I started with Mineral Oil, then moved to Howards an now use Mahoney's Walnut oil because my buddy recommended it and love it. Thank you for making this video.

Thank you for taking time to do this video. It is lot of work and your time is valuable. You have helped me and i thank you!

I’ve tried Odies, mineral oil, walrus oil, tung oil, and linseed oil on my boards. They all have positives and negatives. I’ve notice that the grain pops on walnut after a few days with mineral oil and walrus oil. I like odies dark, linseed oil, and tung oil on maple. The really penetrating oils can mask some of the character on dark walnut. I prefer something with a oil/wax combo for walnut. Just in case any cares!

Thank you for a proper instructional and very informative video. Very helpful.

Interesting video - good content for something most people take for granted. Thanks

Excellent Explanation Just built a project and experimented with Odies, and their stain and oil & butter, etc… what a learning curve. Expensive one both in time AND materials. And too I believe that the kicker was the color aspect. The cure time for the “ stain” with 1 way of making the “ stain” requires like 24 hr dry time - I learned a lot and the customer support is pretty good! One aspect that was different for me was if the “color “ “ mix “ [stain] is NOT cured, the Oils will actually pull pigment from the wood! Thank you for your review of the oils/ waxes- I NOW plan to USE the Odies for its durability & ease of application! I’ve also used a brand called walrus food safe oil and believe the clients remain happy , BUT it’s Probably NOT getting blasted with cleanin much! Thoughts on Rubio? Keep on going --BTW noticed your magnet racks for chisels etc “ same” same - with a small shop, with limited time to make racks & constant cleaning up in order to actually get some work done I’ve added many more magnet strips and removed space taker racks ! “ ya know .., great minds right…” haha- Any excellent tips / designs for: 1]Mitre saw station & vacuum setup- my setup is lame 2] Should have NOT bought the contractor Sawstop as my dust collection is awful! Love the saw though Any good tips in case you’ve addressed this weak aspect of this type of saw dust collection? 3] simple router / handheld jigs for straight edge ie templates/ and or in a router table easy setting location of said bit - Feel free to email - hewittcory@gmail.com Thanks man Cory

Thanks for the info . I just made my first board and used mineral oil and it looks great. I'll try the walnut next , I like the look.

Thanks for the video. I am making some boards now and bought Howards for the finish. Might have to get some Odies when that runs out.

I will try the two I haven’t yet. Thanks

Oh, another word on walnut oil and rags. I, being some one who has to experiment, tried to get my walnut oil soaked rags to spontaneously combust. It never worked, until one day in mid summer, I had left some out to dry on a black plastic garbage bag that was full of shavings. It was also on the south side of the shop so it got excellent sun exposure. It did start to smolder. So I would say that as long as rags are spread out flat, on concrete or gravel, it is pretty much impossible for the walnut oil soaked rags to combust. This is because of the very slow oxidation/curing rate of the walnut oil. It takes a week or so for the oil to cure, and sunlight and heat help speed up the process.

Good call showing the wear after being washed a few times.

Really fantastic testing and comparison, dude! Thanks a lot! 😃 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

I'm using "Bamboo Renew" which looks like the exact same thing as your "Butcher Block Conditioner" even down to the bottle, color, and ingredients.

Really great video.

Thank you !

Thanks Caleb!

Love making my own board butter, 1-4 part bees wax/mineral oil great video

great taste in finishes AND alternative rock

I watch a lot of wood working and related videos but very rarely leave a comment. I like your video very much because it is direct, to the point and informative without a bunch of BS. Great video thank you very much. KJ

Thanks, Caleb. I'm currently doing a mineral oil bath, then applying Howards, and finishing off with a homebrew board butter of beeswax and mineral oil. Odie's has scared me off due to price. After this video, I need to reconsider. Thanks.

so if you have put mineral oil or mineral oil butcher block conditioner into your board do you need to sand the board back to bare wood to add a different finish?

