peanut oil?

At our woodturning club meeting today, a member was showing off some of his recent, really great, work. He said he uses peanut oil for his finishes. The finishes looked just fine. But, this is a new one to me. Enneybody here ever heard of this or have used it for their finishes?
BTW, I have about 15 gallons of peanut oil in the garage left over from a fish fry I did for one of my clubs. I offered to him.

Frank,

I've never heard of using peanut oil as a finish either, however, I guess it shouldn't be too different than using walnut oil. I don't think used oil would be a good idea due the leftover fats which would likely go rancid in time.

Several points (all discussed recently on the AAW forum):

1. Nut allergies. A fair number of people are extremely allergic to nut products. I have a very close friend who starts having breathing problems if someone eats a peanut butter sandwich too close to her. Peanut oil contacting her skin makes her break out in a rash.

2. Rancidity. Peanut oil, like any other vegetable oil, can and will go rancid.

3. Non-hardening. Peanut oil does not eventually harden (like walnut oil does). If you're using a non-hardening oil, there are better, less expensive options. Mineral oil comes to mind.

Vaughn hit the nail on the head. Peanut oil will go rancid. I tried some of it about 3 yrs ago and my wife won't have the three pieces I did in the house. They are in the storage shed. Also it will not dry and will always leave a mark wherever it is set down. Sure does make them look purdy for a while.

Rancid: I have done a lot of fish frying. The peanut oil I buy comes in about 5 gal. containers (actually it is sold as 35 lb.). Many times I have recovered and reused as much as a year later. There is no objectionable color, odor or flavor. However, what I have is over five years old and has been through freezing temps several times. Methinks that is pushing luck way too far.
I dunno about finishing or hardening qualities. I do know this demonstrator has been using PO for years for his finishing and claims success. The finish on his bowls looked and felt just fine to me. Like I said, I dunno. Seems strange to me.
I hate to sound insensitive to those with health problems. But to eliminate everything that someone might be allergic to presents other problems.
It reminds me of the Ziggy cartoon: Ziggy is watching TV. Suddenly a government announcement pops up that says, "Caution. Do not eat or drink anything until further notice."

Don't know about using it as a finish, but PO makes a good bath for a deep fried turkey...

Frank Fusco said:

I hate to sound insensitive to those with health problems. But to eliminate everything that someone might be allergic to presents other problems.
It reminds me of the Ziggy cartoon: Ziggy is watching TV. Suddenly a government announcement pops up that says, "Caution. Do not eat or drink anything until further notice."

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Just a not so little thing to think on Frank these allergies strike without notice you or your children or grand children could be their next victim tomorrow. You would be having a tough time some days just living through the day let alone having someone show up with what is your worst nightmare the one or more items your deathly allergenic to. Imagine handing a bowl finished with peanut oil to a person allergenic to peanuts & them absorbing the minutest particles of it through their skin. They don't have to eat it.Some people can't even be on an airplane where peanuts are. One lady kissed her boyfriend who had eaten peanuts she died. I have a friend that is allergenic to shell fish he & his family went out to dinner at a Mongolian restaurant where they had cooked shell fish in their wok & then proceeded to cook his dinner in the same wok we almost lost him.

Sorry to expound on this so long but its deadly. Please take these things seriously. Its something we all need to be aware of know about our friends. If your standing by & something like this happened to a close friend & you didn't know about their allergy & they died how would you feel & all just because you couldn't say that they had a certain allergy & the right treatment could be administered to save their life.

If your friend or friends don't wear an emergency ID tag identifying them & their allergy please make them aware that these are available & try to make sure they get one.

You see I work with & around the elderly, handicapped & disabled every day so I see things & hear about things & am made aware every day all day long.

The book says we will always have these people with us. Its up to us how we handle these things.

Bart, I understand what you are saying. I have some medical training in my background, my wife is a pharmacist, my son and daughter-in-law are both medical doctors. We talk about these things.
But, please read the section you quoted. Where do we draw the line? Almost everyone is allergic to something.
Many of the woods we all use day to day are potentially fatal to a small percentage of the population in the same way as peanut oil.
I'm allergic to bee stings but I choose to not live in a sealed bottle.
I'm now wondering what percentage of the population may be allergic to walnut oil, shellac, lacquer or other organic finishes.

Frank Fusco said:

...I'm now wondering what percentage of the population may be allergic to walnut oil, shellac, lacquer or other organic finishes.

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Peanut allergies occur in less than 1% of the population (0.4% to 0.6% per several sources). It's my understanding that walnut oil, once cured and hardened, loses the allergens. I've not heard of anyone with allergic reactions to the other finishes.

