My New Favorite Cutting Board Finish

Ya gotta get to it at some point

Bought Odie's oil and liked the ease but was taken back by the fact that it takes 3 weeks to cure otherwise water spots appear. great video, thank you.

Have you ever used thinned ting oil to treat you cutting boards?

Speaking of polymerizing oils have you tried tung or hemp oil? For that matter what about linseed (available as food-safe flax) oil?
I'm not a board maker, build the occasional project and do a little furniture restoration. Tung is great for that as it's a bit semi-gloss. I've been using hemp on the butcher (grain exposed) boards in my kitchen (and sometimes a 'butter' I make with it and beeswax). It wears where it's gotten beaten up by knives (shaving-sharp knives here). I've experimented with making a first coat of 50/50 hemp oil and orange-peel solvent. Doesn't seem to make it any more knife-proof (wears about the same in those spots).

Mineral oil won’t spontaneously combust. That’s only for drying/polymerizing oils like linseed and tung. Walnut oil probably can as well since it’s a drying oil.

problem with spendy oills, if you are SELLING boards, the customer will likely not buy and reaapply something that costs a lot. Mineral oil you can cheap at Walmart or local drug store.

Very informative video..well done. I was considering making a cutting board and will get to it just as soon as I recover from the heart attack I had seeing the price of the Odie oil...LOL Must be made from virgin unicorns on top of a really high mountain and I'm gonna have to leave any unused Odie in my will.

can i just give it minerald oil. then give it beewax. and when i ship it theres a little case with bee wax they can add to it when needed?

Why didn’t you show us the result of washing?

Thanks!

Great video. One question I have is if the Howard’s conditioner that you used in the video is a standalone product or if that is added after the mineral oil.

Tung oil is also a great option. Make sure you use real Tung oil and not a "Tung Oil Finish"

Grapeseed oil. Food safe, food grade, no odor, no color. Also my go to cooking oil because it adds no flavor but allows the flavor of the food to come through and has a 420 degree smoke point. 3 or four coats, rubbed in with your bare hand (you can rub the excess into your hands as this oil is a great treatment for dry hands). Leave as little oil residue as possible after rubbing 2 or 3 minutes. I would estimate about 2 or 3 tablespoons per square foot. Allow 24 hours between coats and sand with 220 sandpaper between coats. Easily recoated anytime and brings out good color in the wood.

Thank you for a proper instructional and very informative video. Very helpful.

I'm confused . . . Trying to figure out the point of this video. Application is a no brainer, what wasn't addressed or wasn't addressed very well was long term wear and tear and customer maintenance. Though Odies is ok not many customers will spend $45 for a jar for their cutting board and 99% will maintain their board with a mineral oil wax blend. Something to think about when selecting board finishes.

Will a 2x4 hold a porch swing?

I watch a lot of wood working and related videos but very rarely leave a comment. I like your video very much because it is direct, to the point and informative without a bunch of BS. Great video thank you very much. KJ

Great presentation, thank you.
Question. I like the idea of the Odie’s Oil, but the boards I have do have some cracks (through, top to bottom on edges), and I wouldn’t be able to get the paste down into the cracks. Suggestions? Thanks!

I wince every time I hear someone use gift as a verb rather than give. Gift is the past participle of give.

Thanks for the video and explanations. I'd have been interested to see you test (real) tung oil as well.

so if you have put mineral oil or mineral oil butcher block conditioner into your board do you need to sand the board back to bare wood to add a different finish?

Really great video.

I make my board treatment paste from food grade walnut and flax oils plus beeswax. If there’s some question of nut allergy for the user I skip the walnut.
I’m not a fan of eating petroleum products like mineral oil and if there’s no ingredient list on the product we should assume some petrochemical is in it.

FYI anyone who wants to use mineral oil, go to a pharmacy or drug section of a store and you can get it sold as a laxative for cheap. It’s about the the same price per mL as a getting a bulk gallon, but they sell it in small containers so you don’t need to buy a decades worth at a time

hi there, awesome video with great info. What about serving board finish, as opposed to a cutting board a serving board would be to put food, ie cheeses cured meats, veggies etc. I am struggling with finding a finish, these foods have oil that leave marks on the types of finish you have on your video. Would this be a time to use polyurethanes since you would never use a knife on the board anyways. I would be interested in your view. Appreciate your time, thanks.

