Need help/advise

[Clayton717]

I had a lady come to me wanting a salt and pepper bowl. She saw one on a cooking show and wants me to make her one. No big deal its a pretty simple design. but my question is what can I finish the inside with that won't affect the salt or the salt won't affect it. Could I line the inside with a thin coat of epoxy or do I just use a food safe finish?

[amazingkevin]

not knowing but epoxy sounds toxic to me.

[Oges]

This guy does the internals with a salad bowl finish, I would probably lean that way for your bowls too

http://www.rudieswoodwork.com/PepperMills.htm

[mouse]

I would just use bees wax well buffed up when dry.

[Travis]

Pretty much any finish when fully cured is food safe. I think a lot lean toward oils because if its chopped on or scraped, you won't get flakes of finish. Mineral oil is completely inert, so many folks use that. You can make a paste of mineral oil & bees wax for a nice finish. The only problem I could think of is salt. Salt has a tendency to pull moisture from whatever surrounds it. So if it has oil/wax, I'd imagine it would absorb a bit of that into the salt.

 

If it was me, I'd do the outside with a finish of choice, but leave the inside raw wood. But then again, the salt might absorb some of the aroma from the wood.

 

Another option is a poly on the inside that's nice and thick to create a nice plastic lining. Then the outside with a finish of choice.

[inspirations]

Hi clayton, regarding your salt/pepper pots .I spoke to a friend who is a Wood Turner and he has made salt and pepper pots in the past and always left the inside bare wood subject to ensuring that the wood is dry and smooth, one of the species he has used is Purple Heart with no adverse effects

Brian

[Clayton717]

thanks for the help.