# finish for a French rolling pin



## kjhart0133 (Feb 4, 2009)

Hello all,

I just completed turning a French rolling pin for a friend of mine. We saw it in a shop in the Amana Colonies here in Iowa and she was going to buy it for $25. I said, "I can make you one of those for free!"

I dug out some old walnut I had hanging around, milled up a 2x2x21 inch blank and had at it. It came out pretty well. The rolling pin itself is 18" long; the center is 1-7/8" dia. and it tapers to 1" at each end. See picture.

This bit of woodworking will touch food so I need some advice on what finish to apply. I'm thinking some kind of natural oil finish that's food safe, but I'd like to get some suggestions from the experts on this forum.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Kevin H.


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

You want something which is easily refreshed.

Options which come to mind are a wax or an oil.

Oils are easier to penetrate deeper. Waxes not so easy.

a) Clear mineral oil. Sold in Woodcraft etc as "Butcher Block Oil". Cheaper in a pharmacy. Just get a product which does not contain any scents.
b) Walnut oil. I have a gallon. If you were local I would give you a pint.
c) Beeswax. I find this penetrates better if you apply over the wood, then warm with a hair dryer on hot setting while rubbing with paper towel. Some folks advocate putting the piece in the oven to warm it up. I like the hair dryer since I have better control and will not over heat.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

I would just use mineral oil.








 







.


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## cuerodoc (Jan 27, 2012)

+1 on the mineral oil.
Food safe and cheap---just go into the laxative section of the drugstore--should be $2-3.
I can hear the howls now---:laughing:--the wood holds it well and if any goes to the foods, it's an insignificant amount. It reapplies easy too.
That's what I use on my rolling pins.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

My 3" pin has some sort of oily finish but most of that may have been from years of pastry! Maybe some sort of shortening is the thing to use. However mild it may be, a laxitive mineral oil isn't on my list. I would not be surprised to learn that the oily finish was oven baked (3 mins @ 325F)

If you look at the new pins in the J B Prince (chef supply) site, 
the pins in the pictures are certainly glossy enough to suggest some sort of finish.


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## duncsuss (Aug 21, 2009)

The two important factors to avoid are (1) oils which turn rancid, and (2) oils to which are known to trigger allergies in some people.

(1) rules out animal fats and most vegetable oils. (2) rules out most nut oils.

Use mineral oil.


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## Bill Boehme (Feb 9, 2014)

+ for mineral oil.

It is a petroleum product that has been in the ground for millions of years without catalyzing or going rancid. Since it never dries it will continue to slowly soak into the wood until it is evenly distributed throughout the entire piece of wood. This means that the surface will look like oil has not been applied after a few weeks of the oil continuing to migrate slowly further into the wood. Periodically it would be a good idea to apply a fresh application of mineral oil. It, like the first coat, will soak into the wood until it is no longer visible on the surface. You can choose to repeat the process as often as you wish. Some people mistakenly assume that the mineral oil is being rubbed off or washed off since they can't see it after a few months of use, but it is still there ... just going deeper into the wood.

The amount of mineral oil that might be transferred to dough that is being rolled would be so microscopic that it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to detect. The amount of mineral oil needed to grease the skids in your digestive tract would be several tablespoons.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

Wait a minute, this is a pastry pin which will be subjected to all sorts of animal and hydrogenated vegetable fats! When the oil/fat replaces the surface wood air, there isn't any air for the oxidation process. Outside surface is exposed to 21% oxygen but in service, the pin will never go stinky.

3 minutes at 325F. The contracting wood air will pull the finish much further into the surface wood than a room temperature finish. Gas physics prediction from Charles' Law.
I've got bars of beeswax from an apiary. Might scrub a stick and bake it. Waxes all melt at 70C/160F or below. So the beeswax will liquify in the oven and should stay liquid long enough when I take it out.


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## john lucas (Sep 18, 2007)

Well you should use French Polish of course.


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## Bill Boehme (Feb 9, 2014)

Robson Valley said:


> Wait a minute, this is a pastry pin which will be subjected to all sorts of animal and hydrogenated vegetable fats! When the oil/fat replaces the surface wood air, there isn't any air for the oxidation process. Outside surface is exposed to 21% oxygen but in service, the pin will never go stinky.
> 
> 3 minutes at 325F. The contracting wood air will pull the finish much further into the surface wood than a room temperature finish. Gas physics prediction from Charles' Law.
> I've got bars of beeswax from an apiary. Might scrub a stick and bake it. Waxes all melt at 70C/160F or below. So the beeswax will liquify in the oven and should stay liquid long enough when I take it out.


That is sort of the way that I did a cutting board many years ago except that the temperature was somewhat lower. I would put the board in the oven long enough to get it hot -- about 5 minutes and then coated it with lots of cooking oil. The oil soaked in instantly. I did this every day for about a month and was amazed by the amount of oil that soaked into the wood. Interestingly, even after all that oiling, the wood still looked like it did before I started oiling it.

This was about forty years ago and no information available about what sort of oil to use, but I am happy to report that the Wesson corn oil worked just fine and none of the "dire consequences" that you read about on the Internet these days. Possibly if the wood had not been heated and the oil left on the surface, there might have been some sticky residue, but I think that people mostly repeat what they have heard or read without actually knowing how good or bad the information might really be.

Despite my good results, I would say that there are some other products available now that are better than cooking oil.

I still have the board and use it frequently.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

Bill, that is exactly my point = a simple application of Charles' Law trumps any other room temperature finish. Me too. I kept the kitchen sticks that didn't look so great. They look dry after 12 months of use. I know they are oil soaked. If I never used them (3 tonight with rice and a chicken curry), I expect that they would go stinky in 40-60 years.

We all need to get past internet hooey where the posters have no vested interest in what they say.

I sell those kitchen sticks. They have to be really good.


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## Bill Boehme (Feb 9, 2014)

BTW, wouldn't it be more correct to refer to what is going on as the Ideal Gas Law which is a combination of Charles's Law and Boyle's Law?


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## kjhart0133 (Feb 4, 2009)

Turns out what I had in the shop is paraffin oil. So I went to the market this morning and got some Mineral Oil; $2.99 for a pint. I'm on my way now to try it out on a test piece. I don't think I'll be heating this rolling pin in the oven; I don't want to risk any warping or cracking. It's pretty long compared to its diameter, 18:2. If the test piece looks good I'll apply it to the rolling pin and let everyone know how it comes out.

Thanks,

Kevin H.


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## Bill Boehme (Feb 9, 2014)

kjhart0133 said:


> Turns out what I had in the shop is paraffin oil. So I went to the market this morning and got some Mineral Oil; $2.99 for a pint. I'm on my way now to try it out on a test piece. I don't think I'll be heating this rolling pin in the oven; I don't want to risk any warping or cracking. It's pretty long compared to its diameter, 18:2. If the test piece looks good I'll apply it to the rolling pin and let everyone know how it comes out.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Kevin H.


Paraffin oil is just another name for mineral oil. However, it is also another name for kerosene or for various saturated hydrocarbons. Paraffin oil is sort of loosely used to describe too many different things and be the source of confusion about what it really is. It is better to do what you did and get some USP Mineral Oil from the drug store.

You really do not need to heat the oven very much ... 160° F or whatever is the lowest temperature of the oven is more than enough You can also leave the oven door propped open a few inches and turn it off as soon as the wood in placed inside. This will make the wood warm to the touch, but not hot. If the wood was dry when you turned it then it shouldn't warp any further. If the wood wasn't dry then, I hate to say it, but you shouldn't have turned it because that almost guarantees that it will warp -- how much depends on how wet.


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