finishing help on Walnut

try it on piece of scrap first.

-- Ike, Big Daddies Woodshop, http://www.icombadaniels@yahoo.com

I used shellac on top of the danish oil (let the oil dry really well first). Worked great. didn’t try varnish on top though. Don’t see why it could be an issue.

There is nothing wrong with this finishing routine. Oil, with a shellac sealer, followed by a wiping varnish topcoat is a common finishing schedule. As Bigike said do it on some scrap first to see if this will give you the finish that you want.

If you are using the Watco product it contains raw linseed oil (not boiled linseed oil) which has a recommended cure time of 3 days. I would give the base application of the danish oil plenty of cure time as Mtkate suggested.

-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine

FWIW I allow any finish that contains BLO to cure at least 5 days in a heated or air conditioned shop before applying any varnish/poly/lacquer finish over it.

-- Only the Shadow knows....................

Walnut is absolutely beautiful….its my fav. I just rub tung oil in it. Dale

-- Dale, Michigan, vandehberg@att.net....sharp objects scare me.....my wife scares me too.

Will a lacquer over the top of the shellac work? I know the waxed shellac with not agree with the polyurethane but I am thinking lacquer would work for the top coat.

I am with UncleSnail on this one. Just use Tung Oil and let the wood come through.

BLO, a tung oil finish (not raw tung oil), wiping varnish. ANYTHING BUT POLY. Do you get the feeling that I don’t use poly unless I’m forced to?
Bill

-- bill@magraphics.us

I’m with Bill on this one. Shy away from poly if at all possible. Once moisture gets behind it it looks terrible, and its a pain in the a#$ to refinish. I’d use blo, shellac, and either leave it at that or use a wiping varnish instead of a poly.

-- Julian, Park Forest, IL

Do not use Poly for anything other than a Bar top, it takes away from the beauty of the wood. I agree with the Tung Oil and maybe a few coats of paste wax for added protection. Its all about the wood, isn’t it?

-- It's not the breaths U take but the moments that take your breath away !!

I am working with some walnut right now as well. I typically use two coats Cabot’s Tung Oil Finish, because it looks good and cures faster than pure tung oil, then shellac because I like how it adds depth to the grain then topcoat with lacquer for added protection. I haven’t had any problems with it so far so until I do it’s a standard for me.

Good Luck!!!

-- Joe Truehart - The Craftsmans Woodshop

I make my own Danish Oil Blend 1/3 BLO, 1/3 Mineral Spirits, 1/3 varnish and I’ll put maybe 1/2 a cap of Japan Drier in a cup of finish. it hardens up overnight. You cannot save any of the finish that has the Japan Drier put in it.

I put it on and after an hour or so I put another coat on again, I also sand it with 400 grit and the slurry pf walnut dust and oil fills the pores.

After it dries is cut the slurry off and try not to pull it out of the pores. Giving it a second day might help on that process. I use a scraper and cut across grain at a 45 deg angle to cut it off.

-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

All great advise.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/