I just made a kitchen knife block out of red oak,
specifically to hold some of my larger, older,
non-stainless high carbon blades. Now I'm wondering
how to finish it:
Can I stain it with an oil or water stain or is that
not good around food?
Can I poly-varnish it?
Should I just oil it? If so, can I use Tung oil or
better stick with Mineral oil 'cause of the food issue?
thanks,
chuck
Frank McVey wrote:
> "Fred" <FABUY@ATTGLOBALdotNET> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> <snip>
>
>>If a wet knife touches the oak, the oak will turn black.
>
>
> <snip>
>
> And you may get blue-black stains on your knives, too. No real harm, just
> doesn't look very pretty. It's due to the tannic acid in the oak.
>
> Cheers
>
> Frank
>
Hmmm ... so that's what happened. I put all the knives in last night
just to see how sturdy and all. This morning the big Nonstainless
Wusthof had some staining. Must have put it away damp. Won't do that
again! Thanks for the tip. Guess I should have chosen another wood.
chuck
On Mon, 12 Jul 2004 17:39:40 GMT, chuck
<[email protected]> wrote:
>I just made a kitchen knife block out of red oak,
>specifically to hold some of my larger, older,
>non-stainless high carbon blades. Now I'm wondering
>how to finish it:
>
>Can I stain it with an oil or water stain or is that
>not good around food?
>
>Can I poly-varnish it?
>
>Should I just oil it? If so, can I use Tung oil or
>better stick with Mineral oil 'cause of the food issue?
>
>
>thanks,
>
>chuck
pretty much anything you want.
if you're the type to dry the blades before putting them away
something like tung or watco will do fine, though if you will want to
scrub the rack down you'll probably want a film finish.
if you're the type to dry the knives in the rack (gonna rust your
carbon steel knives!) design it so air can circulate and water won't
be trapped, and consider a finish like varnish.
chuck wrote:
> I just made a kitchen knife block out of red oak,
> specifically to hold some of my larger, older,
> non-stainless high carbon blades. Now I'm wondering
> how to finish it:
>
> Can I stain it with an oil or water stain or is that
> not good around food?
>
> Can I poly-varnish it?
>
> Should I just oil it? If so, can I use Tung oil or
> better stick with Mineral oil 'cause of the food issue?
>
>
> thanks,
>
> chuck
>
If a wet knife touches the oak, the oak will turn black.
Poly will reduce this a little.
Clear finishes are safe for food utensil use.
A stain is safe too in your application, but I'm sure someone will
disagree, based on NO data.
Fred
On Mon, 12 Jul 2004 14:08:40 -0400, Fred <FABUY@ATTGLOBALdotNET>
wrote:
>chuck wrote:
>> I just made a kitchen knife block out of red oak,
>> specifically to hold some of my larger, older,
>> non-stainless high carbon blades. Now I'm wondering
>> how to finish it:
>>
>> Can I stain it with an oil or water stain or is that
>> not good around food?
>>
>> Can I poly-varnish it?
>>
>> Should I just oil it? If so, can I use Tung oil or
>> better stick with Mineral oil 'cause of the food issue?
>>
>>
>> thanks,
>>
>> chuck
>>
>If a wet knife touches the oak, the oak will turn black.
yep. red oak isn't a very good choice for a knife rack, especially one
for carbon steel knives.
>Poly will reduce this a little.
>Clear finishes are safe for food utensil use.
>A stain is safe too in your application, but I'm sure someone will
>disagree, based on NO data.
>Fred
"chuck" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I just made a kitchen knife block out of red oak,
Not to rain on your parade, but red oak (actually, any oak) is about the
last wood I'd ever want to make a knife block out of. A wet knife will
leave black stains all over the block.
Polyurethane might be a solution, but I'd seriously consider finding a
different wood and chalking one up to experience.
Jon E
- i used maple and purpleheart
chuck <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> Frank McVey wrote:
>> "Fred" <FABUY@ATTGLOBALdotNET> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>> <snip>
>>
>>>If a wet knife touches the oak, the oak will turn black.
>>
>>
>> <snip>
>>
>> And you may get blue-black stains on your knives, too. No real harm,
>> just doesn't look very pretty. It's due to the tannic acid in the
>> oak.
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> Frank
>>
> Hmmm ... so that's what happened. I put all the knives in last night
> just to see how sturdy and all. This morning the big Nonstainless
> Wusthof had some staining. Must have put it away damp. Won't do that
> again! Thanks for the tip. Guess I should have chosen another wood.
>
> chuck
>
>
Maple comes to mind.
Patriarch
"Fred" <FABUY@ATTGLOBALdotNET> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
<snip>
> If a wet knife touches the oak, the oak will turn black.
<snip>
And you may get blue-black stains on your knives, too. No real harm, just
doesn't look very pretty. It's due to the tannic acid in the oak.
Cheers
Frank
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chuck wrote:
> [email protected] wrote:
>>> yep. red oak isn't a very good choice for a knife rack, especially one
>> for carbon steel knives.
>
> OK, but my other 2 choices here seem to be poplar or pine.
> Guess I could probably try to order online, but I hate
> to buy wood without seeing it's shape and its grain.
Call around to _all_ the lumberyards listed in the phone book. It's very
likely that at least one of them is a hardwood yard. Probably the one with
the smallest and least promising looking ad.
> As all but 1 or 2 of the knives are non-stain, I'll live with
> the oak (looks great)and try find something less acid for
> the older knives.
>
> thanks all,
>
> chuck
--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)
[email protected] wrote:
>> yep. red oak isn't a very good choice for a knife rack, especially one
> for carbon steel knives.
OK, but my other 2 choices here seem to be poplar or pine.
Guess I could probably try to order online, but I hate
to buy wood without seeing it's shape and its grain.
As all but 1 or 2 of the knives are non-stain, I'll live with
the oak (looks great)and try find something less acid for
the older knives.
thanks all,
chuck