Final finish
For a natural finish, I recommend mineral oil. In the kids’ woodworking classes I teach, we always wear face masks and gloves, even when working with food-grade mineral oil. This is mostly to teach good work habits for the future, even though mineral oil is non-toxic and is a popular finishing choice for cutting boards.
Don’t worry about filling the chest with valuables. As Franz Kafka once said: “Anything that has real and lasting value is always a gift from within.”
Patience is a virtue
I find this is a popular project with the kids in my woodworking seminar. Any building project is about more than working the wood. It is incredibly rewarding to share the joy of building something with your own hands with someone else. However, the rewards are twofold, as you will take away as much as you impart.
My best advice to all woodworkers who bring children into the shop is to exercise patience. Never redo an operation that one of the kids has just performed; instead suggest that perhaps they might want to give an edge a bit more sanding or some other constructive tip. Remember the object of this exercise is not to cut and glue lumber into a box so much as it is to mould and bond people through achievement.
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