Hi, I have in my shop some maple, red oak, walnut, cherry, and poplar. I want to turn a fruit bowl from plans and was wondering if any of these woods would be safe and if so what kind of finish to apply to it. I would love to use cherry or walnut but aren’t sure if these are safe. It will only be for holding apples, pears, peaches, and bananas.
Many thanks.
Jack
Replies
Yes they are safe, make sure you use a food safe finish, pure tung oil is what I use for salad bowls.
Many thanks kind sir!
All of those woods are frequently used for bowls and spoons.
Agree with Gulfstar that pure tung oil is good.
I also like walnut oil, available at grocery stores for use in salad dressings. It takes a while to harden, but is edible, leaves a nice light finish and smells good.
Or food grade flax seed oil. Available at grocery stores or health food stores. Flaxseed oil is the same thing as linseed oil, but don't use boiled linseed oil from the hardware store, it has other chemicals you don't want to eat. Tried and True danish oil finish is a food-grade polymerized linseed oil that I've used frequently and works well.
You can also use mineral oil, it is food safe and inexpensive, but it never hardens.
This most appreciated fellas, thank you so much for your help.
General finishes bowl finish is food grade after it is completely dry. I use to be call salad bowl finish.
Thank you sir.
Pretty much any finish is "food safe" once it is fully cured. Unless you are going to have your kids gnawing on it just use anything you like. If your kids will be gnawing on it you need a finish that is "safe as food" like the walnut oil mentioned above.
These two links cover all your wood and finish toxicity needs
https://www.popularwoodworking.com/questions-and-answers/q-a-is-polyurethane-food-safe/
https://naw.org.nz/resourcesnew/toxic-wood/
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