Speedy delivery... speedy delivery! (A Stone Creek Trading Cabbage Slicer Unboxing, Size Large)

Well that was a pleasant surprise!  Last night I walked in the door of my home and was greeted by my beautiful wife and children.  I am a wealthy man!  Then I walked in a little further and found a large box with my name on it.  I had mentioned previously (Take Heed, Watch those fingers...) that I ordered a cabbage slicer after I skillfully sliced the end of my thumb off.  Amazon told me it was going to be another week before it might be delivered... but nope, there it was.

Unopened, my first cabbage slicer.

At first glance... "Wow, that's big!"  Now I know that the description in gave the exact dimensions, but I didn't really pay attention to it.

After pulling it out of the bag, it looked decent.  It used some chintzy nails to hold it together (I was taught from a young age that fine woodworking doesn't use nails, especially from a nail gun!), so I question how long that will work (I'm tempted to drill through it and glue in dowel rods, before it breaks).  I think I may have been taught some obsessive compulsiveness at the same time...

"Hi, my name is Clinton and I think  I'm OCD..."

The blades on this thing are certainly sharp enough to slice the remaining skin off my thumb!  But it also looks like this thing may be big enough that I won't have to do anything short of sliding the box up and down, keeping my fingers far from the blades!  (That will be nice, if it is in fact the case.)  There are three blades in this unit (the extra large has four) and they are removeable, should they need to be sharpened.  I don't know if you can get replacements if need be... not to self, check on that.

UPDATE: STONE CREEK TRADING DOES NOT SELL REPLACEMENT BLADES!  (DON'T MESS THEM UP IF YOU GET ONE OF THESE.

The box uses a standard box joint at the corners (versus the dove tail join that my dad would have encouraged me to use, would I have built one), which is probably good enough...

Yep, the box will slide right off...

The description off Amazon says "This is a natural unfinished wood product. This means it does not have a varnish or paint coating on top of the natural wood. However, it is sanded smooth and ready for use."  I take that to mean that it has been cleaned up with sand paper.  While that may be true on the flat pieces, the edges could still use some sandpaper to knock off some loose ends.  Again, not necessary... but I wouldn't put my name on it till I had done that!

Instructions!

So it is untreated poplar wood, made in Poland... interesting.  They say you don't need to treat the wood... I'm not sure about you, but I have alarms going off in the back of my head when I read that.  I've read some suggestions to coat wood with mineral oil (too much consumed can have a cleansing effect), let dry and wipe off excess.  The method I plan on going with, however, is walnut oil.  It was used extensively in France during somebody's reign (probably some Louis the umpteenth) as a wood coating and it's food, so what more could you ask for?  Oh, I've also read that olive oil can go rancid... no thanks, not in my food!

Now I'd like to go back to something in the picture above real quick... at the bottom of that little card with instructions and care, the retailer was kind enough to also put their website.  Now this might seem insignificant, but it's not!  Being the curious person I am, I ventured over there to take a look at the other things they sell... and happened to see this very product for sale with a price tag of $25 less than I paid off Amazon!  Now I don't know about you guys, but that's significant in my book!  But what about the shipping cost?  Ok, yep... got that one too!  The shipping to my house is estimated @ $9 from these guys, so the real price delta is 16$, still significant!

Well I have yet to use this thing, but it appears as though it will significantly speed up the process of shredding the cabbage the next time we need to ferment some foods.  I'll be sure to post an update when we use it!

Till next time, God bless!