Replies

1. 
   john_c2 | Jan 30, 2023 04:42pm | #1

   Contrary to what every finish manufacturer tells us, no finish penetrates much into wood. A little bit in end grain, but a tiny amount on long grain. Don't count on penetration when choosing a finish.

2. 
   jharveyb | Jan 30, 2023 04:59pm | #2

   There is a big difference between red and white oak. Red oak has open tubes for the open pores; I've had glue squirt out of the end of a piece when gluing two pieces together. White oak has the pores filled with tyloses, which make it much more water-proof. They make waterproof barrels out of white oak but not red; the water (or whiskey) would run out of the red oak barrels. I don't think red oak would be a suitable wood for a countertop, unless you filled the pores with wood grain filler and applied a heavy surface finish.

3. 
   _mj_ | Jan 30, 2023 09:02pm | #3

   I saw a demo once where a guy blew cigar smoke through a red oak stick. A baaaad choice for any food or drink surface.

4. 
   Deleted | Feb 01, 2023 09:09am | #4

   “[Deleted]”

5. 
   stantheman | Feb 01, 2023 09:26am | #5

   I tested oil penetration once using a variety of woods, standing grits, and finishes. None of them showed any penetration visible to the eye, including red and white oak.

6. 
   ysu65 | Feb 01, 2023 10:13am | #6

   Your counter, your choice, but I wonder why you want a wood counter top? There will be much more maintenance required with wood that will not be necessary with stone or composite. If you cook much and chop things, wood will get dinged up. There will be stains from things like oil and paprika. I have several thin cutting boards, a plastic one for things like chicken, bamboo ones from Walmart. They get used and abused and when they are too far gone, I get new ones. I could never take a sharp knife to a fancy composite cutting board, they are too nice to damage. My opinion FWIW.

1. 
   CoffeeMug | Feb 01, 2023 12:52pm | #8

   great points :) I should have specified that it's not for a kitchen or any area exposed to water.

7. 
   CoffeeMug | Feb 01, 2023 12:50pm | #7

   thanks for all the comments, appreciate it. The "countertops" are for cabinets in areas that are not in the kitchen such as in an office, living room, etc.

   I've read a lot about how porous red oak is and have seen videos similar to what's been described here with ethanol being wicked by capillary action straight through long pieces of red-oak endgrain. If a fluid can move so readily through those pores/tubes, why wouldn't boiled linseed oil, whether on the end-grain of the countertops, or on the long grain in places where the grain curls up towards the surface...

   If the desire was for a linseed oil that included a darker dye, and a mistaken application of straight BLO was used, what are the prospects of removing all the regular BLO after it's dried and polymerized in those pores? It's surprisingly difficult to find info on penetration depth.

8. 
   stantheman | Feb 01, 2023 07:54pm | #9

   capillary action is specific to tube structures, not specific to the material. You can suck water through a handful of straws, but not through the straws sideways. Oil also has a much thicker viscosity so cant move like water.

   You have some good curiosity to ask these questions. DO some experimenting yourself to satisfy it.