely from scratch then utilise it. I particularly like this finish for ease of application and the fact that it doesn’t heavily tint the underlying timbers; allowing the natural colours to come through. Other oil-based finishes are usually pretty orange to brown in colour and will obscure the underlying timber tones. This is particularly obvious where multiple different species are laminated together; everything turns a similar shade of brown.
I find this finish works particularly well as part of a two-step process;
Apply a generous coat of mineral oil to the surface of your piece and let sit for a short while; usually 5 minutes is good. Pay attention to the end grains of the project and wipe the oily rag over successively until they won’t readily accept more. Then wipe off any excess oil from the surface. Let that rest for a little while longer; about 15 minutes.
Apply a thin coat of the blended finish across the surface and let sit for another 5 or so minutes then burnish the surface. The surface feeling will go from oily to smooth and the appearance will go from matte to a smooth, satin lustre once completed. This can be done by hand with a cotton/calico rag and some effort but I prefer to use a shaped calico polishing buff in the drill press; for ease and expedience.
I’d be really interested to hear thoughts and successes, or un-successes, if you give this recipe a go. Have fun.
Kind Regards
Walker
Feb 2021
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