Question regarding oiling

[John Loftis]

Right, I also though think, that soap only gets the surface. Considering how many times that oil is left on overnight and gets below the surface, while it makes sense the surface gets dried out, I just don't know where the rest goes. I'm just waiting to hit a point of diminishing returns.

I didn't make your board, so I can't offer specific advice. I typically soak ours for an hour or two in an oil tank before buttering and shipping. While our butcher blocks do need to be re-oiled, it's definitely not to the extent you are describing. And if the maker soaked it for a week, it should be completely saturated and literally dripping with oil. So something doesn't add up.

 

[nwshull]

I didn't make your board, so I can't offer specific advice. I typically soak ours for an hour or two in an oil tank before buttering and shipping. While our butcher blocks do need to be re-oiled, it's definitely not to the extent you are describing. And if the maker soaked it for a week, it should be completely saturated and literally dripping with oil. So something doesn't add up.

Actually you did... maybe I misread that you soaked it for a week though.

 

[Michi]

Told ya: fifth dimension, for sure!

 

[kennyc]

In an effort for street cred here , I picked up an endgrain board locally and have been prepping it for kitchen use.

Here's my concern: how much oil is it supposed to absorb? The board had been in storage for at least a year before I got my grubby little paws on it, and I've been pouring & spreading food-grade mineral oil on it daily. So far, its sucked up nearly 300 ml (three hundred, not a typo) straight mineral oil and another 50 ml oil/beeswax blend. Mineral oil doesnt evaporate right? I pour it directly on the board, spread it around with an old credit card, watch it soak in for a bit, and the next morning the surface of the board appears to have used up all the oil.

Does anyone have any experience with anything similar, and does this amount of oil usage seem reasonable?

Board specs:
Maple & walnut
18x12x1.5

start:

current:

 

[Jovidah]

I've had boards that arrived on my doorstep pretty much bone dry (45x35x4 cm) and drank over half a liter of oil before they were saturated.

One thing to consider; try to elevate the board on... something. When you reach the saturation point it seems like the oil basically comes out the other end. I had one occasion where I had them laying on a towel wondering why it kept drinking oil, and basically it was just coming out at the bottom getting soaked into the towel at some point.

 

[kennyc]

yea its not visible in the picture, but its elevated on a 4x4x2 box. do you think there's any concern of over-saturation, causing the board to swell/split?

 

[John Loftis]

As an experiment, I oiled one of our 16" X 22" X 2" maple butcher blocks to the point of complete saturation and it held 12 ounces of oil. So I would guess a 12 X 18 X 1 1/2" maple butcher block would hold... 6-8 ounces of oil.

 

[juice]

So I would guess a 12 X 18 X 1 1/2" maple butcher block would hold... 6-8 ounces of oil.

Depends on how dry it was to start with, I guess.

 

[kennyc]

As an experiment, I oiled one of our 16" X 22" X 2" maple butcher blocks to the point of complete saturation and it held 12 ounces of oil. So I would guess a 12 X 18 X 1 1/2" maple butcher block would hold... 6-8 ounces of oil.

good to know! this is my first endgrain board and I was getting paranoid that I was doing something horrifically wrong

 

[Jovidah]

yea its not visible in the picture, but its elevated on a 4x4x2 box. do you think there's any concern of over-saturation, causing the board to swell/split?

I'm not a woodworker and far from an expert on the matter, so take this as 'anecdotal evidence' at best, but so far I haven't had any issues doing it like that. For at least the last 10 year I've literally dumped all my wood-handled knives straight into a big jar of mineral oil overnight, and oiled all my boards until saturation. Got away with it so far. *knocks on wood*
Could be beginners luck tho!

I actually had 1 tiny crack in 1 cheapish board, but that was after neglecting it for far too long, not giving it any oil for about 2 years.

 

[Michi]

I had one occasion where I had them laying on a towel wondering why it kept drinking oil, and basically it was just coming out at the bottom getting soaked into the towel at some point.

