Howdy,
I have been asked to sand some scratches and burn marks out of an oak butchers block type worktop. It is in a right state, I think the last time it was oiled was when it was fitted, which could have been over 10 years ago!
It is in a rental property and the tenants are not known for the DIY/maintenance skills, which is a problem if you have a worktop that needs oiling and a bit of TLC.

Option 1 - sand all the crud and burn marks off, oil and leave the leftover tin of oil with the tenants who will never put it on ...
Option 2 - sand all the crud and burn marks off, varnish (hopefully Wolf does not hear me mentioning varnish!) or some other product that will be oak worktop and tenant friendly.
Option 3 - replace the worktops with something more suitable for rental accommodation, is not an option because it was too expensive.

Any suggestions?

It is not really a butchers block, it is laminated pieces of oak to form a worktop. It is used as a normal kitchen worktop, not for chopping raw meat etc. Something like this...
http://www.oakworktops.com/Pages.asp?Page=45

sparxxxx wrote on Nov 20^th, 2008, 9:47pm:

I worked in a buthchers for a few years whilst I was at university. Blocks were scraped with a block scraper, which was simply a blade with a handle, no fancy edges like a cabinet scraper; then scubbed with a block scrubber which was like an oversized nail brush with bristles of flat blades of metal about 4mm wide. We used all sorts of things to aid cleaning (plenty of bleach!), but never salt.
Blocks didn't stay flat for long because so much material was removed in cleaning, eventually they would be turned over.

I don't think I wouldn't use a varnish or similar. I think that would make future damage show up even more (eg if water gets into scratches). Would a varnish stick anyway if it's had various unknown oils and grease soaked into it. I think I'd go for option 1 and advise owner it will need regular maintenance.  Might be possible to get a glass top for it?