Well I think I've got it finished. It's been walnut oiled, boiled in milk 4 times, oiled you name it. It was like a watering can rose
The boiling in milk certainly gives it a seal/coating that seems very hard and takes a bit sanding off.
So tonight it was the araldite and hair drier (borrowed, not mine
) to try and get it water tight. Seems to have worked.
Finished in walnut oil with beeswax melted into it.