Importing general finishes 'Salad bowl finish'

[Hetzenauer]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a way to get this product across the Atlantic:

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?&page=5344

Do you guys have any suggestions as most online stores don't ship to Europe (The Netherlands to be more precise).

Thx in advance! 

 

[Forrest Anderson]

I'm looking for a way to get this product across the Atlantic:

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?&page=5344

I'm not sure if must have that specific product, but here in the UK, Axminster Tool Centre (one of our main woodworking supply companies) has Chestnut Food Safe Oil which is described as:

Formulated to give you a non-tainting food safe finish for your wooden projects and turnings. Platters, cheese boards, fruit bowls, chopping and bread boards anything that is in close contact with food. Based on medicinal grade liquid paraffin, this crystal clear oil gives a durable moisture resistant neutral finish that will not impart a smell and will have minimal influence on the colour of your chosen timber when correctly applied. Coverage: 1litre to 6 - 8m?. Drying: approximately 2 hours.

Interior\Exterior - Interior 
Coverage - 1 litre to 6 - 8m? 
Application - Cloth/Brush 
Drying Time - 2 hours 
Clean Up - Detergent 

500ml - 8.31 GBP
1litre - 14.63 GBP

Postage would be:

Overseas Delivery
Consignments up 1.5kg in weight will incur a charge of  GBP 5.95.

Consignments between 1.5kg and 10kg in weight will be as follows:
Zone 1  Ireland, Belgium, Luxembourg & Netherlands  GBP12.95

The manufacturer's website, Chestnut Products, says they have a dealer in Arnhem (Baptist Voor Houtbewerkers), but I'll leave you to explore their website!

Forrest

 

[Hetzenauer]

Thanks Forrest! I will look into it right away. Still not really sure whether its an oil or varnish based product.
Thanks again!

Checked the product and it concerns an oil based product which needs maintenance quite often. I already have some cuttingboards with an oil based finish, and even though it looks nice, it wears pretty fast and I need to reapply another coat every other week. Thats why I am looking for a foodsafe varnish like the salad bowl finish made by General Finishes (or a similar product by another manufacturer).

 

[EcoFurniture]

Check out www.naturhaus.net . I'm using there products and are quite happy with them! Should be easier to get from Germany then anything from NA.

 

[Dave Ronyak]

This past weekend at a show at Hartville Tool (Ohio, USA) I discussed at length with a Behlen's factory representative the toxicity and suitability of various finishing products for items used in food preparation, serving and storage, and particularly for cutting boards and serving dishes and bowls.  He confirmed that several finishing products are not toxic once fully dried, e.g. shellac and cured, e.g. tung oil which has been used for decades to coat the interior surfaces of steel cans in which food is commercially canned and delivered to stores.  It's more often that the solvents in the finish coating materials that are hazardous to ingest.  Behlen's salad bowl finish is made of ingredients that are certified by the government to be non-toxic, so that is the only product they openly and officially promote for use in contact with food.  He did not recommend their salad bowl finish for cutting boards, because the finish sits on the surface and will be cut by knives and then small pieces will flake off.  These pieces won't cause any harm if ingested, but your cutting board will not continue to look good if you use it as a cutting board.  He reommended mineral oil, or one of the curing type oils, provided you allowed enough time for the curing type oil (e.g. tung oil) to cure.  The cutting board is going to need touching up to maintain its appearance, and there is no waiting between uses of the cutting board if maintained with use of mineral oil.

Dave R.

 

[wnagle]

When I make a cutting board and give it as a gift, I get a bottle of mineral oil from the drugstore and give it to them as well.  I tell them to wash with warm soapy water and rinse and dry after use.  Don't let it soak in water or use the dishwasher.  Then when needed usually about every three months, they can reapply the oil with a paper towel and let it soak in for a bit and buff dry.  If it gets too rough or cut up, they can bring it back and I'll run it throught the drum sander for a new look.

Marc Spagnoulo from the woodwhisperer has a method using thinned varnish, soaking all the way through an end grain cuttinboard, sealing all the fibers.  I think he thins the varnish 50-50 and soaks the cutting board top until it comes out the bottom side.  I haven't tried that yet but he seems to like it.