Life In 19x19

The end-grain of my Kaya board is feeling somewhat dry (especially the corners) with the central heating over Winter. It's coming up to a year since it was purchased, so I've bought some Camellia oil as recommended by GoGameGuru.

http://www.rutlands.co.uk/sp+knives-kni ... 0ml+jp2100

I am planning on tearing up an old tshirt or other more, um, private clothing, applying a thin layer all over, leaving 10 minutes, then buffing with a clean cloth.

If this sounds like something that I should not do, or if the brand of oil I bought is laced with a wood-dissolving substance, well, I hope you'll let me know.

Sorry, can't help you out.
But from what I understand, this should be okay.

Question 1: can you update on your results if/when/how you oiled it please?
Question 2: people here any experience with other kinds of oil?
(e.g. can I perhaps also use teak oil, happen to have a bottle of it already, have been wondering about using it)

Right-ho, board (and stones) have been oiled. I take no responsibility if anyone else decides to oil their board. What worked for me might dissolve the lacquer for you.

This is the oil I bought.
This is the back of the oil bottle incase you grok Japanese (if it says 'warning do not use on wood' then probably best not to tell me).
The oil is called Camellia oil. There are different varieties. The one I (think) I bought correctly is Camellia Japonica. If you buy a different type, it might go rancid. It's a thin pale yellow-green oil that has a fragrant quality, it reminds me of something but I couldn't place it. A little medicinal or soapy maybe. This particular oil has a little liquid paraffin added to aid penetration (basically mineral oil, which is supposedly fine to use on wood).

Thank you for your update and pictures.
Do you also have pictures of the board (before/after)?

You beat me to it, I can only upload 3 per post

I cut sections from an old t-shirt as I didn't have any clean cloths to hand. I put maybe 1/8th of the bottle, about 15ml, in a bowl and dipped in one of the rags until it was a little damp with oil. I tested it on the back of the board first, waited 10 minutes, and buffed, with no adverse effects, so then with somewhat firm circular motions I oiled the whole board.
You can see that the light is bouncing off the board due to the oil. It is a very thin layer. I waited 10 minutes (maybe 9 due to slight impatience). Afterwards, I used the second clean rag to buff the oil. The underside of the board must have had some wax still remaining on it as it came off onto the rag as well, but that wasn't really anything to worry about. (When I say it still had some wax still remaining, it isn't the case that I took the wax off, I left it alone as you should do, but over time the wax disintegrates into the board from being exposed to the air).
Finally I oiled the stones. This really amazed me in terms of how good it made them look. Everyone secretly likes playing with the white stones because they are glossy and they are clamshell. But the black stones now have this gunmetal matt lead-like quality to them, which is pretty cool too.
That's all I got.

Oh by the way, I noticed the oil soaked into the end grain a lot better than it soaked into the sides (as expected), so I might do the end grain again in a week or two depending on how it feels. I would also point out though that one of the best things to do with wood isn't to faff around with it too much.

We want to be reincarnated as Lee Sedol, not Ron Swanson.

Thank you for pictures!
Both board and stones look amazing.

Hi,
thank you for sharing your experience!

I am trying to decide how to treat my 2 years old japanese Goban:
oiling (Camelia or Carnauba) or microcrystalline waxing (Renaissance or similar).

Just a pair of questions, if I can:
1. is your one a Japanese Goban? I think it is, since the lines are in relief
2. how long did you had it?

btw: it is a very nice Goban: congratulations!

Good life and good GO!

Galation

Hi Galation,

Yes, it's Japanese. It's a Kurokigoishi Hyugakaya 2-piece board. I've had it since May last year.

According to GoGameGuru you can also use boiled linseed oil (must be boiled).

Wax is another option. You can find a few different brands of wax on amazon.co.jp, and also Kurokigoishi sells one type. I think that wax looks nice and also smells nice but I thought it might be more difficult to apply to the board.