How to finish

[Hairtrigger]

My wife wanted a board to make dough on in the kitchen. She does not use it as a cutting board. The one she has now is just a piece of 1/2" plywood and had lasted 12 years. I went to a local big box store and bought a 24" x 36" pine that is 3/4" thick. This is just what she wants.
What do I put on it to keep moisture from warping it? I am thinking this can't be a whole bunch different from butcher block but pine instead.

[LONGTOM]

You can season it the same as you would for a butcher block or if she will never use a knife on it then a good polyurathene or a couple of coats of FABULON.
FABULON will make a very hard, slick finish.
It is the same stuff they used to put on the school gym floors.
You know how slick and hard they were.
I once used it on a rifle stock.
It did a beautiful job and was hard as a rock.
If it is fully coveren (all sides & edges) you can soak it in water with no ill effects.
GOOD STUFF!!!


LONGTOM

[bilmac]

Like Longtom said if you don't ever touch it with a knife then a hard finish would probably be a lot easier to clean. If you can't find fabulon, A few coats of polyurathane is pretty good. I am finding that two or three coats of sanding sealer, with light sanding with a very fine paper between coats and then a couple of coats of good poly makes a nice finish. If you just use poly for all coats, do sand between coats. Not a lot, just enough to smooth out the previous coat. Wait until the poly is very dry before sanding or it will just plug up your sandpaper.

[LONGTOM]

Between the last couple of coats I like to use 0000 steel wool.
Make sure you use a tack cloth after sanding or useing the wool.


LONGTOM

[mirage1988]

I wouldn't use poly on a surface that will be used for food prep. I would either use mineral oil, or there is a special oil made just for butcher blocks, it is a blend of mineral oil and something else (?). An oiled surface would be better too for mixing bread, the dough wouldn't stick to it. Pine will soak up a lot of oil, though.

[gwindrider1]

+1 for Mineral oil!

[mcwoodduck]

I would not use the mineral oil.  I would go with the poly coat.  It would be very slick and the dough will not stick to it.  I have made one for my Step monster.  Use the foam brushes with the wooden handles and the piece of thin black plastic in them for your final coat.  I used to do the toe rails on sport fishing boats 20 years ago and they would fill in the brush marks of the best $25 brushes back then and there was nothing to clean up.  The foam brushes with the yellow plastic handles sometime come apart with the tackey varnishes and that is a real PITA to sand out. 
When making bread it is a science project and you need to add x parts of this and y parts of that for it to turn out right.  Having oil on the board... Some of it will get into the dough.  If you have to use oil I would use vegtable, canola, or sun flower oil.  None have a strong flavor and are edible.  Not sure i really want to eat silicone that is in the butchers block oil.  And most of the mineral oils I have seen have poison control information on the back.

[mirage1988]

This is what I found.

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/cuttingblock

[Lon371]

 If I can make a suggestion. If you would like to make one like butcher block with out glueing all the pieces. You can go to a Semi Trailer repair shop, The wood they use for the flooring is a hard(oak I think) wood. It is about 12" across and as long as you like. I have seen it used for cutting blocks and counter tops. Alot of shops have pieces laying around. Most places wont mess with an 18"-25" piece. They replace long sections when they do floor reapirs. Good luck.

Lonny

[GRIMJIM]

It is oak, and very strong. I worked in a trailer repair shop for a while and had to bust out sections of it with a heavy sledge. My back hurts just thinking of it .

[Doug B.]

The biggest mistake that many people are guilty of is totally immersing blocks and knife handles and soaking for long periods of time. Keeping them out of the water as much as possible during the actual "cleaning" process will help keep wood looking better and longer no matter what the finish.