[CPNMike]

Well, doggone it, I forgot to put some kind of anti-blotching on this hard Maple board before I put a few coats of mineral oil on it. I did try to sand it down a bit, wipe on General Finishes Pre-Stain conditioner (water based), let it dry for a few hours, and then wipe on mineral oil again, but as you can see, it didn't help. Maybe I didn't sand deep enough. So my questions are:

Is this even "fixable" now?
Is the G.F. pre-stain conditioner a good choice for blotch control or should I get some of the Charles Neil stuff?
Did I not give the G.F. conditioner enough time to do it's thing?
I didn't try scraping the mineral oil off - do you think that would work?

Thanks for any help!

 

[2lim]

I would not recommend putting conditioner on a cutting board, as I am not sure it is food safe. You can try sanding/scraping/planing it down and recoating with mineral oil, or let the mineral oil "naturally" come out by putting it through "normal" use(wash it and dry it with soapy water a few times).

Generally if my boards turn splotchy, I zing them through my spiral planer once, re-sand them, and re-apply my oil.

Simon

 

[Steve Neul]

I'm not sure what caused that but the wood conditioner would have had the same results. If the shadow didn't pass over several boards I would say it was some mineral stain in the wood. I believe the only thing you can do is sand it off and treat it with the mineral oil again and hope for the best.

 

[Crusader]

Ok that's super cool! I see you like fine Woodworking :thumbsup: I'm going to try that one myself here real soon. Any tips, or things you ran into while making that fine board?

 

[Gilgaron]

Maybe I have poor taste or something, but I think it looks awesome as-is

 

[Mayor]

By the shadow passing through several boards as stated above....and just looking at the picture. I would think that one might have laid a forearm on the board while sanding and the natural body oils got onto the wood and prevented the mineral oil from sinking in evenly!. I've had that happen before with almost exact results. I just ran mine thru a planer and took it down another 1/16" or so and then resanded and reapplied the mineral oil! Came out great!

 

[CPNMike]

Thanks everyone! It won't fit in my planer so I guess I'll try a deeper round of scraping/sanding and then the mineral oil.

crusader - I just followed the article in FWW. If you don't have it, let me know and I'll get it to you. My only advice would be to make sure your template is dead flat on the edge where the router bearing rides. Otherwise, as you gradually go deeper and deeper routing the groove, each depth will be a slightly different width and you'll have to go back and correct it somehow or you'll have gaps in the curved insert pieces. I hope that makes sense. Also, it does help to have an extra set of hands for the glue-ups.

 

[ryan50hrl]

I've never used anything on a cutting board other than mineral oil. I'd pour a bunch on, and let it sit for a day or two. And by a bunch I mean a bunch. I will sometimes make a lip around the outside of the board with scraps so I can keep standing oil on the board.

 

[Masterjer]

I think it looks awesome as is.

I tried this technique with an end grain board - it didn't work out so well. When routing for the curved stripes, it completely blew a huge chunk out of the board as I got near the exit. Lesson learned. Routing end grain is not as forgiving as face grain.

 

[MT Stringer]

I've never used anything on a cutting board other than mineral oil. I'd pour a bunch on, and let it sit for a day or two. And by a bunch I mean a bunch. I will sometimes make a lip around the outside of the board with scraps so I can keep standing oil on the board.

I made a pond for mine. :icon_smile: I didn't have anything big enough for it to fit (15 1/2 x 24). It worked fine.

 

[rbk123]

Maybe I have poor taste or something, but I think it looks awesome as-is

First thing I thought when I saw the pic. I wish a lot of my projects were as "ruined" as that one..

 

[frankp]

If that's ruined I'm just going to go ahead and sell all my tools now. Seriously, that finish isn't what I would call "blotchy" at all and I suspect most of it is unavoidable no matter what you do to prep it. The board looks great.

 

[johnnie52]

That board looks perfect to me. IMO, some blemishes in a cutting board make it look better than one without. Besides, its for laying down and slamming a knife into, not hanging on the wall and admiring. Its going to get a lot more beat up from normal use than the extremely minor flaws I see in it now.

 

[CPNMike]

Thank you all for your comments. It seems most of you agree with my wife. She likes it the way it is and gives me crap all the time for trying to make things too perfect.

It's wood for crying out loud, it's never going to be perfect! I need to get that in my head. I just like my projects to be as nice as possible.

Again, thank you all for the kind words and setting me straight.

 

[Steve Neul]

Thank you all for your comments. It seems most of you agree with my wife. She likes it the way it is and gives me crap all the time for trying to make things too perfect.

It's wood for crying out loud, it's never going to be perfect! I need to get that in my head. I just like my projects to be as nice as possible.

Again, thank you all for the kind words and setting me straight.

Well nobody was suggesting throwing it out and starting over. I think it merits 15 minutes to sand it and re-oil it.

 

[DonG1947]

I just like my projects to be as nice as possible.
.

I agree with your sentiment. My dad alway used to say, "If you are going to do it, you might as well do it right." I try to live up to that and have passed that on to my daughters---both woodworkers.

Your board is beautiful, but I see your source of frustration.

I do some cooking and would hate it if anyone gave me either of the 2 boards that have been pictured in this thread. They would just take up space because there would be NO WAY I would put a knife to those beautiful boards. I recognize the work that went into them and couldn't destroy their beauty.

Don