Also check for any five-dimensional worm holes underneath

 

[Bear]

I've been watching this thread for awhile now, it would be interesting to see how much a board would actually drink under a vacuum, just because the oil is going through the pores doesn't mean it's totally saturated, different wood fibers would saturate at different rates, porosity would be a different matter.

In an effort for street cred here , I picked up an endgrain board locally and have been prepping it for kitchen use.

Here's my concern: how much oil is it supposed to absorb? The board had been in storage for at least a year before I got my grubby little paws on it, and I've been pouring & spreading food-grade mineral oil on it daily. So far, its sucked up nearly 300 ml (three hundred, not a typo) straight mineral oil and another 50 ml oil/beeswax blend. Mineral oil doesnt evaporate right? I pour it directly on the board, spread it around with an old credit card, watch it soak in for a bit, and the next morning the surface of the board appears to have used up all the oil.

Does anyone have any experience with anything similar, and does this amount of oil usage seem reasonable?

Board specs:
Maple & walnut
18x12x1.5

start:

current:

keep soaking it was bone dry.

 

[deanb]

I’ve owned a number of end grain boards and I don’t think you’ll run into any trouble with over saturation. About 12 years ago I bought 36” X 24” X 2.5” black walnut end grain board from David Smith of BoardSmith. He gave me some “board butter” which is a mixture of mineral oil and beeswax. As per his instructions I oiled both sides of the board until it was saturated then finishing it off with a few coats of the board butter. I put a coat or two of the board butter every two or three years and it looks like new pretty much all the time.

I was sad to hear that David passed away but I’ve heard that he sold the business before He died so you may still be able to buy the board butter. Of course you can make your own.

 

[WildBoar]

I wonder if a board that's been submerged in mineral oil until it's saturated would act the same?

It does. This was SOP for Boardsmith boards, and I've always had to oil shortly after receiving a new one.

 

[WildBoar]

I was sad to hear that David passed away but I’ve heard that he sold the business before He died so you may still be able to buy the board butter. Of course you can make your own.

John took over BoardSmith from David a couple of years before he passed away. John has continued with the BoardSmith offerings, and also takes on much bigger projects.

 

[SeattleB]

May I ask a stupid question? Why are cutting boards oiled? We don't oil our kitchen cabinets, or furniture, or bedframes, or flooring, or the studs in the walls, or the deck. A cutting board is the only wood product where there seems to be a desire to saturate it with oil. How is a cutting board different than all the other wood in my house?

I can understand some sort of boardwax for the surface, to limit the board soaking up liquids like meat juice, and to make the surface a bit more silky to the knife edge. A combination of mineral oil and beeswax seems perfect for this.

 

[ian]

May I ask a stupid question? Why are cutting boards oiled? We don't oil our kitchen cabinets, or furniture, or bedframes, or flooring, or the studs in the walls, or the deck. A cutting board is the only wood product where there seems to be a desire to saturate it with oil. How is a cutting board different than all the other wood in my house?

I can understand some sort of boardwax for the surface, to limit the board soaking up liquids like meat juice, and to make the surface a bit more silky to the knife edge. A combination of mineral oil and beeswax seems perfect for this.

I don't know much about wood, but you want your board to be food safe and you also want to cut into it and abuse it, so you don't want a hardened finish or a varnish or something like on many of the items you mentioned. You also want to be able to get it wet a lot and you'd like it if it didn't absorb a ton of odors/tastes, so leaving it untreated is not a good idea.

 

[SeattleB]

Yes, Ian, that's what I was thinking. Untreated would not be a good idea. A varnish or shellac wouldn't be food safe. The typical mineral oil + beeswax is both food safe and somewhat waterproofs the board.

Does saturating the board with oil before using the beeswax really improve the water repellency? I see posts of people soaking the boards in oil and using a cup or pint of oil. My question is more around wondering whether there is science behind that or is it merely conventional wisdom.

 

[Michi]

May I ask a stupid question? Why are cutting boards oiled?

Because they get wet all the time. Without oiling, the wood will warp and/or split in short order.

