Al, that may be just the ticket. There is info online about Nick's rattle process. What would be a good finish?
One of the advantages of AAW membership is the thousands of articles in past journals.
I use walnut oil as a finish on the rattles.
We get get a large cheap bottle from Whole Foods
It will dry to the touch over night and dry quite hard in 2-3 days.
We have been using the food style walnut oil for about 20 years on various turnings.
We use it on all our kid's class projects. The kids can clean up by licking their fingers
A lot of folks think the grocery store walnut oil doesn't work as well as other products.
They may be right. But the grocery store stuff will dry in a few days and is about as food safe as you can get.
It works.
According to the CDC Tree nut allergies occur in 1.2% of our population and some fraction will be allergic to Walnuts and some of those to extracts from walnuts.
I have never encountered or heard a factual account of anyone being allergic to walnut oil finish.
Peanut allergies are a bit more common than tree nut allergies and some people are allergic to both.
I do know a couple of people who get allergic reactions to turning walnut.
Tung oil is a nut product too and people do report having allergic reactions to tung oils.
Al