Odies oil is gimmick bullshit and should never be used around food. Why? Because they don’t say what’s in it and don’t have to answer to anybody. You have absolutely no idea what is in there and going into your food.

My plastic cutting boards don't need oil.

What would you recommend as a finish for charcuterie boards? Tom Fronapfel

Hmmmm... a side grain cutting board?? The BEST "cutting" boards and most duarable are made using end grain.

Thank you for taking time to do this video. It is lot of work and your time is valuable. You have helped me and i thank you!

I’ve tried Odies, mineral oil, walrus oil, tung oil, and linseed oil on my boards. They all have positives and negatives. I’ve notice that the grain pops on walnut after a few days with mineral oil and walrus oil. I like odies dark, linseed oil, and tung oil on maple. The really penetrating oils can mask some of the character on dark walnut. I prefer something with a oil/wax combo for walnut. Just in case any cares!

Aren't the Odies products discontinued?

The issue with walnut oil is when they start eating the cutting board.😂

I have been using walnut oil on my bowls for 20 or more years, can't remember. The walnut oil does cure and harden which mineral oil and vegetable oils do not do. Vegetable oils will polymerize if it is heated, like seasoning a cast iron pan. I did use Mike Mahoney's oil for a number of years, and switched to 'the Doctor's Woodshop' walnut oil. Especially for end grain cutting boards, final coat is applied with a heat gun which makes the oil penetrate better. His carnauba wax in his oils can spread without heat. For me, I won't put anything on my bowls that I can't eat straight out of the can.... The walnut oil you buy in the grocery stores is not the same thing. Some will cure, and some will not.

Oh, another word on walnut oil and rags. I, being some one who has to experiment, tried to get my walnut oil soaked rags to spontaneously combust. It never worked, until one day in mid summer, I had left some out to dry on a black plastic garbage bag that was full of shavings. It was also on the south side of the shop so it got excellent sun exposure. It did start to smolder. So I would say that as long as rags are spread out flat, on concrete or gravel, it is pretty much impossible for the walnut oil soaked rags to combust. This is because of the very slow oxidation/curing rate of the walnut oil. It takes a week or so for the oil to cure, and sunlight and heat help speed up the process.

I enjoyed this video but I would love you share more of the results, like focus on it a bit more

Strange you didn't test the best oil there is for cutting boards - Pure Tung Oil. It soaks deep into the grain and cures (hardens) nicely plus it is completely food safe and food grade being a natural product made from crushing the nuts of Tung trees (painless process I promise). Takes a good three days to cure although you can quicken that by adding some Orange solvent, again made from a food source - Orange Peels. Wax is crap and you will get nothing but disappointment from clients who complain about how scratchy the board looks over time.

great taste in finishes AND alternative rock

Isn’t mineral oil food GRADE? It’s used as a laxative.

Sorry, oil-soaked rags can spontaneously combust??? Well, that’s unlocked a new fear for me 😰

A word about food grade: it is "safe" within certain limits and won't kill you.... instantly ;) If you check the full food grade definition I doubt if mineral oil, a.k.a petroleum, would sound like a responsible board soaking material... We don't die from our mistakes, only from our lack of conscious awareness that allows us to make small but bad choices over a long period of time.

I have always wondered if I originally used mineral oil, could I go back some other day and do a walnut or linseed/flax with the proper curing time

MINERAL OIL 500 ML. 5,00 DOLARS WOLMARK .

On another subject!! Are those prescription saftey glasses you are wearing ?

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I wonder if food is food grade.

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The only difference between mineral oil and gasoline is what someone might leave in the comments. --david thor

I am a beginner woodworker. I gained a better understanding on the types of finishes and why. I feel you were quite thorough with the comparisons of finishes and applications. I actually took notes and watched it all the way to the end of your video. You did not over complicate. Thank you

Is it not good to keep your oil soaked rag in a ziploc to prevent air from getting to it?