I’ve been using this drawing board for a few years. It’s a piece of leftover beech butcher block from when we remodeled our kitchen. It’s heavy, but very solid and it has a nice grain. It was untreated when we bought it, so I used paste wax to finish the wood. The problem with paste wax is that it wears off and it isn’t fully waterproof. So drops of ink got into the wood and stained it.
The board was getting so stained that I decided to refinish it this week (which meant a short halt to my work for Carnivale). I sanded the drawing board down, ending with 150 grit sandpaper. Then I applied thin coats of tung oil. About five coats in all. It puts a nice seal on the wood and makes it a nice golden color. It’s not as smelly as polyurethane or as toxic. The overall effect is very nice. We’ll see how it holds up.
On another note, this month is Inktober. Guess I need to do some more ink drawings.
