Sorry, I've just gotten back to this. I kinda forgot about it. I bought the food grade mineral oil as suggested and it turned out great! In fact, it turned out so good, that I am not sure what I want to do with it now. The "cover" that I mentioned is a 20'X40' equipment shed that I built. Its completely open on 3 sides. I don't want it to become a maintenance issue leaving it under there full time. Problem is, I really don't have anywhere else to put it. I think I am going to make it into a kitchen table for the ranch and at some point I will put it to use how I intended when I get the space.