Apple and Cherry Bowls

Jack Giovo

Member
Messages
23
Location
Upstate New York
I cut up a old over turned apple tree and I also required some cherry. I want to make some bowls out the wood. I read somewhere that fruit wood bowls are not good for humans. Is this true and what would be the best finish to put on them.
 
I am assuming by when you said not good for humans that you meant these bowls would be for food purposes. Not sure which fruit wood isn't good but I have some apple, cherry, walnut and plum bowls which I have never had a problem with. I eat out of one or the other every morning having my cereal. I either use General Finishes Seal-A-Cell followed by Arm-R-Seal or Minwax Antique oil. Ernie Conover had told me in a e-mail that Antique oil is all he uses on anything he turns including his utility items. Any finish is food safe if cured 72 hrs or more. The only other finish I have used on bowls in Mike Mahoney's walnut oil. I have some dinner plates we eat off of 3 or 4 times a week with that on them.
 
Thanks Bernie - I went on line and found I could get seal-a-cell at many places. I have used Deft lacquer sanding sealer which I get local is this the same type application?

Jack:huh:
 
I am assuming by when you said not good for humans that you meant these bowls would be for food purposes. Not sure which fruit wood isn't good but I have some apple, cherry, walnut and plum bowls which I have never had a problem with. I eat out of one or the other every morning having my cereal. I either use General Finishes Seal-A-Cell followed by Arm-R-Seal or Minwax Antique oil. Ernie Conover had told me in a e-mail that Antique oil is all he uses on anything he turns including his utility items. Any finish is food safe if cured 72 hrs or more. The only other finish I have used on bowls in Mike Mahoney's walnut oil. I have some dinner plates we eat off of 3 or 4 times a week with that on them.

hey bernie,, how do you keep the plates in good shape??? doesnt the dishwashing cause trouble? let alone cuttin a steak on one??.:huh:
 
hey bernie,, how do you keep the plates in good shape??? doesnt the dishwashing cause trouble? let alone cuttin a steak on one??.:huh:
He's using a bowl, and unless he's eating T-Bone Chex as his breakfast cereal, he probably doesn't use a knife. :p Washing could just be done with warm soapy water, rinse, and dry immediately. (About like a cutting board, without the knife marks.) ;)
 
Larry most times I don't eat steak on them. They do get some cuts on them but it doesn't seem to hurt them much. We wash them with soapy water, rinse and dry immediately. I then let them air dry for a while before putting them away.
 
Jack,
I've cut up and turned many an old pushed over apple tree. In PA I was told that the older varieties of apple trees eventually grew too tall for easy picking and were being replaced by others that wouldn't grow as tall and would therefore be more efficient to harvest. The local lore suggested these trees had been treated with so many different kinds of pesticides over their 30 year life, many of which were systemic (designed to be absorbed by the plant), that the wood was both unsafe to burn in home fireplaces and use as eating utensils. That didn't stop me from turning stuff out of it and I think the walnut oil and beeswax coating I use for a finish probably keeps any residual pesticides from leaching out of the wood onto my salad--it only sits in the bowl for half an hour.
 
...The local lore suggested these trees had been treated with so many different kinds of pesticides over their 30 year life, many of which were systemic (designed to be absorbed by the plant), that the wood was both unsafe to burn in home fireplaces and use as eating utensils...


So after hearing that, I would guess that maybe it's just unsafe to breath in the dust this wood lets off (as is any wood really) as you are turning/sanding it? Because once you put a finish on something that's it right? :dunno: As in, if there is anything "poisoness" or "dangerous" about the wood, it wouldn't be able to seep past the finish would it? :dunno: Just goin out on a limb here
 
That is why when sanding you need to wear some kind of protection and I am sure you know that. I wear either my Trend or a mask I got called Totobobo from VincesWoodNWonders.
 
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