iozl's Profile

I'll second the recommendation on using a scraper. The technique is a bit tricky, but it's very rewarding to use a scraper if you give it a whirl.

Also, for the truly adventurous, the word 'block plane' derives from the fact that it was originally intended for use for butcher block. However, this is mostly for use on end grain butcher blocks, which are a little easier on knives than the face grain butcher block show above. I wouldn't advise one to go out and purchase a block plane, as they need to be razor sharp to get a decent thin shaving, but again like the scraper it's a really nice feeling to use one once you get the hang of it.

If you do use a palm sander or a random orbital sander, please try to use the sandpaper that has perforations on the bottom - this will allow the sander to capture a lot of the sawdust. Used in conjunction with a shop vac (hooked up to the sander), you'll have very little dust compared with using the sheet type palm sander shown above.

Once you're done sanding, for finishing you can also use walnut oil that you can find at the supermarket. (Don't use vegetable oil, walnut as well as some other naturally occurring oils work well, while generally vegetable oils don't work well for curing wood.) After you've used the walnut oil and let it soak in, you can apply beeswax as well. The Beesoil shown above will work great - it just might be harder to find at your local shop.