But all this begs the question...why does the demonstrator use peanut oil in the first place? Why would someone use a non-hardening, eventually rancid, potentially deadly, finish? What problem does it solve that other finishes cannot?

Anyway, it's his choice to use whatever he wants, and nice of you to offer him the 15 gallons you've got stored.

Not to hijack, but I had a kid out of class for a couple of days. When he came back his face was puffy. I asked him if he had a reaction to something. He told me that his little brother was taking amoxicillin. He said he is allergic to penicillin and just being around his brother caused him to have a reaction. He said his eyes had swollen shut.

My cousin almost died from an allergic reaction while his doctors were testing him to try and figure out what he was allergic too. They almost lost him in the HOSPITAL. I guess I wouldn't want my turnings to kill someone. I wouldn't even want the faint possibility of the risk. I didn't think there was much liability with pen sales but this example seems to open the door.

Some folks will try anything... Oils w/o drying polymers is not a ""finish" but a "Treatment" Might as well use Wesson Oil, or Lard, or Use Motor Oil. With any of these you can shed water and burnish to a polished end. But never a "Finish" as the simple defination of Finish referrs to being done, nothing else to do, its over, completed, and done-did. But these Oil treatments must be refreshed and renewed to keep their appearance.

Bunches of years ago I made a host of Salad bowls for Christmas gifts. As thes relatives pass on thes charished gift have made their way back to me. and I can see that they (aside from being too thick) have a terrible looking surface. Oil "finished" treatment and I think it was a Salad oil. Dull dingy almost dirty looking. All the while, Salad bowl I made in High School and finished with Spar Varnish sits on mom's counter (aside from scratches and dents) looks as well as the thick chunk appeared in 1962... I have been sanding the old bowls by hand and applying a good Polymer finish such as Wipeon Poly to get a decent looking product. Although I'm talking about 40
+ years of aging, the same holds true with neo-made pieces. Time will tell that these oil treatments are fadish and impractical.

Of course there are those who will say "They did it centuries ago" But centuries ago that was the best they had to offer....

This time, and without meaning to, I did the 'catalyst' thing. Again.
Usually, the reaction is worth a yuck or two. But, obviously, many people take this subject very seriously.
The bowl demonstrator in question does what he does. I can't add to that. Nor do I apologize for him.
The bowls were passed around for all to examine.
I happen to have the 15 gallons of peanut oil I am not going to use and offered to him.
BTW, we had 42 people at the meeting, all touched the bowls. There were no reactions.
I fried fish for years and usually fed anywhere from 50 to 100 people. I only used peanut oil. Never a problem.
Methinks people with a PO sensitivity stay away from potentially dangerous situations.
I am not insensitive to the issue. We discovered my daughter is allergic to Morphine. We once watched her in the post-op room flat line three times without the nurses or doctors, or us, knowing what was going wrong.
Can we drop the subject? I just passed along the observation because I thought it was unique.

Peanut Oil

A while back,I believe it was here in FL a young girl died from just kissing her boyfriend that had just ate a PB sand or peanuts I don't remember.That stuff is as bad as cyanide to some folks.

further news on the peanut oil thing

At my woodturning club meeting today, I approached the member who did the demo with peanut oil as a finish and told him about the firestorm I started when I began this thread.
His response gave me two bits of information he did not mention last month. The PO finishes are coated with something else. He usually uses a 50/50 mix of caranuba wax and beeswax. The PO is not exposed.
And, he said he got the idea from famous professional turner Richard Raffan who (reportedly) uses the PO almost exclusively and has for many years. Raffan uses (reportedly) a straight beeswax finish over the PO.
I qualify because I have tried using straight beeswax and it is a mess. He may not have that part right.
He also said one of Raffan's videos presents the PO method of finishing.

I checked Richard Raffan's book, wood turning on page 189,190 and 191 he talks about thining oil with mineral spirits and using either bees wax or parafin wax. He doesn't say what kind of oil.

Peanut Oil

I don't mean to change the topic,but just out of curiosity,why would someone want to take a chance with any finish that could actually kill some folks when we have countles types of finishes out there that are proven safe to use in food containers over the years

I have 1 of Raffan videos - "Turning Wood" - He does use the wax as you mentioned but I do not see anything about using PO....................Its a good instructional video and I have learned from it....Raffan is one of the top turners around but I personally do not want to just put beeswax on my turning and call it done.
Anyway - with so many finishes and oils out there to use and in my opinion they are not costly at all and last me awhile - I personally would find a better oil to use.......Antiquer Oil, Danish Oil, etc........I use beeswax with orange oil mixture sometimes and it works great. Im sure you will get alot of ideas and suggestions because when you mention the word finishing everybody does them differently and has their own ideas........I find the topic very interesting to see what others use.