re: Tips: Cutting Boards

Don’t be cheap with the non-hardening oil.

Over and over again, I see people talk about wiping oil onto a wood surface, then wiping off the excess. This is a total waste of time and material.

Slather the oil on and walk away. You spent a lot of time getting to this point, don’t be cheap with your time now. Let the oil soak in.

I’ve taken thick butcher blocks I acquired, cheap, and drowned them in mineral oil. As long as they’d take the oil, I kept adding. When it slowed down, I doused it again and walked away. In one instance, for a few weeks. When I came back, all the splits, cracks and separations had disappeared.

It takes time for oil to wick from cell to cell. When it disappears, it’s not evaporating. It’s wicking deeper into the wood.

The oil we retard moisture loss or gain too, because it has to get past the oil. Of course, to really be effective, you “have to be sincere about your oiling process.”

I’ve done people’s fences with non-hardening oil and the difference between them and the ones next to them is night and day. If the oil replaces moisture, the wood doesn’t shrink and crack or split. Same with cedar shakes and shingles. Too, they’ll remain more resilient, even in the hot summer.