Food Masher/Large Wooden Pestle

Step 4 Sand it.

Use sand paper to remove imperfections and smooth the tools surface. I suggest you start with 30 or 60 grit and move up to 120 when you are finishing wood. You may also choose to finish your piece with a freshly sharpened chisel (you can make your chisel extra sharp by rubbing it on a piece of leather). Chiseling will leave a nice texture, but try not to leave anything too ruff or you will make cleaning your pestle difficult.

Comments

[Fibreway]

30 grit !!!! Holt sh*t man what were you cutting the wood with, a screwdriver?

With a nice sharp chisel even 120 grit would roughen the finished surface. If you're *really* good ( which I'm not ) you don't need to sand it. I also suggest that you use a proper woodturning lathe, engineering lathes and tools really don't work for wood.

Traditionally this sort of thing was made from sycamore wood because it has a nice light colour. Sunflower oil makes a nice finish in my experience