Making a Wooden Coffee Mug
I got this beautiful chunk of walnut from my step dad. He cut down an old walnut tree from my childhood home an it’s been air drying for a few years now. I wanted to make the entire coffee mug out of one piece of walnut but the slab I had wasn’t tall enough so I ended up adding the maple bottom as you see here.
Food Safe Finish
When I started this wood coffee mug project I fully intended to use it as a real coffee mug. I coated the inside with a white Smooth-On plastic resin. When most resins and finishes completely cure after a few weeks they are food safe. Even if they don’t claim to be food safe. Your dining room table for instance probably has a polyurethane finish on it. Polyurethane isn’t promoted as food safe but once fully cured after a few weeks it’s safe enough to eat off of. I thought the white plastic resin I used would be perfect but it turns out that it gets soft when exposed to heat which is definitely not food safe. In my research I was able to find a few different “food safe” labeled epoxies but none of them mentioned they can be used for hot liquids. I’m sure there is something out there that can be used but I was unable to find it. If you know of anything that’s food safe for hot liquids please let me know in the comments down below. I may try and find a stainless steel insert and attempt this project again.
Thanks for stopping by! Be safe. Be passionate and Make Something!
Tools and Supplies Used
- Grizzly Bandsaw
- Bandsaw Blade
- Disc Sander (similar)
- F-Style Clamps(similar)
- 5 Minute Epoxy
- Titebond Wood Glue
- Jet Lathe
- Forstner Bit
- Dust Mask
- Ellipse Coping Saw
- Spindle Sander (similar)
- Wood Files
- Smooth-On Resin
- Random Orbit Sander
- Polyurethane
- Boiled Linseed Oil
