Wood finishing with light oils

[TallPaul]

I once cut a knob off the root of the Norway maple in front of my house and sanded the exposed face down very fine, then treated it multiple times with 3-in-1 oil and later CRC Power Lube. The grain looks very nice and after 14 years is not cracked.

Anyway, I just did the 3-in-1 treatment to the knob on my baseball bat. I had power sanded the knob down from 2" diameter to 1.75" because the larger knob tears up my left hand. Now the bat feels great, but still wanted a finish. Looks pretty good anyway.

Woodworking co-worker suggested Tung oil (and still can on top of the other oil). Maybe will do that if he ever remembers to bring in a small can for me.

Anybody else ever finish wood with 3-in-1? One advantage is the nice smell.

 

[D189379]

I've tried vegetable oil. Works ok.

 

[Papa Bear]

linseed

 

[TallPaul]

Yes, I have heard of using linseed.

Vegetable oil, I expect, would get rancid and smell bad?

Tung oil is from some seed also. And it is supposed to harden to a tough finish as it dries.

 

[XS650]

Originally Posted By: D189379
I've tried vegetable oil. Works ok.


Speaking of unorthox finishes...I bought some Ironwood woodcarvings in Mexico. They are finished with brown Kiwi show wax and look really good.

For a light oil finish I use Watco Danish Oil.

 

[MarkC]

Tung oil for me.

 

[TallPaul]

Yes I have used Kiwi shoe polish, brown and neutral. Works nicely and smells good too.

 

[tom slick]

"gun stock oil" has a very nice "feel" to it. it is what they used on guitar necks at a place I used to work at. they were know in the industry for having a "worn in" neck feel.

Linseed oil, or "boiled linseed oil" would be a close second.

 

[NJC]

Originally Posted By: XS650
For a light oil finish I use Watco Danish Oil.

+1

 

[mechtech2]

Oil is not suitable for wood, although it can look great for a short term.
Boiled linseed oil, tung oil, polyurethane, various lacquers or gunstock finish are much more suitable.

 

[MarkC]

Originally Posted By: TallPaul
Yes, I have heard of using linseed.

Vegetable oil, I expect, would get rancid and smell bad?

Tung oil is from some seed also. And it is supposed to harden to a tough finish as it dries.


Yep, tung oil comes from the seeds of the tung tree. It's pretty thick. The best way to coat something is to first sand it, then mix tung oil with up to 50% mineral spirits or something similar.Apply a coat using #00 steel wool, let it sit for about 20 minutes, wipe of the excess and let it sit for 24 hours. Then begin coating with pure tung oil using the same procedure. About 3-5 coats is usally enough, though on my jo and hanbo, I used 20.

 

[Amkeer]

Vegetable oil is a NO-NO, it will turn rancid. Do not use vegetable oil.

I use oil on anything that I do not want a film-build finish. I use Velvit Oil which is made by natural seed extracts, and works great! You can make an oil finish easily by cutting a quart of polyurethane, 3 parts thinner to 1 part polyurethane. (you can not use water based for that) Sand the parts from 80 grit up successive grits to 320 grit. Then flood the surface with the oil, allow sit, then sand with wet and dry paper with finish, 400 grit, wipe after 10 minutes.

Always dispose rags properly.

 

[1sttruck]

'In the wood' finish like a classic gunstock, or the more common on top of the wood finish ? On top of the wood provides better protection (marine spar, gymn floor, etc) but is harder to touch up, in some cases requiring a complete stripping first. I like an 'in the wood' for a lot of uses, handles on axes and such seem to blister less, and using a 'sanded in finish' to fill pores it's easy to do but just takes time. In general the order of protection is linseed - tung - indoor varnish - exterior varnish - poly - catalyst cured finishes.

Sand, wet, let dry. Cut an exterior varnish to 25% or so solids, apply, and sand, Before it dries rub it, trying to fill pores. Nylons help to rub the finish. Let dry, repeat until pores are filled. Use technique with finer sandpaper until desird finish is obtained. To fix a scratch apply a bit of varnish, sand, rub, let dry. I finished an M1 Garand like this, on the heaviest stock that I oculd find, which ended up being a dark walnut. From a distance it looked like a typical military oil finish, but up close there was a deep, glowing grain that changed as you moved the stock. I've done cheap oak furniture like this and they turned out nice too.

I've read that a classic 'English' hand rubbed finish would be something like 'once a day for week, once a week for month, once a month for year'. After proper fitting of course :^)

 

[Amkeer]

One thing to remember about wood finishes is there is no such thing as the "perfect" finish. Each finish will have its tradeoffs. When you are talking about terms of durability, some of the strongest are: conversion varnishes, catalyzed lacquers, polyurethane, urethanes, varnishes, lacquers, and then you start to fall into oils. As has been said, oils are extremely easy to apply and fix. Personally, I prefer oils for fine peices, but on a larger project it can be labor intensive. Oils are nice since you can feel the wood, not plastic, like film building finishes.

When choosing a finish you want to determine the amount of protection needed first. You wouldn't want a less durable finish in a kitchen or bath. You would choose a finish that will resist the elements the most.

Try to determine which finish will most likely fit what you are intending to accomplish, then do samples. You cam make a nice wipe on by buying the cheapest "oil based" polyurethane and thinning it with mineral spirits 3 to 1. Or as 1st has explained you can cut it by 25% to a full film building. Its whatever look you are after.