"Dominic T." wrote in message
...
On Mar 19, 2:39 pm, "Melinda" wrote:
I have just received a new bamboo tea tray from Dragon Tea House, it had
a
really strong smell out of the box and seems to have some type of light
oil
teatment on it. I am still waiting for an answer from them as to what
exactly the treatment on this tray is, but in the meantime, if there are
any
woodworkers or others here that have some experience with this, I wanted
to
ask you...the only things I can guess are tung oil and linseed oil. I
don't
think it's a foodbased oil such as vegetable because that wouldn't smell
chemically I don't think, but I could be wrong. Any idea as to what this
might be or how I could reasonably test it to determine identity given
common household equipment? I am a little concerned about linseed or tung
oil touching food vessels etc., should I be?

The strong smell isn't so abnormal because another large carved wooden
tea
tray I got had been varnished so of course it smelled strongly. But
varnish
doesn't come off whereas oil might so...that's why I'm wondering. Thanks.

Melinda

Well, that's a toughie without smelling/feeling it. My hope would be
that it is a natural oil like linseed or something similar. A way to
work on the mystery would be to go to an art store (fine art
supplies)... as an artist when I work in oil paint there are a number
of oils (including linseed) and thinners used and this would give you
a way to smell some of the options to make an olfactory match.

I'd hope it is a natural oil and not petrol based one but honestly
anything from China can have just about anything in/on it. I wish it
weren't that way but with a few billion folks saving lives isn't
priority one.

- Dominic

Thanks Dominic, the seller says it's Tung oil, which according to Wikipedia
shouldn't be a problem unless I'm possibly serving someone with a nut
allergy. Good to know.

Thanks!
Melinda, thinking a nice Rou Gui ought to be good on this tray right now...