# foodsafe plywood?



## pike (7 Jul 2016)

What's a food safe waterproof finish for spruce plywood? I'm making myself camping containers which will sit outside now and then and ideally we could safely leave food on the top without worrying about it.

On oak I use shellac and beeswax so if that would work I've got some already.

Cheers,
Carl.


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## sunnybob (8 Jul 2016)

Presumably you wouldnt leave the food touching the wood? Thats not a good idea even on a professionally made dining table.
Towel, plastic bag, tupperware dish, and the wood finish is irrelevant.


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## pike (8 Jul 2016)

I'd just rather it was food safe as I can't always control what my kids do and food will be in the area. Maybe as long as the ply is sealed it will be OK.


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## MattRoberts (8 Jul 2016)

There's a list here that might be useful : http://www.finewoodworking.com/how-to/a ... ishes.aspx


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## ED65 (8 Jul 2016)

pike":pvvss9me said:


> On oak I use shellac and beeswax so if that would work I've got some already.


That would look lovely, but it wouldn't be at all waterproof though. 

You can do what you want just with poly, or most any varnish really. Although opinion on this is divided all finishes should be 'food-safe' once they're cured.


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## pike (8 Jul 2016)

Cheers. I've been reading a lot of american woodworking and they talk about formaldehyde in ply and seem to use a lot of polyurethane. The ply I'm using does have formaldehyde in it albeit at very low levels. It's just not something I want to be blasé about.

Yeah I think shellax and beeswax is great but as you say might not be durable enough for something which gets banged around and taken outside sometimes.

Maybe screwfix no nonsense yacht varnish will do the trick.


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## custard (8 Jul 2016)

> I've been reading a lot of american woodworking and they talk about formaldehyde in ply



That comes from the UF glue that's used to bond the ply leaves together, the "F" in "UF" is formaldehyde.


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## pike (8 Jul 2016)

Well now I know  Thanks. So consensus is use anything suitable for sealing it. The dangerous chemicals should evaporate anyway and I'm not actually making a chopping board or food plate, just something where food might be in the area sometimes.


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## ED65 (8 Jul 2016)

pike":3urqxtgk said:


> Cheers. I've been reading a lot of american woodworking and they talk about formaldehyde in ply and seem to use a lot of polyurethane. The ply I'm using does have formaldehyde in it albeit at very low levels. It's just not something I want to be blasé about.


If you have any chipboard in the house, including your kitchen countertops, that'll likely be offgassing formaldehyde. 

Americans have much more cause to worry about formaldehyde levels in the home because their houses can contain so much sheet material, sometimes more than one thickness under the floor in every room, and utility spaces may have it on the walls as well. Over here where it's just the occasional piece dotted throughout the house giving off low levels it's nothing I'd give a second thought to, even if your house is old and the ventilation is pants 



pike":3urqxtgk said:


> Maybe screwfix no nonsense yacht varnish will do the trick.


I'd go with something a bit harder myself but that should be fine.


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## sunnybob (8 Jul 2016)

Why not buy a couple of nicely coloured thin nylon chopping boards from ikea and stick them to the top surface?
then you are completely safe, and cleaning up is a doddle.
We have a green flexible one that cant be more than 2mm thick.


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## pike (8 Jul 2016)

sunnybob":321o57ek said:


> Why not buy a couple of nicely coloured thin nylon chopping boards from ikea and stick them to the top surface?
> then you are completely safe, and cleaning up is a doddle.
> We have a green flexible one that cant be more than 2mm thick.



Food for thought ;-)


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## ED65 (9 Jul 2016)

sunnybob":1jrn3pzr said:


> then you are completely safe...


Bob. he's completely safe having food touch a cured finish too. A cured finish becomes a polymer, or plastic if you prefer, so it's really not much different. Nobody needs to worry the HSE will call round if some lettuce gets left on a varnished kitchen table before it's put in a sarnie :lol: 

Apart from that there is another potential problem with installing cutting boards in place that you might not have thought of: the temptation to then use them as cutting boards. Plastic boards are less safe than wooden ones to begin with, and by permanently attaching them to a surface you make it nearly impossible for them to be sterilised and therefore properly safe to use.


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## sunnybob (9 Jul 2016)

I agree, he was safe to start with but felt he needed more. The cutting board is an obvious solution. Not only can it be wiped with disinfectant at the end of each day, but a very small amount of woodworking will put a rebate around the edge of the boxes so the boards can be slid out and used as real cutting boards on the camp table as needed, before being run through the dishwasher when he gets back home.


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## oakmitre (9 Jul 2016)

The chopping boards would have to be mechanically attached. IKEA boards and almost all other plastic boards are lldpe/hpde/pp, and as such cannot be glued without using some very expensive and nasty primer such as loctite 770.


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## sunnybob (9 Jul 2016)

Youre all overthinking the problem. A small rebate on three sides of the top of the box. You slide the nylon board in, and a clip on the forth side secures it for as long as you want it to be there.
Instant removal and cleaning access.


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## pike (9 Jul 2016)

I've built the whole "camp kitchen" today. Just got to do a bit of sanding and get some durable finish for it.

It'll mostly just be for putting my trangia and other bits and bobs on. Any food prep will be done on a chopping board which I'll keep inside it.

Biggest mistake I made was my inset doors and drawers were perfect fits with no wiggle room so they don't actually fit. :roll: Will sort that out though. It's what happens when you rush to get things done on the one day sans kids..

Then I'll need legs of some kind to bring it up to height. Pic below. It's since had fold out extended table top added which sits on the open doors. It's a very common box design I googled and liked.

Cheers again.







p.s yes it's big, but it's only for camping via van.


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