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This was my first time turning boxwood. I wanted to upgrade the handle of my espresso machine's portafilter. I’m really pleased with how smooth it turned out! Should I coat the boxwood, or is it fine as is?
Espresso oil stain. For the symbolism
I will probably choose this option 😉
I would coat it. The timber will hold stains and look dirty pretty quickly if you don’t
That looks really nice the way it is. Like, it looks soft to the point of being plush. If anything, I'd just seal it with something that won't alter the color to preserve how it looks and make it easier to clean and keep sanitized since it's for a kitchen appliance.
Looks great. I think for something like this finishing isn't strictly necessary. The wood will change over time, but I wouldn't be concerned with it getting dirty or stained like mentioned below. It'll just add character, if anything.
One thing to consider would be mineral oil (found in the laxatives section in the grocery store, usually). It's cheap and will help keep the wood nice.I use it on my cutting board, and it needs to be reapplied every so often for that use case.
I like the mineral oil idea! It'll help protect the wood while keeping the pretty light color. I feel like rich dark wood colors get all the love, but the creamy pale wood colors are really beautiful too and it's nice to see them get some love!
One could also use any number of other non-staining finishes, but mineral oil keeps it simple
I'm not familiar with boxwood, but wood in general is fibrous and will absorb gunk from hands and such. As it's a small piece that is going to be handled a lot, I might suggest something that produces a very pleasant feel, maybe a drying oil like tung oil.
Boxwood is dense with extremely fine grain