# Thinning Danish Oil



## MOJOE (Jun 13, 2009)

I'm wondering if it's possible/practical to thin danish oil….say Watco…..to get a deeper penetration into the wood. If so, would it even be necessary? I'm basically wondering if you thinned for deeper penetration, would this enhance the differenct tones of the natural wood grain.
joe


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## KnickKnack (Aug 20, 2008)

I'm really no expert on anything woodworking, but my experience of using oils, including danish oil, is that it goes on better/deeper/smoother/richer if, rather than thin, you heat it up a bit. I do this by potting a small bottle of the oil inside a cut-out plastic bottle and solar heat it. This was discussed here.


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## Rick Dennington (Aug 27, 2009)

MOJOE,

I've used Danish Oil (Watco) on many , many projects, and I see no advantage to thinning it. Danish oil is already pretty thin, and I don't think thinning it to get a deeper, richer tone, or deeper penetration is necessary. I find the d.o. shows off the beauty of the wood, and enhances the wood grain to show you exactly what it will look like before the top coat is applied, such as polyurethane or varnish, etc. I also find that Danish is not good by itself, as it doesn't have the protection as does good layers of top coats. The way I finish a project (and this is just me), is usually I apply 2 coats of Danish, letting dry good in between coats, sand in between coats lightly with 0000 steel wool, or 800-1000 wet/dry paper, and finish off with about 4 layers of wipe-on poly.. After about 2 weeks, I polish with Johnsons Paste Wax…Sorry for the long post…didn't mean to get carried away with explanations….)


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## MOJOE (Jun 13, 2009)

Rick,
No apologies needed…..I appreciate the detailed response. Since my next project will be a jewelry box for my daughter (4 yrs old) I will surely need the protection of a good top coat.


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