Ya gotta get to it at some point

Bought Odie's oil and liked the ease but was taken back by the fact that it takes 3 weeks to cure otherwise water spots appear. great video, thank you.

The best and at the same time most cost effective oil I have tested is refractionated coconut oil. Just remember, it has to be refractionated

Great video. One question I have is if the Howard’s conditioner that you used in the video is a standalone product or if that is added after the mineral oil.

Very informative video..well done. I was considering making a cutting board and will get to it just as soon as I recover from the heart attack I had seeing the price of the Odie oil...LOL Must be made from virgin unicorns on top of a really high mountain and I'm gonna have to leave any unused Odie in my will.

Great comparison video! Question: how does the Odie's Oil work on wood/resin boards? Specifically the resin part of the board? Thanks.

Thanks!

I use Flax oil. It is food safe. I use it all the time on my Blackstone griddles. It polymerizes, so it is a good drying finish. I can get a nice sized bottle from Walmart for about $9 and change. Since it is basically a linseed oil it will provide a good water resistant finish to wood. The only downside to any linseed oil finish is to burn the rags you use to put them on because they can spontaneous combust. I burn my rags that I use to put in seed oil on my axe handles and gun stocks after use. I don’t know the exact chemical difference between flax oil and linseed oil but I treat them the same, since they are made from the same thing - flax.

Excellent video, very informative. I use mineral oil from the pharmacy on my cutting board. The bottle says to take a tablespoon to be used as a laxative. I am considering adding some bees wax to get a durable finish. Is bees wax food grade or food safe?

Thanks for the video and explanations. I'd have been interested to see you test (real) tung oil as well.

can I use the walnut oil first to get depth of warmth I'm looking for and then go back over it lightly with the Odies oil for the durability?

hi there, awesome video with great info. What about serving board finish, as opposed to a cutting board a serving board would be to put food, ie cheeses cured meats, veggies etc. I am struggling with finding a finish, these foods have oil that leave marks on the types of finish you have on your video. Would this be a time to use polyurethanes since you would never use a knife on the board anyways. I would be interested in your view. Appreciate your time, thanks.

What if you did Howard's mineral oil and then Howard's butcher board wax conditioner on top?

Great presentation, thank you. Question. I like the idea of the Odie’s Oil, but the boards I have do have some cracks (through, top to bottom on edges), and I wouldn’t be able to get the paste down into the cracks. Suggestions? Thanks!

What about Watco Danish Oil when cured??????????/

I have nothing to say really, but I appreciate your content, and wish to help with the yt-algorithms.

Where did you get the magnetic tool holders visible in the background?

Mineral oil won’t spontaneously combust. That’s only for drying/polymerizing oils like linseed and tung. Walnut oil probably can as well since it’s a drying oil.

FYI anyone who wants to use mineral oil, go to a pharmacy or drug section of a store and you can get it sold as a laxative for cheap. It’s about the the same price per mL as a getting a bulk gallon, but they sell it in small containers so you don’t need to buy a decades worth at a time

can i just give it minerald oil. then give it beewax. and when i ship it theres a little case with bee wax they can add to it when needed?

What would you recommend as a finish for charcuterie boards? Tom Fronapfel

Tung oil is also a great option. Make sure you use real Tung oil and not a "Tung Oil Finish"

What are your thoughts on pure tung oil for cutting boards?

Have you ever used thinned ting oil to treat you cutting boards?

At 6:16 he advocates warming up the finish but there is no mention of warming up the cutting board. When the warm liquid contacts the cutting board the temperature goes down very fast. Why not warm up the cutting board as well as the finish? Please explain.

For all intents and purposes, the parts of the finishes that are not good for you are the solvents. This means that once the finish has fully dried, its food safe. If you can still smell it in the wood its not fully cured yet. Yes they are toxic if you drink them but once dry they are pretty much all safe. You have to ask the questions.

