tung oil finish

[fshenkin94]

Is tung oil "food safe"? Want to put a finish on a small bowl that may hold nuts or candy.

 

[fstepanski]

Tung Oil & Linseed Oil when dry i.e. the chemical additives have gassed off, 3 days or so is food safe.

Here is an article by Bob Flexner, don't beleive another woodworker exceeds Bob's knowledge on finishing.

http://www.woodcentral.com/cgi-bin/readarticle.pl?dir=finishing&file=articles_497.shtml

 

[slick]

Interesting article, not at all what I expected. Thank you.

 

[dbriski]

I would be weary of useage just after 3 days. It is safe once fully cured, that may take weeks. If you can smell it, its not done curing.

 

[redfishsc]

For food safe finishes, I just use either pure Tung oil (no metallic dryers added) or polyurethane if they want a heavy film finish. I require a full month of curing for the urethane before I use anything with food.

BTW, "salad bowl finishes" works and behaves JUST LIKE thinned polyurethane and I doubt there is a difference.

 

[cdcarter]

Note that a lot of what is labeled "tung oil" is in fact a blend of poly and boiled linseed oil. No tung oil at all. There was a good article on this about a month ago in one of the wood magazines.

 

[alamocdc]

It should be noted (IMO) that some finishes can be dissolved by acids (vinegar) and alcohol. For me, this is not an issue with Mineral Oil or Shellac since both are edible (as far as we know). The problem with Walnut oil is that it can become rancid. Pure Tung or Linseed oil may also be okay, but I typically stay with Mineral oil, or a mixture of Mineral oil and Bees Wax. Again, this is my opinion only and I'm certainly no expert. I just know what I'm comfortable with my family ingesting so I apply the same mind set to things I make for others. Oh, and polyurethane may indeed be impervious to acids and alcohols, but anything that leaves a plastic-like coating can chip and I'm just not comfortable with it.