# HELP! Finishing problem, teak oil over rosewood, gumming, etc



## CaseyJones (Feb 4, 2012)

Hi there, ran into a major problem, or so it seems at the moment anyway.

I've been finishing a rosewood loveseat for several weeks using Daly's Profin Teak Oil….I'm a relative amateur woodworker, and this was going to be my first project to post to the forum here…it is an ambitious one for sure….anyway I've followed the instructions for the teak oil and built up 6 or 7 thin coats over a couple weeks, wiping off excess and letting it dry. Everything was going fine till I decided that I wanted a slightly more glossy look, maybe a satin or a semi….I spoke with a product rep on the phone and he told me to leave the oil on the wood rather than wipe it off after 30 minutes and this would help build a gloss finish. This goes against all the oil finishing rules I've adhered to thus far, but I figured the guy must know what he was talking about.

You can probably guess what happened, the oil sat on the surface and built up a high gloss film that looks like poo. When I discovered this the next morning (this morning) I put more teak oil on, hoping the solvent would help cut the gummed up junk, and wet sanded the bejesus out of it (by hand), wiping off all excess. It got a lot of the crud off, but after several more sanding sessions I'm still left with streaks and spots of high gloss spots mixed in with the matte finish. I'm not sure the best way to go about fixing this, but the options I've considered and would like you to also consider and give feedback if you're so inclined are as follows:

1. Continue sanding till my arm falls off, but this just seems to gum up the paper when I dry sand, and not get it off when I wet sand.

2. Wait till the top film layer i just put on has completely dried and cured (it's cold here so it might take another day or so) then try sanding it off.

3. Use a solvent of your recommendation to dissolve this top layer of junk…..however, what can I expect this to do to the bottom layers I already applied?

4. I expect to be putting several more coats on whenever I get rid of the gloss since i will have likely sanded quite a bit by then. I was planning on using Waterlox in the first place to finish this, and was talked out of it. I am now thinking about using it again over the teak oil. Good idea? Bad idea?

I'm also open to any and all other suggestions!

CJ


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

I haven't used the oil your talking about but a long drying time is one of the problems with many oil finishes . I would let it dry completely (it could take a week or longer in cold weather) give a good sanding to 150 grit and then give it a a couple coats of thinned down dewaxed shellac let it dry(la day or less) and give another light sanding with 300-600 grit and that should take care of your problem. The way you know that the oil is dry enough to sand you will get a white powder when sanding.


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## ClintSearl (Dec 8, 2011)

1. Use a methylene chloride based stripper to get to bare wood, and throw away the Daly's, it's probably just BLO.
2. Wash the piece down with acetone.
3. finish with solvent lacquer, brush-on or spray


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## CaseyJones (Feb 4, 2012)

Thanks for the advice, I ended up letting the film dry on there and then sanded it down today, didn't get it to bare wood since the teak oil penetrates in a bit, now I'm toying with my options for re-finishing…..you guys say lacquer or shellac, I was leaning towards waterlox for it's simplicity and my relative inexperience, but I'll give it some thought and let you know what happens, with photos of course.


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## fussy (Jan 18, 2010)

Listen to Clint. Wash it down-multiple times if necessary-using gloves (nitrile) and good ventilation, let it dry, sand, then use shellac-for simplicity-or laquer (spray cans do fine, but it can be explosive so good ventilation). Either will do fine. Shellac gives more final color options, but I would use super-blond. Failing that, plain old Zinnser's SealCoat.

The problem with oil-based finishes is the high oil content in rosewoods won't allow oil finishes to fully dry, hence the mess you have. If you proceed with Waterlox, you will have the same situation all over again. Don't do it.

Steve


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