What finishes do you use?

It largely depends on what I’m making; different finishes serve different purposes and can radically change the appearance of a piece of wood. Generally I use a hard-wax oil finish for my own furniture, and I will use various finishes for lathe projects depending on their intended use.

For chopping boards, and lathe projects that may come into contact with food, I use my own finish made from blended pharmaceutical grade mineral oil and beeswax. This brings out the natural colour and grain in the wood, however the downside is that it does not dry hard to create a shiny finish and needs to be reapplied occasionally.

The main ingredients of my chopping board and bowl finish are sourced from small independent suppliers in the UK. I source pharmaceutical grade beeswax from The London Bee Company (https://www.thelondonbee.com) based in Dorking Surrey, and pharmaceutical grade mineral oil from The Cornish Chopping Board Company (https://www.thecornishchoppingboardcompany.co.uk). Both of these ingredients have been confirmed as food safe by their respective suppliers. I also include a few drops of lemon food flavouring which results in a sweet smelling finish that is a pleasure to use: note that the smell gradually dissipates from the bowl or board after a few hours. Chopping boards are also given multiple coats of mineral oil before the wax finish is applied.

For lathe projects that are not intended for direct contact with food I use various finishes to produce a long lasting shine - this may include abrasive paste, polish and different sanding sealers depending on my goal. These finishes are non-toxic, however some are not intended for direct contact with food.

When working on restoration projects, the finish used depends on what I have been able to identify as the original finish - often this would be shellac for most antiques, but could be anything depending on the age of the piece. A customer may also request a specific finish depending on their preference.