[Sca-cooks] Need advice/suggestion for counter top

[marilyn traber 011221]

> These things are solid and fast-moving when in trains.  They are assembled
> with pegs and glue of the period.  No chemical treatment needed as 
> they were made before the era of all chemicals all the time.  The 
> wood itself had all the essentials to protect it.  They really are 
> amzing . . . though the heart pine ones I got for the kitchen island 
> are amazing in their own right.
> 
> So, heavy poly will seal these fabulously for a cutting board . . . 
> as there is no toxin waste lurking to leach into the lettuce.  The 
> kind of poly that sets up thick and hard like bar tops is probably 
> overkill, but can be done. I am opting for a simpler finish that 
> doesn't hide the wood so much.
> 
> niccolo difrancesco

Niccolo- I think you're missing the point. The concerns are not necessarily 
what might have been used to seal the boards at their installation in their 
original position in the train cars, but rather what interesting substances 
might have been spilled on them and absorbed while they were in use.

Personally, I'd look them over and likely decide they were safe, but some 
folks are a bit less knowledgeable than I am, and consequently more paranoid.

Phlip