>>698080Most fruit woods are safe for using.
So cherry, apple, lemon, orange, olive, loquat is really nice is really easy to carve when green, but when it dries it becomes like a fucking rock, that shit will dull a leatherman blade if dried [not that the steel in a leatherman is all that great, but a good base example] but that maybe a southern thing.
Some people will tell you to stay away from things high in tannins. [red oak being one] birch is a good starting point for northern bro's. and of course anything with harsh resins.
Mineral oil, or lard. are good finishing products. mineral oil you can soak it if you like or just wipe on. I'm not sure if cactus juice is food safe, but if you can put a spoon in a jar and create a vacuum, cactus juice is a wood stabilizer. [keeps from checking and shit] to use lard, you wanna kinda heat it up to apply it, just enough so its like just barely liquid, putting it in a plastic baggy and sticking it in your pocket for like 20 minutes is plenty. and apply it by wiping on, then off, until the color stops changing [should just get a bit darker/more defined grain]
