How to Carve a Fruit Bowl in Wood

Check out this time lapse video of fruit bowl carving. It makes me want to pick up my carving tools and get started.

 

One common question about wooden bowls and other utensils that may handle food is how to apply a food safe finish.

Common sense would lead one to believe that only a food-based oil would be safe.  These oils include olive oil, canola oil and rapeseed oil.  These oils do in fact provide some level of protection but it is limited and requires frequent re-application.  Another disadvantage to using plant-based oils is that they can become slightly rancid if allowed to pool on the surface rather than being fully absorbed into the wood fibers.

It’s easy to believe that modern film finishes like oil-based polyurethane, water-based polyurethane and tung oil would be a bad choice for a wooden bowl or utensil.  This is based on the belief that these finishes are toxic.  Well, yes and no.   In liquid form, these finishes do contain some volatile compounds that may pose some health risks.  Once fully cured, however, film finishes no longer contain these volatile compounds. What’s left over as a precipitate after the liquid cures is a combination of stable resins and polymers that is essentially inert. Their surface is essentially water proof and, if not aggressively scratched or abraded, will not flake off into your food.

It is still a god idea to apply a wax finish to any wooden object that may frequently be exposed to wet or sticky substances.  I’d aim for a plant or beeswax based finish.