first attempt: Red Oak cutting board

[Howard]

Here's what I have learned so far. Unfortunately, the Woodcraft store is pretty far from the house so I went to Lowes and bought a 1X6X6
Red Oak board. I would have preferred using two different colors and alternating so that will be my next project. I cut strips using the 3100 TS and then used new biscuit joiner and glued strips together. Just started to sand and it's looking pretty good. To really do it right, it appears that I should get a jointer to get satin smooth edges and a planer rather than sanding to make it perfectly level. It's going to look good but not the perfection the other tools could afford me. Now my real question. What's the best way to finish? I read that mineral oil works well for cutting boards. Any other suggestions?

[guycox]

Mineral Oil will never harden. It'll just soak in and dry out.

Here's what I have learned so far. Unfortunately, the Woodcraft store is pretty far from the house so I went to Lowes and bought a 1X6X6
Red Oak board. I would have preferred using two different colors and alternating so that will be my next project. I cut strips using the 3100 TS and then used new biscuit joiner and glued strips together. Just started to sand and it's looking pretty good. To really do it right, it appears that I should get a jointer to get satin smooth edges and a planer rather than sanding to make it perfectly level. It's going to look good but not the perfection the other tools could afford me. Now my real question. What's the best way to finish? I read that mineral oil works well for cutting boards. Any other suggestions?

It's going to have to be a vegetable/nut oil. I professional turner I know swears by olive oil.

[LCHIEN]

Sorry, Howard, but I'm questioning the choice of red Oak for a cutting board.
IIRC, Doesn't red oak have a very large, open pore structure? Wouldn't that be bad for a cutting board? Can someone else correct me if I'm wrong? I remember very clearly someone slicing off a thin piece of red oak and pointing out you could see through it because of the open pores.
Found on the 'net:

Uses:
Red oak is largely cut into lumber, railroad ties, mine timbers, fenceposts, veneer, pulpwood and fuelwood. It is remanufactured into flooring, furniture, general millwork, boxes, pallets and crates, caskets, wooden ware and handles. Red oak is not suitable for tight cooperage or exterior work. Oak is full of tannic acid and in fact the tannic acid in the bark was used for tanning animal hides for centuries. When the tannic acid mixes with the iron in our water it creates a chemical blue dye. This is why red oak stains black when water is allowed to penetrate the surface.....and why you must be careful not to get water on your red oak flooring.
The Tree: Quercus Rubra
Northern red oak is the largest group in this family and has the broadest distribution across North America. It has great commercial significance. The trees can grow to 150' and 4'+ in diameter. There are many other varieties of red oak, Shumard, black, scarlet, water, willow, pin and nuttal oak, that grow in more select areas. White Oaks are separated from their cousins in the red oak family. The pores of the heartwood of white oaks are usually plugged with a membranous growth known as tyloses. This makes it impenetrable to liquids and ideally suited to the boat industry. The red oak, on the other hand, has no tylose in its cells, and thus not used in any marine based applications. Red oaks are broadly distributed across the United States and southeastern Canada

"cooperage" = barrels for liquids.
seems to me that the tendency to absorb liquids deep into the pores is a sanitation problem, and also it should not be exposed to water, another problem. Tannic acid, a third problem. Can't even wash it. White oak or maple or walnut would be better to use.

Another note found on the 'net:

a note about red oak from my experience: there may be more porous woods than red oak but I am not aware of them. The vessels in red oak are so large that it is common, in my experience with plain cut boards, to have glue come oozing out of the pores several inches away from where the glue was applied. That is, if you take two plain cut red oak planks and press them against each other with a big blob of glue stopping three inches away from the end, it would not be surprizing to see glue oozing out of the pores at the end. At one inch away it would be surprizing NOT to see glue oozing out of the pores. This messed up the finish on one of my first oak projects because I couldn't get rid of enough of the unexpected glue at a butt end and the subsequent polyurethane cover did not go on at all evenly, leaving a blotchy look to one area.

[ivwshane]

I would like to make a cutting board some day, is it common practice to use biscuit joints? I thought you just glued it.

[Howard]

Thanks, Loring. I didn't know that about Red Oak. I thought I read somewhere else where it is acceptable but after reading your post, I think I chalk this one up to practice and go buy some hard maple. Is there a way to permanently seal the wood. BTW, ivwshane, most of the time I understand the wood is simply glued. I just thought this was a good opportunity to try out my new biscuit joiner. It's an O'Malley and works great!

