Board Butter

A while back I made a workshop resolution to burn less.  I wanted to make better use of my offcuts and as much as I enjoy roasting sausages over the fire I always feel a little guilty about it when I'm cooking those smokies over Walnut and Bubinga; Spruce works just as well. 

This of course means that I need to come up with ideas for small projects which don't take up much time.  Long live the cutting board / serving tray!  I've had a few other ideas come to mind but realistically this is one of the easiest as all I need to to is keep piling up the offcuts in a bucket and when the bucket is full its time to mix and match until something comes together.

With a pile of cutting boards siting in the shop waiting for a finish I decided to do it right and make up a batch of "Board Butter", which is a mixture of mineral oil and beeswax. 

Really Simple Ingredients

I filled up a jar with mineral oil to the 400ml mark and then added chips of beeswax until it measured 500ml giving me a 4 to 1 mix. 

The Mix Ready for Heating

I heated up the mix in a small pot on the stove until the wax had completely melted and then poured the mix into a wide mouth mason jar and set it to cool on the counter. 

The Mix on the Stove

Fresh From the Stove

Cooled and Ready to Use

The Board Butter is relatively similar to peanut butter in consistency and is applied with a cloth.  It then sits for a couple of minutes before being buffed to a fine luster.  

Half Waxed

Boards Waxed and Ready to Use