Finishing and Refinishing

[Jimca]

Friend of mine wants to use the Ikea Beech wood butcher blocks as countertops.  They are sold under the name "Lagan"?  and I think they are unfinished (and incredibly cheap).  What is a good finish for an item like this?  They'd be exposed to all the normal kitchen wear and tear/moisture.  He'd like to stain them to get a little darker than the natural wood look.   I'm guessing Waterlox?

[kmealy]

Waterlox would be my choice.

Edit: At my house, "normal kitchen usage" would include always using cutting boards

[Steve Mickley]

Jim;

...on what your friend includes in the definition of "...all the normal kitchen wear and tear..."  If cutting on the counter top falls within this definition than you most definitely do not want to use a film finish.  Once cut moisture will get beneath the finish and the finish will fail.  In that case the proper finish would be mineral oil, or mineral oil mixed with melted paraffin wax in a ratio of one-part melted wax to 5 to 7 parts warmed mineral oil...

Steve

[Jimca]

Definitely no cutting on the surface!  I did share the mineral oil finish with him if that was the case.  He did find an incredibly good looking dark stained wood counter that did use Waterlox.  It was on Garden Web if anyone is interested.  Another question though, what about using a scrap or the sink cut-out area of the wood counter as a cutting board?  Could we stain or dye this item to match and finish it with mineral oil to create a "matching" cutting board?

[jandsjacobson99]

You absolutely could do that, though I would probably stay away from the stain and dye, as it could and would end up in your food.  I would just take the cutout, clean up the edges, perhaps rout some handles and a roundover on the edges, and keep it well oiled.  That will make a great cutting board out of what would otherwise be trash.