Speaking of polymerizing oils have you tried tung or hemp oil? For that matter what about linseed (available as food-safe flax) oil? I'm not a board maker, build the occasional project and do a little furniture restoration. Tung is great for that as it's a bit semi-gloss. I've been using hemp on the butcher (grain exposed) boards in my kitchen (and sometimes a 'butter' I make with it and beeswax). It wears where it's gotten beaten up by knives (shaving-sharp knives here). I've experimented with making a first coat of 50/50 hemp oil and orange-peel solvent. Doesn't seem to make it any more knife-proof (wears about the same in those spots).

Will a 2x4 hold a porch swing?

Why didn’t you show us the result of washing?

This maybe a silly question but how did you buff the Howards finish?

I enjoyed this video but I would love you share more of the results, like focus on it a bit more

I have been using walnut oil on my bowls for 20 or more years, can't remember. The walnut oil does cure and harden which mineral oil and vegetable oils do not do. Vegetable oils will polymerize if it is heated, like seasoning a cast iron pan. I did use Mike Mahoney's oil for a number of years, and switched to 'the Doctor's Woodshop' walnut oil. Especially for end grain cutting boards, final coat is applied with a heat gun which makes the oil penetrate better. His carnauba wax in his oils can spread without heat. For me, I won't put anything on my bowls that I can't eat straight out of the can.... The walnut oil you buy in the grocery stores is not the same thing. Some will cure, and some will not.

how does the Mahoney's wax and Odie's oil do with knife marks?

Aren't the Odies products discontinued?

problem with spendy oills, if you are SELLING boards, the customer will likely not buy and reaapply something that costs a lot. Mineral oil you can cheap at Walmart or local drug store.

Grapeseed oil. Food safe, food grade, no odor, no color. Also my go to cooking oil because it adds no flavor but allows the flavor of the food to come through and has a 420 degree smoke point. 3 or four coats, rubbed in with your bare hand (you can rub the excess into your hands as this oil is a great treatment for dry hands). Leave as little oil residue as possible after rubbing 2 or 3 minutes. I would estimate about 2 or 3 tablespoons per square foot. Allow 24 hours between coats and sand with 220 sandpaper between coats. Easily recoated anytime and brings out good color in the wood.

Time to redo your video with a NEW TotalBoat Food safe wood finish! coming soon.... you know you'll get a sample, CH!

Strange you didn't test the best oil there is for cutting boards - Pure Tung Oil. It soaks deep into the grain and cures (hardens) nicely plus it is completely food safe and food grade being a natural product made from crushing the nuts of Tung trees (painless process I promise). Takes a good three days to cure although you can quicken that by adding some Orange solvent, again made from a food source - Orange Peels. Wax is crap and you will get nothing but disappointment from clients who complain about how scratchy the board looks over time.

I make my board treatment paste from food grade walnut and flax oils plus beeswax. If there’s some question of nut allergy for the user I skip the walnut. I’m not a fan of eating petroleum products like mineral oil and if there’s no ingredient list on the product we should assume some petrochemical is in it.

The issue with walnut oil is when they start eating the cutting board.😂

What about good ole generic tung oil? Another KZfaq reviewer tried several products like you and tung oil was far and away the winner in his tests.

I wince every time I hear someone use _gift_ as a verb rather than _give._ _Gift_ is the past participle of _give._

My plastic cutting boards don't need oil.

Hmmmm... a side grain cutting board?? The BEST "cutting" boards and most duarable are made using end grain.

Mineral oil comes from oil & gas company( toxic) try hemp oil or pure oil mixed with pure beeswax

Because I’m so hard of hearing I have to stream content to my hearing aids. The background suicidal makes it hard to follow you.

I'm confused . . . Trying to figure out the point of this video. Application is a no brainer, what wasn't addressed or wasn't addressed very well was long term wear and tear and customer maintenance. Though Odies is ok not many customers will spend $45 for a jar for their cutting board and 99% will maintain their board with a mineral oil wax blend. Something to think about when selecting board finishes.

Like your videos, but you repeat yourself to many times.