[gonesailing]

wood cutting boards

I greatly respect what Loring says, and my cutting board attemps have been made with maple. However, there have been several studies comparing wood and plastic cutting boards and contamination. These studies indicate that wood is a much better choice, and that bacteria just does not live on it.

I understand that in one test they contaminated each typ of board with bacteria, gave it a chance to grow. The bacteria on the plastic board did pretty well, but when they examined the wooden cutting board they couldn't even find the carcasses of the bacteria.

Given this information, I don't think I wouold worry about using oak for a cutting board. I would pour a lot of veggie oil into it to seal it as well as possible.

Mike L

[LCHIEN]

Thanks, Loring. I didn't know that about Red Oak. I thought I read somewhere else where it is acceptable but after reading your post, I think I chalk this one up to practice and go buy some hard maple. Is there a way to permanently seal the wood. BTW, ivwshane, most of the time I understand the wood is simply glued. I just thought this was a good opportunity to try out my new biscuit joiner. It's an O'Malley and works great!

Well, I never really heard it didn't make a good cutting board. I assumed so becuase of the characteristics I mentioned. Don't pitch it unless you get confirmation!

L.

[AAJIII]

Cutting Board Finish

Check out this thread, I used the mineral oil/beeswax combo, it worked like a charm.


http://www.bt3central.com/showthread...G+BOARD+FINISH

AL

[DonHo]

Well I'm not sure whiskey barrels are made of red oak but I'm pretty sure whiskey and wine barrels are made of some form of oak. For all I know it may be because of the tannic acid not in spite of it. Any vinters or moonshiners out there that can help us out

DonHo

[Tom Miller]

Here's an informal discussion on suitability of wood for cutting boards, with some references cited:

http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/cutting_board.htm

There's enough info out there to support the use of either wood OR plastic, but also some good tips on disinfecting each.

Regards,
Tom

[LCHIEN]

Well I'm not sure whiskey barrels are made of red oak but I'm pretty sure whiskey and wine barrels are made of some form of oak. For all I know it may be because of the tannic acid not in spite of it. Any vinters or moonshiners out there that can help us out

DonHo

I know barrels are made from White oak, it's also used for boats because it is not porous. Red Oak is Never used for boats or barrels because it leaks so badly. I have read the above, many, many times. White oak barrels are key in the process for whiskey, wine and spirits because of the flavor they add to the drink from the tannic acid.

I just have this picture of raw chicken juices, full of samonella bacteria, soaking into the open pores of the red oak...

[gerti]

It's going to have to be a vegetable/nut oil. I professional turner I know swears by olive oil.

No, no, no! As far as turning goes that is right, but for cutting boards these oils should NOT be used as they turn rancid. And that tends to change the flavor of everything cut on the boards...

Mineral oil it is, and yes, it should be reapplied on occasion.

[jnesmith]

This site has some info on point, but I don't know how reliabe it is.

http://www.woodfinishsupply.com/butcherblock.html

WRT to woods:

It is important to note that Rockhard Maple and a few other closed grained hardwoods are the only suitable woods for cutting board use. Never use oak, ash, hickory or other open grained woods for a cutting surface as the pores can harbor germs and decaying food particles. Softer closed grained woods deteriorate with knife cuts and usage and become unsanitary and wood splinters or particles wind up in foodstuffs.

WRT to oils:

The oil must be an inert oil or otherwise it will turn rancid. Never use vegetable or cooking oils to treat or finish a cutting surface as in time the wood will reek of a rancid spoiled oil odor.
For initial treatment and continuing maintenance a Pure Raw Almond or Walnut Oil may be used. Mineral Oil from the drugstore may also be used. Nature Oil, is a proprietary blends of these oils, available in Pint bottles.

[Greg.B]

Just to add my 2 cents.

Over the winter I made a cutting board for my mom out of poplar. It's a closed pore wood as it should be. To answer the question about using a jointer to smooth the boards after cutting them, what I like to do is to use the edges, as they are alot harder than the face of the board. Plus the face is already flat and provides a good gluing surface. Once its all sanded coat with mineral oil from any drug store.

[guycox]

No, no, no! As far as turning goes that is right, but for cutting boards these oils should NOT be used as they turn rancid. And that tends to change the flavor of everything cut on the boards...

Mineral oil it is, and yes, it should be reapplied on occasion.

After the oil has formed the bonds (hardened) there's not much to go rancid. Now I'm not saying to rub the thing down with canola oil or corn oil. But the more polysaturated variety walnut in particular is going to be alright -- I think I've even read of some vessels of olive oil being dug up in the middle east someplace that were still OK..


Sounds like a question for Mythbusters to me.