We don't oil our kitchen cabinets, or furniture, or bedframes, or flooring, or the studs in the walls, or the deck.

Hmmm. I certainly oil my kitchen cabinets and wooden furniture. And decking planks that are exposed to the elements most certainly need oil or some other surface protection, otherwise they'll be toast in short order.

 

[ian]

Does saturating the board with oil before using the beeswax really improve the water repellency? I see posts of people soaking the boards in oil and using a cup or pint of oil. My question is more around wondering whether there is science behind that or is it merely conventional wisdom.

Idk, but I think beeswax is a coating that's going to come off with use. It seems unrealistic to rely on there always being a thin perfect coating of beeswax covering every sq in of the board when you're chopping and scraping and washing the board all the time. (And you don't want to be giving your board a beeswax coat after every use... what a pain.) If there's a ton of mineral oil in the board, the coating/protection is not just at the surface, but continues a ways down, so if the stuff at the surface comes off some of the internal mineral oil can come up and keep the surface protected. Beeswax on the surface just gives an extra level of water repellency. But I just use mineral oil personally, no wax.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Oil serves a couple purposes. It keeps the wood from drying out, which helps prevent the wood from becoming brittle, shrinking and/or cracking, either along the grain or along glue lines. Oil also serves to make the wood less penetrable to liquids, like water and moisture from foods, to infiltrate the board.

As to the mystery of where the oil goes (and why the board needs to be re-oiled), it's pretty simple. As the wood is used and washed, the outer layers give up their oil, and it's (slowly) replenished by the oil that soaked deeper into the wood fibers. As the stockpile of oil within the wood is depleted, the top of the board will look dry and light colored, a sure sign it's time to apply more oil.

Adding wax over the oil simply slows the rate at which the oil in the wood is flushed or worn away.

 

[Konig9402]

Oil serves a couple purposes. It keeps the wood from drying out, which helps prevent the wood from becoming brittle, shrinking and/or cracking, either along the grain or along glue lines. Oil also serves to make the wood less penetrable to liquids, like water and moisture from foods, to infiltrate the board.

As to the mystery of where the oil goes (and why the board needs to be re-oiled), it's pretty simple. As the wood is used and washed, the outer layers give up their oil, and it's (slowly) replenished by the oil that soaked deeper into the wood fibers. As the stockpile of oil within the wood is depleted, the top of the board will look dry and light colored, a sure sign it's time to apply more oil.

Adding wax over the oil simply slows the rate at which the oil in the wood is flushed or worn away.

I wonder if the oil is anti-bacterial in any way...

 

[nwshull]

I wonder if the oil is anti-bacterial in any way...

What? What's with the smilie?

Follow up question, how does the oil inside the board get up given its moving against gravity?

 

[Konig9402]

What? What's with the smilie?

Follow up question, how does the oil inside the board get up given its moving against gravity?

Sorry, was going for the thinking emoji

 

[ian]

What? What's with the smilie?

Follow up question, how does the oil inside the board get up given its moving against gravity?

Roll up a paper towel and put the bottom in a glass of water. Wait 24 hrs

I assume it’s this? Capillary action - Wikipedia

I don’t really know my physics though

 

[VicWire]

What? What's with the smilie?

Follow up question, how does the oil inside the board get up given its moving against gravity?

The same way water gets from the roots of a tree to the top.
Capillary action as @ian assumes.

 

[Nemo]

I don’t really know my physics though

But I bet you could describe it in an equation

 

[ian]

But I bet you could describe it in an equation

Equations are for applied mathematicians. No numbers in anything I do.

 

[Nemo]

Equations are for applied mathematicians. No numbers in anything I do.

Not even imiginary numbers?

 

[JASinIL2006]

The same way water gets from the roots of a tree to the top.
Capillary action as @ian assumes.

Winner winner chicken dinner for you and @ian! Same way wood soaks up water.

Nothing antibacterial about mineral oil. It simply plumps the wood fibers and fills the voids that otherwise would be accessible to moisture, crud and bacteria.