seeking opinions on cheese slicer finish

[ed kerns]

Hey all, You recently were a great help to me in sourcing hardware for a bunch of guillotine cheese slicers I'm making. Now I have a 'phase 2' question: what to use as a finish? I know that traditionally, the food safest bet is the old mineral oil, or mineral oil and bee's wax finish - and if it were a cutting board, I would go that way. But lets face it, insofar as protecting the wood, the traditional oil and wax coating is pretty poor.
I'm considering shellac as a food safe upgrade. It is (at least marginally)  better protection for the wood and is by all accounts as non toxic as anything if small bits were to be ingested. The crux of my question isn't so much "is it safe" but  "as a consumer, would you be comfortable with a shellac finish on something made to be in contact with food"? I'm likely to do some of these things as a salable craft, so public perception is important.  Thanks for your input!

[R Clark]

If it was me, I'd stick with the mineral oil/beeswax finish.

I've sold a few things before, and I included a small "How to care for this product" card for those items needing care for the finish (like "not dishwasher safe" or renewal of the finish).  That card would have basic information about the oil/wax finish.

The customer base for this type of product is more likely to be accepting of the need for this type of care, in my opinion.  There will always be those people who want "no maintenance" finishes, but are they the most likely buyers of your product at a craft show?

[fredhargis]

I stayed with the beeswax/mineral oil on mine. Yeah, it's not great but it's easily renewed.

[Joel H.]

If you want a near-maintenance free finish, Behlen's Salad Bowl finish is hard to beat.  It's food safe, durable and simple to apply.  On a cheese slicer it'd never need any maintenance at all.

Joel

[jteneyck]

If you want a near-maintenance free finish, Behlen's Salad Bowl finish is hard to beat.  It's food safe, durable and simple to apply.  On a cheese slicer it'd never need any maintenance at all.

Joel

Agreed.  Salad Bowl Finish is easy to use and durable as long as you don't cut on it with a sharp knife.  A cheese knife would be fine.  

John

[Stwood_]

I might give pure bees wax some thought. Heat it up and soak it in real good.
We eat honey, and honey usually still has wax in it to a certain extent.