I'm making a lamp out of red oak. I usually use natural finish danish oil but I'm out. I do have linseed oil but I never tried it on oak. Will that being out the red color like the danish oil does? What should I expect?
Brian, Danish oil is nothing more than varnish resins, solvent, linseed oil and driers, so you should get about the same look from linseed oil alone. Your top coat may affect the color somewhat though. If you seal the oil with a clear shellac and top coat with lacquer, it should be pretty close.
Brian. Linseed oil is a bastard to dry. And it's kinda sticky as well. Danish oil / teak oil/ whatever oil. They're all the same. Basically boiled linseed oil to give the wood depth, a bit of varnish to give the finish a bit of strength and thinners to speed up the drying. That said "Teak Oil"is my go to finish, with a water born varathain top coat.
But the deal is. If your going to spend the time and effort to create a project…get the right stuff (your preference) to finish it. MTCW
Yeah danish oil does t take days to dry. I'll try mixing some linseed oil and mineral spirits and see how that comes out on some scrap first. If I can finish assembling and sanding today I can finish it tonight and top coat it next weekend LOL.
Usually with the danish oil I apply it and if the humidity is high it won't dry in 3 days so I wash it with mineral spirits to dry it up. The weather is nice today. Maybe I'll try that washing after one day.
You can add some Japan drier to your boiled linseed oil. This will help it to cross-link and cure more quickly. Japan drier is available at most paint stores like Sherwin-Williams. Follow the instructions on the container as per the amount of drier to add. You might also try substituting VM&P naphtha for the mineral spirits. This will flash off quickly, though it won't make the oil cure any faster. In any case, be sure to keep each coat of oil thin and allow plenty of time for it to cure (possibly weeks) before you top coat. Finally, if you opt for a waterborne finish, seal in the cure oil with a coat or two of dewaxed shellac to avoid any potential adhesion problems.
Thanks for the top about Japan drier. I've read about that stuff before but it didn't come to mind before you mentioned it. My linseed oil is actually raw, not boiled. I bought it a long time ago when I built a bicycle wheel. It's old fashioned thread locker which I used on the spoke nipples. I have a feeling this stuff is going to require Japan drier.
Raw linseed oil is not a good choice. Much better to wait a few extra days and pick up another can of Danish oil or other suitable finish. It will be well worth the wait.
I'll second what John is saying. Raw linseed oil doesn't cure worth "a hill of beans" to put it politely. You'd be much better off buying another can of Danish oil and leave the raw linseed oil in the can (or use it to start a bonfire). It's likely that raw linseed oil won't be fully cured in time for your grandchildren's weddings. Happy Easter everyone!
For a lamp, I'd probably consider spray bombs of lacquer, shellac, or poly, depending on the final look I was seeking.
Or, I'd wipe on a few coats of Danish Oil, wait a week or two, then rub it down with steel wool and wax. Colored wax is optional, a dark wax can create a nice look on natural red oak, as it lodges in the open pores.
Before I did anything to the lamp, I'd sand some scrap to the same grit as the lamp, try the entire finish on the scrap, and make sure I liked the final look. If you've got time to use a finish schedule that you've never done before on your project, you've got time to build the entire project again if it doesn't work out.
I did my daughter's Red Oak hope chest with cherry colored Danish oil and it turned out great.
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